Barcelona - Wandering the streets
Trip Start
Apr 15, 2007
1
13
33
Trip End
May 23, 2007
Barcelona,
Spain
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
We didn't have a real plan in mind for today. Our eyes are still feeling the effects of the debris - although our skin is looking very healthy - kind of like we just had a microdermabrasion treatment! We kind of looked the map over and decided to try and make a roundabout trip down from Sagrada Familia - down to the Bullring - then towards the Arc de Triomf (where we were headed yesterday) then to hit the Gothic Quarter and main Cathedral - Lunch at a restaurant where the people were lined up the other night and then to the Santa Maria del Mar Cathedral - The Colombus Monument - and up La Ramblas to the Market and to the hotel that our friends will be staying at in the next couple of days - to buy our train tickets for a day trip we have planned and then home. I guess now that I wrote that - we did have a plan - just not a real exciting one.
Barcelona 01
The walk was nice - we covered a lot of ground - the problems were that the two Cathedrals were not open - we missed the mark on the times and didn't feel like waiting around - but we did manage to get the lunch in at the restaurant Les Quinze Nits - it is quite popular with many long lines - very clean and modern - serving Spanish and Portuguese food. The service was marginal - but the food was very good. Then we were back on track. Down through a very seedy neighborhood - a lot of high kids on street corners - Nigerians selling sunglasses - etc. Police arrived to take one of the kids away after some 'skinhead' looking punks were giving him a hard time. Jim observed all of this while I had gone into a ceramic tile shop. We then headed down towards the port area and got some photos of the Christopher Columbus monument. We headed up the Ramblas - taking in the sights of the street performers - sidewalk artists and birds and flowers for sale. We popped into the Market, where I picked up some Ham, olives and fruit and took quite a few photos - which you will get to see of course. I only declined to take the photo of the skinless sheep head - eyes glistening. Will, you would have liked the candy display though. You can pick a suck-ahh out and Bahdee will get it for you. Near the market is the hotel that our friends are staying at so we dropped off a note for them and headed over to the tourist office where we got our train tickets for our day trip to Montserrat. We were close to the El Corte Ingles department store - so I ran inside there to pick up something and then we decided that we were too tired to keep walking so we took a cab back to our flat - by this time is was 5:30 and we had been walking non-stop since about 11:30 with the exception of our lunch stop. See - not too much of interest - but maybe you will enjoy the photos. Went out for dinner around 9:30 - went to our local restaurant - dinner was good - you can see Jim's beer - but then I forgot to take photos of the meal - next time!
They are forecasting rain for tomorrow - we can only wait and see.
Comments
Yum
I could stay all day in that market and eat. Everything looks great. Glad your skin is looking great even if you can't see it yourself!!
Mom
Looks good.
You know I like to go into grocery stores in foreign countries. This was great. Have fun.
Art in the Market
The entire market looks like one big mosaic of colors. Even the candies form an interesting canvas. Everything looks so clean and so well organized and soooo good!! When in Europe I think a person needs to consider going to market as important a destination as churches and museums! We particularly enjoyed seeing the lovely pharmacy mosaic and street light. Muy Bonita!!
We have a cool and rainy start to the weekend in Colorado. Hope it is sunny in Barcelona.
Sandy