Did I get a good price?

I have just sold my Cambridge Audio DAC Magic 1 for £51 on ebay. I need the money for my holiday and it seemed like a luxery as it was only used for my DVD and Freeview boxes.

 

That seems to be about the going rate for series 1 Dacmagics on eBay. i'm keeping a look out for a cheap Dacmagic 2i, as these are supposed to be the best.

PS. Where are you going on holiday? Somewhere with a bit more sun than here?

*Looks out of window, shakes head in despair*

 

Yep spending a week on the Costa Brava, 4 nights in Barcelona and 3 nights in Lloret Del Mar.

Selling my DAC paid for my two nights in Lloret, or one night in Barcelona

I bought a new digital camera for the holiday though so I need to parlty pay for that. I never use my tuner but its hardly worth selling as I would only get £20 for it or so.

 

restaurants

AT I can give you some recommendations on great but not expensive restaurants that I know well as well as other info if you do not know Barcelona well. Let me know if you would like some info. Dominic

 

About right I think...


I sold a modified Dac 2i for £60 (too low really), yes they are the best of the range, DAC 3 is the same as DAC 2 but made for Europe.....

but made up for it with the transport at £130.

Considering I only paid £50 for each unit new! I think that wasn't bad.

Tim

 

Are those seaside restaurants in Barceloneta still there?
Some of the best meals I've had in Catalonia have been in those "shacks" (they were talking about redeveloping the whole area for the Barcelona Olympics when I was last there...)

 

Joel not sure when you were there last - the restaurants in Barceloneta are still there but there are no 'shacks' but Rey de la Gamba is still a good place to get an upset stomach! All of the port area has been developed and there are some great restaurants at Port Olympic - Don Marisco is a great place for paella and sea food, possibly the best at Port Olympic.

Port Vell has also been developed, the world trade centre is there - the Grand Marina Hotel is superb if you get to go back.

dominic

 

I can second that.

The redevelopment of the port is mostly hideous IMO, but it seems popular with the locals.

-- Ian

 

Thanks I will take you up on that information about the restaurants. Is their any area in particular we should avoid. Our hotel is on Diagonal Ave towards the east of the city.

 

1991. I remember it well. One month in Iceland for 16 hours a day in the rain at 15 c immediately followed by three weeks in Catalonia at around 30 degrees. Somewhere along the line (probably Iceland or Norway before that) I picked up a really nasty stomach bug that, er, bugged me for months and was only cured with an autumnal diet of raw squid, lightly grilled whale steaks (with fresh ginger and soy sauce), not-quite-dead-yet blowfish, beer, sake and the ministrations of several nubile shrine maidens at a mountain spa 1991 finished as one of my better years.
The restuarants were shacks, very picturesque shacks, when I was there, but I think we're talking about the same places - since that name rings a bell. The best way to avoid food poisoning is to drink copious quantites of Torres' Vina del Sol. Didn't seem to work very well for me, though

 

Spent a long weekend in Barcelona a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it. Gorgeous place. I quite liked the redeveloped port, allthough I never saw the original.

One thing I noticed about Barcelona was that it seemed to have by far the highest proportion of absolutely stunning looking girls of any city I've ever spent time in and that includes Paris, London, New York, Milan and Lisbon. Literally every other girl I looked at was drop dead gorgeous. Don't know if it was just that weekend or if it's always like that.

Michael.

 

Hehe I am looking to forward to visit the city now I bet there are about as accessable as Russ Andrew's higher end stuff though .

 

Michael, ever been to Prague? It's not called the City of Women for nothing...

-- Ian

 

Booking my flight now!!!

 

and probably just as expensive...

 

Nope - but I've always been meaning to go. It's moved to the top of the list now

Michael.

 

Yep which is one of the thinks I was impying, maybe there are cheaper in Prague. Funnily East Germany and then onto Prague was one of the things we considered. However as I have yet to discover the wonderful working class spanish holiday resort we are spending three nights in Lloret after Barcelona.

I am not sure if I well be able to stomach the site of topless tatoed half drunk old men or young thugs drinking 15 pints a day. I guess thats just the worst case scenario though.

 

Michael it is always like that!!!!!! Which is why I am there so much.

 

restaurants etc

AT - I am really bad with Road names even near my house so bear with me. You are in the posh area of Barcelona. The best shops are on this road and on Paseo de Garcia which leads from Diagonal to Plaza Catalunya. Main shopping (more high street) is south of Plaza Catalunya. The Gothic Quarter is great and is to the east of Las Ramblas - easy to find on any map. las Ramblas is the tourist bit - generally avoid eating near here - rip-off and not that good - but move two or three streets away and you will be fine.

I'm not sure of your budget so will tell you some of the high-end places - but cheap on English money - so that you can either go for just one course or a speacial treat if you are on a budget. There is a restaurant on Diagonal called Negro. It is one of the coolest most contemporary places to eat in Barcelona. Three course and wine is £25 per head!!!!! They have a DJ and the interior is stunning. Last week I had raw tuna with tomato and avocado and a de-constructed cheesecake that were both stunning. Another restaurant inthe chain is Tragaluz, I think it is also on Diagonal. Tenorio on Paseao de Gracia is great for a drink or dinner (same prices as Negro).

Avoid the chains - nearly all use food produced in a factory. Pans y Company is great for sandwiches. Go for small restaurants cafes that are packed out and go for menu del dia - normally a safe bet - normally 9 euros. Corte Ingles does a good quality 10 euro menu del dia - but it is a department store. Anywhere that looks cheap and has menus in lots of languages and has lots of pictures of the food is normally not good food. The highend reataurants will always have an english menu - and I hope that you get the gist of how I am trying to guide you.

A good place for Churros (suasage shaped donut) y chocolate (hot chocolate but much thcker than UK chocolate) is Cafe de Opera on Las Ramblas - one of the only places to get good churros.

If you like arty things then the Contemorary museum is a must (near Plaza Catalunya) as is Miro foundation. Parc Guell was built by Gaudi and is stunning. Casa Milla (famous Gaudi building on Paseo de Gracia) is also worth a visit to see the stunning roof and in the summer they hold midnight classical recitals that most people do not know about - under 10 euros for entrance and a glass of champers and free live classical music. And to the cable car ride.

There is loads more that I could tell you - let me know what you want to know about - although I do not go to night clubs there.

Dominic

 

And there was me thinking Prague was the city of blind-drunk English stag parties going "wuuuuuhhhhhhhhh faaaaakiiiin laaaaahhhhgaaaaaahhhhh" and chucking bottles about