There’s nothing quite like a Catalan aperitivo on a rooftop terrace, and Girlahead was thrilled to be back at the 120-room Mandarin Oriental Barcelona, the century-old 11-floor building that thinks like a fashionista.

Breakfast at Mandarin Oriental Barcelona is definitely an act, the first act of the day. Best way of entering Blanc, the two-storey atrium that hosts this meal, is down 23 brown-carpeted stairs.

From Barcelona Girlahead travelled 90 minutes southwest to the charming Mediterranean port city of Tarragona in Catalonia.

The magic of silence is a version of the music of silence. The magic of silence, as at Marsten Bruno in Priorat, is the ability to walk at a steep incline up from the hotel into vineyards and walk and walk. Girlahead did just that. 

Yes, David Stein is host with the most. Above, he’s with Dominik Huber , another local Priorat celebrity who defected from his native Bavaria to establish Vila de Torroja Terroir Al Limit here.