On to Barcelona, Sunday May 15

Sunday, May 15

Early wake-up call, and we trundle our luggage to the bus stop in the dark.  After a few minutes two others join us and soon the bus arrives.  We are taking RyanAir to Barcelona. Security isn't difficult and we head onto the runway to board.

 The flight is about an hour and a half.  We have decided to fly rather than take the high speed train because there is not much price difference and flying is faster. Here is a shot approaching the city of Barcelona.

In Barcelona, we pick up a map at the info center, then call and locate our shuttle service, which drops one other couple at a hotel.  In about half an hour we are at 46 Via Laietana, a pretty busy street in the Gothic Quarter.

We enter at the wrought iron door.

 I phone our host, Manuel, and since we are a bit early (9:30) he invites us to leave our luggage and come back at 11:00, as our room is being vacated and cleaned. We are on the second floor and there is a lift.  We walk a few doors down to a coffee shop where we try churros and chocolate, long donut-type pastries dipped into a thick chocolate.

Then, since we can see the Cathedral from here, we walk over there to explore.

There are a few tents with a flea market being set-up in the plaza in front of the cathedral - old clocks, cameras, dishes, jewelry, etc.

 A few beggars on the stairs to the cathedral and some musicians playing in the plaza.  There is a service going on in the cathedral, so only parts of it are open, so we look at what we can.

There are 13 geese living in one of the courtyards of the cathedral.  They represent 13 doves (they tried doves but they kept flying away) which were released from Saint Euliala's wounds upon her martyrdom.

13 resident geese 

Then we head back to our apartment.  Manuel shows us around and spends 20 minutes or so showing us a map of the city and pointing out sites, the metro stop, etc.  Very helpful! We have a room with a small bathroom attached and there is a shared kitchen area.  It looks like there are 3 other rooms, plus Manuel & Olga's apartment and office.

Our place is in the Gothic Quarter, GREAT central location!  We unpack and decide to first head to the Picasso Museum recommended by our neighbors.  Once again, many of the streets are narrow and criss-cross, so we wander this way and that till we find the museum.

WOW!  It really makes us appreciate Picasso!  This museum deals mainly with his younger years when he was experimenting and learning. The first room has paintings and sketches from ages 13-16 and is quite impressive.  His father kept all of his work and some were done in art school.  Picasso and other Spanish artists end up going to France for much of their careers due to Dictator Francisco Franco' s repressive regime.  These early works are more traditional paintings - more recognizable subjects than his later cubism :).

We pass a monument that commemorates a battle during the civil war where many Catalonians were killed.  There is an older Spanish man sitting there and when he sees us reading the information he is anxious to tell us about it - unfortunately he spoke only Spanish.  Since we had read about it before, we understood much of what he was saying.

From here we walk to the water.  The blue Mediterranean and Barcelona's Platje De La Barcelona (beach).

 It is a warm, sunny day and the beaches are crowded. Bathing tops are optional for women. We sit and watch for a while, everyone from little kids with sand shovels to old men with canes.  We learn later that the beach is artificial - the sand was brought in from Egypt, the palm trees from the US.  There is a playground area as well as an exercise area.

In a nearby plaza there are two folks making bubbles (for tips of course) and lots of kids and adults chasing and popping them.

 Quite a few vendors have spread their wares on blankets and are selling fans, soccer jerseys, shoes, sunglasses, souvenirs, etc.

 We pass the monument to Columbus and many elaborate buildings with statuary and other decoration.

We walk around this area, called Barceloneta, looking for a place to eat and decide on Segoms Mercat - fresh fish & tapas.  Despite it being only 4PM, they are serving their full menu.  We choose a rice dish with shrimp, squid and clams and sangria. Not quite paella, but very similar.

 We find that restaurants and shops in Barcelona cater to tourists and so are open for business long hours.  No siestas and no need to wait till 8:00 to eat dinner.

We walk back to the Cathedral and see what was closed this morning.  More chapels, gold, wrought iron, paintings and statues.  Beautiful choir area and organ.

Next we head a few streets over to Las Ramblas and stroll.

 Many couples and families out for "paseo" which is just a time to walk, eat ice cream and be sociable. Lots of shops and restaurants line this pedestrian street.

gelato

 There are many street performers who don't mind photos so long as we give them a tip of some sort - usually just 10 or 20 cents.

My favorite of the street performers

We head back to the room early as the day catches up with us.  Our room is quiet and the bed hard.  We read, relax and rest our tootsies.  The shower is tiny but plenty of hot water.