Barcelona

Sept 2 - Friday

On our last night in Singapore, we went to our favorite restaurant, Pasta Brava, and had a great time. We then headed over to Dan Ryan's to say goodbye to Drew and Debi, then grabbed a cab to the airport.

Dumping all our foreign change

We took a Lufthansa midnight flight leaving Singapore. It was a 12 hour flight and landed in Frankfurt at 6:15 am, and then we had 3 hours to wander the under-construction and confusing airport. Our flight to Barcelona was delayed an hour and we finally arrived about 12:30 p.m.. We grabbed a cab for the ride into the city through traffic and past the scenic Mount Juic and La Rambla. A shower never felt so good.

We wandered La Ramble, which is one the most popular destinations in Barcelona. It is a wide street with a walking area down the middle filled with vendors and artists trying to make a buck. There are also places to sit and have a coffee or a drink.

We also walked through the streets of the Barra Goti, the old section built upon the original Roman city. We stopped for some Cervesa and tapas (Spanish bar snacks) which were good. There were lots of stores, both older style shops and the newer fashion chains. There was an incredible gellateria (sort of ice cream, but better), so we stopped for a coconut and a straciatella gellato. Next door was Tutti Frutti candy, a bulk candy shop where the bins were big glass bowls on shelves - a Gummi paradise.

Eating Gelato in fornt of the candy store

We stumbled onto the old cathedral, but decided to come back the next day for a closer look.

The Cathedral

Just a walkway that reminded us of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice

So we headed for another Cervacaria (beer bar) for a beer and espresso. Jill even tried to order in Spanish (sort of). Weather was overcast and cool with a light sprinkle throughout the afternoon so we kept ducking into shops to see what was for sale. Jill found her first ceramic shop and marked it on the map (we would later find many more with similar wares.) Frosted glasses and ceramics - Jill was in love. They also had ceramic tiles that would make a cool stovetop backsplash and we were tempted to get some for a future kitchen project.

We continued to wander, trying to stay awake and kill time before our goal of a 9 p.m. dinner. The locals wouldn't think of eating much before that and we didn't want to stick out too much. We did lots of windows shopping, with Jill browsing for candles and ceramics. We had to take a short break on a bench in a square just off the cathedral, but had to watch for pigeon poop. We even went into a cool little grocery and sausage shop. During our wanderings, we ended up in a 100 psta (about 62 cents) store, and while we were inside, the storm broke and we had to wait (and maybe nap a little) in a covered square by the store until the weather cleared a little. We crept along under awnings and through a covered street mall until we found a Cervasceria to have 2 rioja wines to warm us up. Jill had to order "dos vino tinto".

We ended up only making it until 7:30 before caving in and heading to a restaurant. We walked to "Los Caracoles" (The Snails) recommended by the book and a friend of Jill's (thanks, Derek!). Outside the restaurant, chickens were roasting on spits. To get to the tables, you walk past the stoves which was real neat and we could have stayed and watched all night. There were huge pots of broth, soups, sauces and muscles.

Very cool old restaurant with hanging hevs, barrels of wine and legs of ham. We started with Bulloubaise for Jill and fried baby squid for Keith. The boulloubaise had 2 prawns, a scampi, fish, clams and muscles - excellent. The squid was also very good and tender, but there was huge amount of it. Jill then had teh Paella de la Casa and Kieth had the Fish Stew, which was like the boullaibaise, but with more seafood and less sauce. Both were excellent. On the way out, we walked past the kitchen and took pictures with some other tourists.

The kitchen at Los Caracoles

Chickens roasting outside

As we started to walk back to the hotel, Jill found a large ceramics store that she fell in love with and vowed to return to before we left. We crashed before 10pm (4am Singapore time).

Sept 3 - Saturday

We slept good, but had a hardtime making it all the way through the night. We lazed around a bit, trying to get adjusted to the new time zone and then headed to the hotel breakfast. We were in another travel book special hotel that reminded us of the places we stayed during our honeymoon. The place was old and small, but with lots of character and friendly staff. The breakfast was a simple bar, but it was a great breakfast all the same. The hotel had a coffee machine that was popular in lots of places in Europe : you put your cup in and push a button for coffee, but it included buttons for Cafe con Leche (Caffe Latte), Cappuchino and others - pretty neat.

We headed straight to the cathedral and looked around inside. Being early on a weekday, there were actually more people praying than tourists. Jill loves all the red votive candles of all sizes. The sides of the cathedral weer lined with alcoves containing sculptures, paintings and carpets.

Ceramic tile walls near the Cathedral

From the cathedral, we headed for the Picasso Museum. The museum his early life and then his later years, but not much in between. Very interesting, but he got a little wild at the end. Near the museum Jill found another ceramics shop and bought two pitchers. Jill was starting to understand the shopkeeper's spanish.

We headed to the Santa Maria del Mar church and took a break in a square in front and watched some locals going into the church for a wedding. Next we headed to Port Vell and passed a restaurant on the way , Set Portes (Seven Doors), that we wanted to come back to for dinner. We enjoyed the sun and the views from Port Vell and stopped for at a roadside bar for some water (and maybe a Red Stripe).

View across Port Vell

More Port Vell

From there we walked to Port Olympic. Along the way we stopped in a Pharmacia and Jill tested her Spanish. She tried Aspirin, but with no luck. Ibuprofin worked though, and Jill even understood how much it costed. The walk to Port Olympic was through an old section of town and then along the sea wall above the beach, so it was an interesting walk.

The beach with Port Olympic in the background

We had a fun lunch at La Taverna Del Cel Ros, drinking Sangrias and watching other people. We started with Ensalada Verde (Green Salad) and then Jill had the Baked Cod Grauite(sp?) (olive oil, garlic and egg sauce) while Keith went for the Fideau, which is sort of like a noodle paella. Of course, it was all excellent. We got Angles (English) menu, but we both had an idea of the local dishes we wanted to try, but we only knew them by their Spanish name, so we used the Spanish menu.

Lunch

Port Olympic was an old section of the port that was rebuilt for the 1992 Olmpics. It was very nice, with lots of shops and restaurants, but a little touristy (but good for people watching.) After lunch we were a little tired from all the walking (and sangria), so we grabbed a taxi to go back to the other side of Port Vell to the Aquarium. It was cool and we were fueled on by the sangrias. We recognized a lot of the fish, but it is always fun for us to watch them. It was hard to tear Jill away from the ray exhibit with the baby Eagle Rays. Keith was amazed by the extremely ugly Sun Fish.

That ugly Sunfish

We walked back up La Rambla to the hotel and crashed hard for an hour and a half nap. We were slow to get back and finally made it out to the front desk and asked them to make reservations for us at Set Portes for dinner, but they were full at 9 pm. She did say that if we made it between 8 and 8:30, we could probably walk in (great excuse to eat a little closer to our normal time.) We walked to Set Portes, which was quite a hike, but we got in. It wasn't a very good table, but it was one of the last ones available. We sat at a small table in the corner where we had to sit side by side on a padded bench along the wall. Actually it was fun and a good way for both of us to watch everyone else.

We ordered a South African Chardonnay at the waiter's recommendation and the Hor Devours de la Casa. We got a large plate filled with Spanish style anit-pastas - yum. Jill went for the Veal Fricasse with Wild Mushrooms and Keith jumped at the Shellfish Paella. Both were excellent: the shellfish was very sweet and fresh and the veal was tender and rich, but there was a lot of leftover Paella. We shared a Flan with cream for desert to prepare us for the walk back. We strolled down La Ramble catching the later crowd of tourists and locals preparing for a night on the town. Of course, we just gave into jet lag and crashed.

Sept. 4 - Sunday

We decided to head a different direction today, so went north into Eixample. Eixample was an to be an example in city planning, with nicely laid out grid streets. It is very nice, but several people decided to spice things up a little. The Mangane de Discord is the square of discord, where there are three very wild looking Moderniste buildings, including, of course, a Gaudi.

One of the wild buildings

A mosiac decorated stariway inside a building

Another building in the square

The Gaudi building

We kept walking up the main street to the La Pedrera (The Apartment), another Gaudi building. We went inside and up to the roof and a top floor museum dedicated to Gaudi and his works. It was good tuor with lots of videos of all of his work and models of the buldings. There were also several examples of how he determined the angles and proportions of his buldings by hanging strings and weights from the ceiling to make an up-side down version of the final structure. Very cool.

View of La Pedrera from the street

A look back toward the square

Gaudi

The Sagrada Familia in the background

View up from the inside

We took our first Metro (underground) ride from there to Sagrada Familia, an uncompleted church built by Gaudi. Gaudi was hit by a tram while working on the church, and his plans were later burned by the Anarchists, but construction has continued to finish the church. We didn't go into the church, as there was a long queue and the most interesting part was the outside facade.

Part of the original Sagrada Familia

The newer section of Sagrada Familia

Under construction

Nativity scene along the outside wall

Metro

We completed our day of Gaudi by going to Parc Guell, a park designed and landscaped by Gaudi. We had lunch at a little cafe near the metro, just simple pizza and empanada. From there we walked uphill 15 minutes to the park. It was a sunny and bright day, so we wandered slowly through the park, particularly amazed with all the tile mosaics.

Famous bench in Park Guell

Gardens in Park Guell

Front Gate

Walkway in Park Guell

Same walkway

The icon of Gaudi's work

Gotta have two pictures

From there we jumped back on the metro to La Rambla for Jill to hit the ceramics stores for some pitchers. We found a little place called La Taverna Irati for some excellent Tapas and local beer. That set us up for a return to the hotel for a little rest break. We headed out again around 7 and tried to find a place to sit down and have some Sangrias outdoors. All the tables were full and some places were closed. During our search, we came to the square at Sante Juane where many locals shoppers had stopped to join in the sardana, a traditional Catalan dance. It was fun to watch and there were a lot of people who just dropped their shopping bags and joined in.

La Rambla

The traditional sardana dance in the square

From there we headed to a popular square called Placa Reial. There was a short queue start at a restaraunt called Les Quinze Nits that was well regarded by both of our travel books, so we got in the queue around 7:50, thinking it would open soon. Surprise, they opened at 8:30, but took no reservations ahead of time. By the time they opened, the queue was massive and we were glad to have gotten there early. It was definitely worth the wait as the food was excellent and very reasonably priced. Jill started with a salad with Roquefort cheese and Keith went with the salad with sausage and romesco sauce (roasted peppers, toasted almonds, olive oil, red wine vinegar and roasted garlic blended together). For the main, Jill jumped at the roasted chicken with garlic and rosemary, while Keith broke down and ordered the pallerdo steak with roquefort sauce. Of course, we had a carafe and a half of sangria to help us along. All we had room for at that point was Espresso. Great meal.

The line was short in this picture!

Sept 5 - Monday

First thing in the morning, we went and looked at the market on La Rambla. It was a huge old building that was filled with lots of great stalls selling just about anything, including coffee and beer bars.

Good fresh produce

Almost like Singapore

We jumped on the Metro to go to Mont Juec, where the Olympics took place. There a huge impressive building on the front side of the hill with a National History Museum in it. We skipped the museum and just wandered though the gardens and enjoyed the nice weather and the view of the city. We went into the Olympic Stadium and saw the Olympic Torch.

The National History Museum

Olympic Stadium (that's the torch back there)

Nice view of Barcelona

From there we grabbed the Metro to Catalunya Square where we ate lunch in the Metro at Pans and Co, our first local fast food of sandwiches on baguettes. One of cured ham and Brie and one of mallorca (spicy shredded pork) and cheese. Pretty good for fast food - would be nice back in the States.

We took the FGC train (suburban) on our first leg of the trip to Tibidabo, a hill on the outscripts of Barcelona known for its great view. After the train, we took a tram about 2/3 of the way up, where we stopped for a beer at an outdoor bar.

Just a short break

From there, we took a funicular the rest of the way up. The view was excellent from the top and worth the pain of getting up there. There was also a cheesy amusement park and a large church (actually a church built on top of another church). We didn't stay long but did sit for a while and enjoy the cool air and the view.

The church on top of a church on the hill

All of Barcelona (and a lame amusement park)

The trolley car

We traced our path back to La Rambla where we stopped for Hard Rock shot glasses and postcards. We finally got an outdoor table at Bar del Pi and had a mediocre jug of expensive Sangria.

Damm Beer? Cool...

From there it was abck to the hotel for another break as many places were closed. We got all of our stuff together and packed all the ceramics in a hand carry bag. We headed out again at 7 for drinks and dinner.

Our favorite Tapas bar was closed, so we just headed straight to the restaurant. After such a good meal the night before, we decide to try another restaraunt by the same owner : La Fonda. The queue is not nearly as long, but the food was just as good. Not sure what we had to start but Jill went for a Paella and Keith tried another Catalan dish : a monkfish stew. Both were excellent.

After dinner we jumped on the Metro and rode back to the National History Museum to see the fountain light show. It was an excellent show and we would recommend it to anyone visiting Barcelona.

By the time the show was over, the Metro was closed and we didn't feel like trying to hail a taxi, so we walked back to the hotel. It was quite a bit furhter than we thought, at about an hour, but it was nice out and interesting to see the city at night. Although we did have to get up at way early to head to the airport for the flight to Frankfurt and then Houston, our new home.