My experiences of after-dinner amusement in the towns of Spain have been limited. Whenever I have been to the opera at Madrid or Seville I have found the performances very like those of the provincial Italian cities, though the chorus is even more casual than the Italian one. The enthusiasm for native singers, especially tenors, is very warm. The old Italian operas are most in favour, and, curiously enough, Carmen is by no means a favourite opera in Spain. In any Spanish town I go after dinner to the Zarzuella theatre. The Zarzuella is the typical Spanish short play with music, and some of them are excellent, I always wonder that none of them have Spain 277 been adapted for other stages. A Zarzuella theatre changes its audiences three times nightly, and one pays for an hour’s entertainment. The circus in Madrid is often amusing, and both in the capital and the provinces circuses generally have a burlesque on a bull-fight. It is not wise to take ladies to the Cafes Cantantes, and certainly not wise for ladies to go there by themselves. I once saw a party of American lady tourists, who had walked into a cafe where some Flamen9a girls were dancing, and had not ordered any refreshment, extricated at some risk from a threatening crowd by a Spanish-speaking Englishman. Barcelona The busy bustling capital of Catalonia has more money to spend than any other town of Spain, and its restaurants are more numerous, and perhaps on the whole more soignes than those of any other town. The old restaurant at La Rabasada, on the moun- tain overlooking the town, has been acquired by a French syndicate, has been rebuilt, a , t J . r . 7 La Rabasada glassed-in terrace being one or its attrac- tions, and is now an up-to-date French restaurant. A service of automobiles, starting from the Puerta del Angel, connects the city with La Rabasada, and an electric railway is in course of construction. The Maison Doree in the Plaza Cataluna, kept by two Frenchmen, MM. Pompidor, is a restaurant which is very go-ahead. It makes a Maison Doree, specialite of prix-fixe breakfasts and din- Plaza Cataluna ners on Thursdays and Saturdays, and it serves tea daily a r Anglaise from four to six. A new banqueting- room has lately been opened at this restaurant, and any man who is prepared to pay 25 pesetas a head for his guests can obtain here a most sumptuous feast. 27 8 T'he Gourmet's Guide to Europe Justin’s, the longer title of which is the Restaurant de Francia, is in the Plaza Real, an old-established Justin’s, house with a good cook, and excellent Plaza Real wines in its cellars. This is a restaurant at which the prices are not marked on the card of the day, but they are not higher than those at most of the other restaurants of Barcelona. There are some very pleasant private rooms at the restaurant, and a large room for banquets. The cuisine is almost entirely French. You can get a very fair dinner, wine and all, at Justin’s for about 6s. ; but if you are giving a dinner-party, and are prepared to pay 30 pesetas or 18s. a head, Justin’s will give you such a dinner as the menu I give below, wine and all : — Huitres de Marennes. Consomme Colbert. Hors d’ceuvre varies. Loup. Sauce Hollandaise. Cbtelettes de Sanglier Venaison. Salmis de Becasses. Chapon Truffe. Petits pois a la creme. , Glace Napolitaine. Desserts assortis. VlNS. Rioja bianco. Vinicola. Cliquot sec frappe.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

My experiences of after-dinner amusement in the towns of Spain have been limited. Whenever I have been to the opera at Madrid or Seville I have found the performances very like those of the provincial Italian cities, though the chorus is even more casual than the Italian one. The enthusiasm for native singers, especially tenors, is very warm. The old Italian operas are most in favour, and, curiously enough, Carmen is by no means a favourite opera in Spain. In any Spanish town I go after dinner to the Zarzuella theatre. The Zarzuella is the typical Spanish short play with music, and some of them are excellent, I always wonder that none of them have Spain 277 been adapted for other stages. A Zarzuella theatre changes its audiences three times nightly, and one pays for an hour’s entertainment. The circus in Madrid is often amusing, and both in the capital and the provinces circuses generally have a burlesque on a bull-fight. It is not wise to take ladies to the Cafes Cantantes, and certainly not wise for ladies to go there by themselves. I once saw a party of American lady tourists, who had walked into a cafe where some Flamenca girls were dancing, and had not ordered any refreshment, extricated at some risk from a threatening crowd by a Spanish-speaking Englishman. Barcelona The busy bustling capital of Catalonia has more money to spend than any other town of Spain, and its restaurants are more numerous, and perhaps on the whole more soignes than those of any other town. The old restaurant at La Rabasada, on the mountain overlooking the town, has been acquired by a French syndicate, has been rebuilt, a , t J . r . 7 La Rabasada glassed-in terrace being one of its attractions, and is now an up-to-date French restaurant. A service of automobiles, starting from the Puerta del Angel, connects the city with La Rabasada, and an electric railway is in course of construction. The Maison Doree in the Plaza Cataluna, kept by two Frenchmen, MM. Pompidor, is a restaurant which is very go-ahead. It makes a Maison Doree, specialite of prix-fixe breakfasts and din- Plaza Cataluna ners on Thursdays and Saturdays, and it serves tea daily a r Anglaise from four to six. A new banquetingroom has lately been opened at this restaurant, and any man who is prepared to pay 25 pesetas a head for his guests can obtain here a most sumptuous feast. 27 8 T'he Gourmet's Guide to Europe Justin’s, the longer title of which is the Restaurant de Francia, is in the Plaza Real, an old-established Justin’s, house with a good cook, and excellent Plaza Real wines in its cellars. This is a restaurant at which the prices are not marked on the card of the day, but they are not higher than those at most of the other restaurants of Barcelona. There are some very pleasant private rooms at the restaurant, and a large room for banquets. The cuisine is almost entirely French. You can get a very fair dinner, wine and all, at Justin’s for about 6s. ; but if you are giving a dinner-party, and are prepared to pay 30 pesetas or 18s. a head, Justin’s will give you such a dinner as the menu I give below, wine and all : — Huitres de Marennes. Consomme Colbert. Hors d’ceuvre varies. Loup. Sauce Hollandaise. Cbtelettes de Sanglier Venaison. Salmis de Becasses. Chapon Truffe. Petits pois a la creme. , Glace Napolitaine. Desserts assortis. Rioja bianco. Vinicola. Cliquot sec frappe.

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