Dinner (Tapas) Time!

Well much time has elapsed since the Village. We finished our tour and then came out of the park and walked down the remainder of the hill to Placa de Espanya, which is where the closest Metro station is. On the way down, we walked past the exhibition center. It is huge. We had noticed it on our walk down the hill and had speculated what it was. There is an auto show going on right now. Since Karen is in the market, we might have to pay admission and look at the cars. From the outside, it looks like the automakers are spending the bucks to make it impressive.
We headed down to the Metro. We already had our ticket, but this was to be our first true use of the system and we were taking the red line (line 1) to the yellow line (line 4) to get home. The system is extensive and appears well run, with signs everywhere telling you the time of arrival for the next train, maps of the system. Even on the train, they have lit-up indicators which tell you the stops the train has been to, and blicking light to indicate the next stop. Very nice. The trains themselves, however, are dated. Looks like Barcelona will have to spend some bucks updating the trains and the physical plant.
Back in Barceloneta, we popped out of the Metro station just couple of blocks from our condo. We headed back to the room to get washed up and changed for dinner. We had our minds on this place, a picturesque Tapas place right on the Marina, actually much of which is on a moored boat. We ordered three tapas, ham & cheese poppers (excellent), tomato and cheese on bread (ok - little too mild) and anchiove stuffed olives (all for Ralph, and very good I must say). No sangria, yet, but we will have to try one meal.
It's another beautiful night, and after our small plates, we will have to go for giant gelatto! Gotta manage those calories. The pier is alive with life. All the stuff we read about no where to eat until after 10pm seems not to apply to this area, as it is very much geared toward tourists.

Nice Posture

These seats are all angled forward. It's not me.

Like so much in this section of the Poble de Espanya, objects have an artistic expression, including these seats. Before this we were in the Picasso Museum, entrance is free as part of the cost of admission to the Village. A number of Picasso's as well as Miro's are there. Also works for other artists who could be famous, but not to me.

I'm telling Ricky!

Proof that Mom has been unfaithful to little Ricky, Karen is caugh here with another cat!

Actually there are cats all over the place. With one exception, they all have basically the same coat (like this one).

Karen is also caught coming out of another shop. What a shock.

Taking in the Placa Mayor

Well we made it. Fortunately they had a choice of cafe's around the Poble de Espanya and picked one. It's good to sit down for a little while (and also make use of their banos) as we had been walking for quite a while down the hill. Did I say banos? Actually it was just one, with two toilets. Open to all with the courage to use it. Which we had. The Spanish Village, is a comprised of replica's of the various regions of Spain, with buildings and shops that represent the different cultures of each region. We should start moving soon to see it.

Onthe Road to Poble de Espanya

My not be able to tell from this photo, but Karen was none too happy with me. After lunch, we walked around the fort. Great views of the city, the marina, the working port, the airport and the sea. It is worth walking all the way around to take in all the views. You can also see to Mount Tibidu, which we will be sure to visit week.

During our walk, I was on the look out for a couple of things. One were signs to Poble de Espanya (Spanish Village). The other was the tram station where the teleferico from Barceloneta ended. I spotted neither. In fact, there were signs for almost nothing and what was there only related to the fort. Except for the bus sign. That should have been a clue. the Spanish Village was over a mile away - as the crow flies. I know, because I had it GPS marked. Unfortunately we are not crows and we had to walk the twisting road down the mountain. Actually, we could have used the return for the cable car, as we ended up walking right past the station. But we didn't.

Anyway, we got to a point where there were some benches and Karen wanted to put them to use. So here they are.

A scene from the fort

Done with lunch, we are ready to begin our tour of Montjuic. This is a great spot to get a view of the city and valley below. It is an amazing city, with incredibly diverse architecture and topography.

The Furnicular

Bit out of order here, but this is the furnicular train that is coming into the station.

Baguette Time

Much has happened since the last post. We walked Las Ramblas all the way to the Columbus monument, and the turned right to find the Furnicular. I admit I misjudged the angles a bit, and we walked further along than I intended. But we did get to the Metro station and the Montjuic furnicular. As I had read many times over, we bought the T-10 ticket, which is for 10 trips on the Metro (busses too) and a much better deal than a single ticket. We got to play experts too. A French couple were trying to figure out the Metro ticket machine and trying to figure out what to buy in order to get to the top of Montjuic. Though we were as clueless as they, they followed our lead.

From the Furnicular, we then followed the crowd to the Teleferico, which takes you to the top of the mountain. 11 Euros later, we made it to the top. It is now about 2:30. We have been on the move for over 2 hours straight, without food or drink. It is time for something to eat and a beer!

Las Ramblas

The famed boulevard in Barcelona. Did not plan to walk it today, but it is on our way, and should be interesting. Karen has read that there is shopping on this street, so she is out ahead.

Actually Las Ramblas is great people watching. The street vendors are comprised of birds, souvenirs and flowers and many many cafe's. Not much to buy and fun to walk and watch.

We've been on the move very ever, time for a beer

After St. Mary's we kept walking. I had read that there was a Tourist Info store by the Cathedral, but if there is we never spotted it. We did spot a sign, however, for the store at Place de Cataluyna and there we headed. We got our map, we got our tickets for the hop-on/off bus for tomorrow and we started our walk toward Montjuic. We are tired and we need a break. It is now after noon. Here, across for the University, is a street cafe' and here we will rest up.

This is a good thing, as I just discovered that Placa Espanya' is not the place for the Furnicular to Montjuic. Placa Palace is. That saved a lot of walking.

Saint Mary of the Sea Basillica

I may get to correct this, but the timing on some of the posts are screwed up, because image files did not upload properly. This is the first post of Sunday. We actually went to 9am mass at St. Michaels, a church about 3 blocks from our Condo. This is Santa Maria de Mer, which is one of the major churches her and is located in the Gothic Quarter.

San Miguel where we went to mass is a very simple church. Most interesting to us was the parishioners. They were all locals. What is so surprising is the area we are staying is seemingly dominated by tourists. The beach and marina are near by. Partying goes on all night (which I slept through, but not Karen) and it is a wonder that there locals living in the neighborhood. But there are. Many in fact as we observe our street and others around us.

Before church, we had a cafe' leche' at the corner cafe. Excellent. The coffee reminded me of the coffee we got in Italy, incredibly smooth. After church we go another coffee at another cafe', but it was no where near as good.

After that, we got into our walking gear and headed to the tourist info store to get passes for the Bus Touristic for tomorrow and a decent walking map (which we had none). On our way, we stopped at St. Mary's here and had a look. A beautiful Basillica, to be sure.

The Catalan Dance

We made our way into the Bari Gotic to check out the mass schedule at the Cathedral. While there, we entered the Placa, and what do we find, but much dancing. Just like in the Travel Channel videos. It was like a battle of the bands. Two groups taking turns playing traditional music, and a bunch of locals in tourists alike dancing in circles. Barcelona is an interesting mix. Perhaps because they were oppressed for so long and so recently, the Catalons have held on to their culture tightly. These efforts do not feel staged. Instead one sees the older generation here very much in tune with their heritage. I suspect that succeeding generations will not hold on so tight and eventually, events like this will be staged rather than organic.

Enough deep thoughts for one day. Let's go eat.

Super Mercat!

Time to stock the refrigerator. Just 2 short blocks from our Condo is a beautiful, 2 story super mercat. On the first floor are fresh fruits, vegetables, fresh baked bread (looking that tasty bagette, and the loaf of bread in her hand!) and meats. On the second floor are all the essentials, including a bar soap - which we needed since neither of us thought to bring some.

Beer Time!

This is a photo of where we had our first beer in Barcelona. This is where we killed time while waiting to meeting the "concierge" to sign the rental contract, get the key and any special instructions. We were to meet him at 2:15pm, so we had about 45 minutes to kill. We walked two blocks to Passeig Joan De Borbo and turned left toward the beach. We found this place a couple of blocks down on the left. There is no shortage of restaurants and cafes. We soon realized that in Barcelona, they combine two of our favorites into one type of cafe: gelatto and beer. This was just such a place. Very civilized!
The beer was Estella Damm. As we have come to realize, Damm is the brewer and have a variety of beers. The Estella is very nice. Not sure yet whether it is a pilsner or a lager. But very smooth.