Barcelona

Barcelona has way too much to see in just the six days we are here.  We have stayed in the old part of the city so far.  We've done a guided walk and then yesterday we went on a "free" walking tour where you tip what you think the walk is worth.  We had a gal who was originally from Poland and has lived in Barcelona for 4 years.  About 20 in the group from all over (USA, England, Ireland, India, and U.S). The company does English speaking and Spanish speaking tours - general tours about Barcelona, photography or art tour, and specialized tours for cooking or flamenco.  We thoroughly enjoyed her 2 1/2 hour walking around the Gothic area of the old town. Lots of good information and took us into lots of small plazas we might not otherwise have found (at least not for a few weeks!!) 

Jana - our walking tour guide. 

Watched these three musicians playing their instruments, two of which were quite foreign to us. Really interesting music.

We have just come home from the best meal we have had in Spain this year.  That is meal (dinner), not tapas. Saturday night we had some great tapas.  Tonight we went to a restaurant recommended by our Spanish friends Lanzada and Victor who live in Santiago.  Victor told us to go to his favorite restaurant in Barcelona which he thought was close to our apartment.  We went looking for it this afternoon and found it just around the end of our street. Called "Pla de la Garsa" it is really less than 1/2 block away.  Makes us realize how important it is to ask for recommendations.  We have had 2 not-so-good meals at places we picked ourselves and now have added 2 great meals via recommendations. It pays to ask your friends!!!

The two appetizers we picked: the ham croquet was tasty but the dish on the left: Wow!  We could have stopped right there.  Aubergine (eggplant) stuffed with dried tomatoes, mushrooms and some kind of cheese, then coated in crumbs and fried.  In the picture 6 pieces are standing in a row, on a plate, and covered with fried arugula. Delicious beyond imagination!!! Wendy thought we should just order another and stop right there.

But we had already ordered our main course.   We both got a dish called tender beef in Montsant red wine, with mushrooms and little shallots on the side.  It was very good and we both mopped up our bowls with chunks of bread. The waiter nearly had me talked into a dessert but Wendy was giving me the evil eye across the table so I had to say no. I hate to think I might miss something special but often live to regret that decision.

Saturday night we went to a tapas bar recommended in Rick Steves' Barcelona guide book.  It is also just around a corner from our apartment (a different corner).  We went there Friday night but it was full and I do mean full, no standing room left, so made a reservation for Saturday from 7:30-9:30.  After 9 is when all the Spanish people start arriving so it was easy to get in at the earlier time and that suits our North American time frames. 

As you can see it's a popular place.  This was taken as we were leaving at 9:15. 

As you can see I hardly had time to take a picture - it was so nummy.  Top photo is a crispy beef with Foie Gras and a bowl of aubergine chips fried and then sprinkled with lime and honey.  (Who could imagine eggplant could be so interesting!) The next two tapas we ordered were green asparagus and a ham and roast chicken croquet.  I thought the beef was the clear winner while Wendy liked the eggplant the best.

On Sunday morning we went to watch the local folk dancing of the Catalan 'Sardana' in the plaza in front of the cathedral.  It's on every Sunday morning after 11.  There is a small orchestra set up to play the music and lots of Spanish folks, with some tourists thrown in, join hands in a circle to do the dance.  It seems quite sedate at the start but picks up with the tempo of the music. Some groups are more active and accomplished than others.  They all put their bags and packs into the middle of the circle so they are safe, and then they start with the music.  It's not the dancers that are interesting but to look out over the plaza and see many circles dancing in amongst crowds of people.  Quite neat.  This dance is considered by some to be a symbol of unity (and maybe even a  statement of defiance) for the Catalans, who are seeking political separation from Spain. 

First Sunday of the month most of the museums in Barcelona are free so we lucked in.  We headed to the History of Barcelona Museum.  The museum was all about the ancient Roman city called Barcino and the ruins found underneath the old town, within the city walls.  

I am always interested in how they discovered the ruins and how they could identify various rooms and what things were used for.  Subsequent people built on top of the Roman ruins, and we could see how some Christian churches were built on top of Roman structures, and often used the Roman stones in their 'new' buildings. 

Pictures of what we saw do not do it justice so we will leave it at that.  

Monday we have tickets for Basilica de la Sagrada Familia.  The basilica was designed by Antoni Gaudi and is one of the most visited tourist sites in Europe. With tickets we don't have to wait in the long lineups and it was easy to book online today.

Hasta luego,

Marion y Wendy