BARCELONA, DAY TWO!

 Hotel Pulitzer
Barcelona, Spain
Friday, November 4, 2022

I thought La Sagrada Familia needed a post of its own. What did we do the rest of the day?  It was about 1 p.m. when we walked out of La Sagrada Familia. Right across the street was a restaurant, Picasso. We needed to have something to drink and a little lunch (no breakfast), so we ate grilled ham and cheese sandwiches at this pleasant little bar/restaurant.

Picasso Restaurant

Inside Picasso

Can you guess what this is?

From there we caught a taxi to La Rambla, a tree lined street with a central boulevard. No matter the time of day, there are always crowds of people strolling the street. We explored all 8 floors of  El Corte Ingles, a department store, and I bought TK a very nice flannel plaid shirt there. The top floor had a sort of cafeteria with gourmet choices and a wonderful view of the city. 

 We walked (or should I say limped) along La Rambla to the wonderful Mercat (Market), which is remarkably full of people and vendors. It is sometimes considered the heart of Barcelona, and the best market in the world. We spent hours wandering the aisles, taking in the smells and colors of all the offerings. One can purchase so many kinds of sea creatures-squid, octopus, crab, shellfish, fish. The meats were plentiful, the array of spices, salts, oils, candies, exotic fruits I did not recognize, as well as those I did (pomegranates, oranges, bananas), empanadas, pastas, a pleasure for the senses.  Small delis and bars are among the offerings.  According to the Internet 40,000 people a day visit the market which was established on this very spot in 1217.

Market on La Rambla

Spiraled potatoes!

Fruits and peppers and more

Juices

We decided to have dinner at La Poma, a restaurant we ate at in 2012. TK had a version of paella without fish, sort of a risotta with mushroom.  I had a pizza margherita, tomato sauce and mozzarella. I know we are not imaginative when it comes to eating, but my stomach dictates that. 

1/2 of Janie's pizza--very good!

This robot would carry food to the tables

 

Another stroll back to the hotel after we stopped for strawberry gelato (me) and lemon (TK).  When we got to the hotel there was a very long line (I’m guessing over 200 young people) in front. I asked at the front desk what they were waiting for: a YouTube personality’s book signing!!

Anyway, we must prepare for tomorrow’s trip to Montserrat!

 TK’s Takes:  He had 12000 steps today. We ate at the same place we did 10 years ago and Janie had the same thing-pizza.

 

Janie: 11,000 steps