Welcome to the Friday Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.
Today is Friday, March 3, and I am in Barcelona! Love this city. Yes, I have visited some perfumeries, most notably The Perfumery, a true haven for artisan and niche perfumes. I had a lovely visit with its owner, who now sees clients by appointment. And then you get his undivided attention and expertise, for at least an hour! It was great. I tried several brands that were entirely new to me, including the line developed by Fragrantica writer Miguel Matos.
I also visited Perfumeria Regia, also a lovely store but a more standard retail experience. I sampled a couple of brands I hadn’t seen before, but most of their stock, while excellent, is available in the US. I did come out with one discovery set, though!
We’ve had fun revisiting favorite places like Park Guell and seeing some new ones, like the interior of Casa Batllo. And we have eaten very, very well! Do you have any favorite Catalan or Spanish dishes?
Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities 
I’m sure you are having a fabulous time! My favorite Catalan thing is cava, delicious! I also love paella, which is a Valencia thing, though, I think and Valencia is not in Catalonia. Anyway, everything I ate in Barca was delicious, especially all kinds of tapas and cheeses.
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I do love cava! We’ve had a lot of great seafood.
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Cava and tapas ❤️
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We love Barcelona as well! Our visit was before my perfume obsession so I didn’t know about these gems. My best food memory from Spain might be a restaurant that specialized in mushrooms. It might have been in Madrid. Look forward to reading more about your trip and the perfumes!
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That sounds like a fascinating restaurant!
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How fun! I have never been to Spain, certainly on the list for someday. I did get my sense of smell back after a few days so today I’m wearing Apres l’Ondee. It has been raining on and off all day so it seemed like an appropriate choice.
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I’m so glad your sense of smell is back — what a relief! And yes, Apres l’Ondee is a perfect choice!
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Barcelona is without a doubt my favourite European city. I just love everything about it. It would be interesting to spend one day in the mind of Gaudi, his architectural creations are incredible. Park Guell is such a lovely hangout spot. Do let us know about the Miguel Matos perfumes. And anything else you tried.
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Oh, update on my recent purchases. As I said last week, my Violet Ida was on the way, which I’m very happy with, I had tried it before and knew it was one for me. The next one to arrive was one that I wouldn’t in a million years have thought I’d ever own. I have had a long-time dislike and dread of Angel but promised myself I’d try and conquer it. And that’s just what I did. But it’s not the regular Angel, this one is the rare-as-hen’s-teeth edition, Taste of Fragrance, with bitter and dark cocoa. It is just fabulously moody with none of the cloying sweetness. Happy I bit the bullet on this. Wore it for three consecutive days.
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Wow, that sounds great! I had the most luscious dark chocolate dessert at a restaurant here called Llamber, just amazing. I’m sure you smelled great! And of course, I love Violet Ida.
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Cassie that’s the only Angel I ever enjoyed. I sold it though
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I’ll not be getting rid of this. It wears well on me, thankfully.
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It’s quite a few years ago since I visited Barcelona with 2 of my friends. I loved it. Park Guell , The Sagrada, Casa Milor , Picasso museum. Just wandering the streets. The Tapas bars were fab.
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We revisited all of those places! And yes, we have eaten many tapas. Delish.
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I’ve been to Barcelona several times. I love spending time in the old Cathedral within the Barrio Gotic. The courtyards are so calming & peaceful. The tiny individual chapels dedicated to different saints are spellbindingly illuminated with the candles lit by the faithful during their prayers.
Spanish food? All of it! I’m very partial to “soupy rice” a seafood & rice dish with similar flavourings to paella but served with vastly more stock & with alioli (Spanish version of aioli) & crusty bread to mop up. Bacalao brandade with large croutons & row veggies to dip is delicious. We once arrived very late to the flat we were renting on Tenerife, dashed to our favourite restaurant to find the kitchen was closed. We were regulars & well known to the head waiter. He kindly invited us to share the “staff dinner”. There was the brandade, & a deliciously unctuous tomato stew with chickpeas. The sauce had a gelatinous quality & was savoury & warm with paprika. Turned out it was Callos, a tripe stew. It was delicious!
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Yum!!
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I know the tripe dish sounds awful but it was delish. Not something I’d ever try to recreate at home though
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Your description sounds delicious! Sometimes it’s best to now know all the ingredients in a dish. LOL I grew up on a farm eating all kinds of organ meat and animal parts. It’s all good if you now how to cook it. 🙂
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Oh, Barcelona! One day I hope to visit it again. It is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to! I still love London more, but Barcelona is in the top 5.
When we were there, both my vSO and I weren’t feeling well, so meals were problematic (we needed something not fried and not spicy – a tall order for the city known for their tapas), so one of the best dishes we found for us was grilled octopus. But what left a special impression for us (food-wise) was a cafe/bakery Caelum (Carrer de la Palla, 8, 08002 Barcelona, Spain). We went there several times and had great European-style cakes and good tea.
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One of the best dishes we had was also grilled octopus! Simply delicious.
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I adore grilled octopus! One of our local restaurants here does it very well.
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