The Flowers at Hotel Arts Barcelona

At 44-storeys high, the Hotel Arts Barcelona is one of the tallest buildings in Barcelona. The hotel is right by the mediterranean shore.

The two tallest buildings in Barcelona: Hotel Arts Barcelona and the MAPFRE building.

The view we had from the room was stunning.

When we first arrived early the morning, our room was not yet ready so the girls spent a good part of the morning enjoying the garden. It also had the spectacular view of Frank Gehry's fish sculpture

The room had enough space for the four of us. 

And as always, I spend the first few minutes taking pictures of all the interior details of the hotel room.

A short taxi ride brought us to the Ramblas and the old town, but we also enjoyed being by the water.

What really caught my attention though, day after day, were the fresh flower arrangements scattered all over the hotel.

We were here only for four nights but the arrangements seemed to be changing often.

Only after we left did I realize that the hotel is quite known for its celebrity florist, the Australian Donna Stain.

Had I been more clued in, I might've had a chat (and a selfie!) with her. I would've also taken pictures of each and every arrangement I saw.

I only took these pictures of the lobby on our last day.

If you happen to stay at the Hotel Arts Barcelona, stop and smell the flowers!

Valor Chocolate, Spain's Own

Chocolate so thick, the spoon wouldn't even sink

From the start of our Spain road trip, my friend Roselen kept saying she wanted to go to a Valor shop and have 'churros con chocolate'.  But between visiting iconic sites of Spain, staking out recommended restaurants, and prying the ladies away from every Adolfo Dominguez store they saw (okay, okay.. the stores were on end-of-season sale at 50-70% off), we didn't have the time to go searching for a Valor shop.

This Spanish company is one of the few "bean-to-bar" chocolate factories in the world.  I remember many years back, my friend Joanna sent over a couple of Valor bars with a note "I know you're on a diet right now, but look, these have no sugar!" I nibbled on them over a span of a month with no guilt whatsoever. The pureness of the cacao calmed my craving for chocolate during that time.

 Valor in Segovia

I'm not a fan of churros--I find them as evil as doughnuts--but I do like chocolate. I also know how it is when there are expectations of seeing Valor everywhere, and so far it had remained elusive. Add the fact that we were close to the end of our road trip. Oh no...

Imagine our excitement then when one of the guys spotted the Valor signboard right around the corner from the cochinillo restaurant we had just eaten in!

Of course I noticed the beautiful brass pull on the front door

Immediately, half the group headed in and ordered what Roselen had been craving. We all had a chocolate fix even if most of us felt like cochinillos by this time.

The display of chocolate products

For me, I would rather eat the chocolate than drink it, but for Roselen, she was a very happy camper for the rest of the trip.

Ps. When we were heading back to our vehicle at the end of the day, we discovered a Adolfo Dominguez store--also close to the aqueduct. I think it was in a small alley on the opposite side of this block. Too bad, we only had about ten minutes left before the whole group was meeting up.

Pss. Valor is locally available at Terry's Selection, a deli on Pasong Tamo Extension in Makati.

Psss. To all of Roselen's friends who think she keeps going back and forth to Spain, these photos are from our trip two years ago. I'm a delinquent blogger, behind on my posts. But will hopefully catch up soon. Peace!