BARCELONA, WE MADE IT!

 Hotel Gaudi

Carrer Nou de la Rambla, 12, 

Barcelona, Spain

Sunny, 57F

We traveled from 1:40 p.m.  to 6 a.m. EST the next day on 3 jets from Erie, through Charlotte, JFK in NYC, then on to Barcelona--the flights were relatively smooth, and we ate well on Iberian Air. TK is such a master travel planner and he made sure we had larger premium seats, just the two of us in the aisle, 1st row, with lots of leg room and easy access to the bathroom.  

On   the way to the   hotel I noticed this interesting cemetery with crypts dug into the "mont." 

This is Montjuic Cemetery--organized in 1883

Warm weather greeted us as we found our preplanned  taxi driver who drove us to Hotel Gaudi, which is about 1/2 block from Las Ramblas, a favorite and well known tree lined street in the older part of the city.  So many people share our love of strolling this street. After we freshened up a bit (about 3 p.m. BCN time-9 a.m. in Erie), we did just that. There is so much to do! 

Las Ramblas--will post better photos  tomorrow!

Our first stop was Mercado de La Bouqueria, the famous market,  The smells, colors, textures, variety, are amazing, from marzipan candy, to sea urchins, to empanadas, to pomegranates, to emu eggs and Kalamati   olives!  

Eggs, including emu and ostrich!

Beautiful vegetables!

The market

By now I could see that TK was fading and he wanted to eat--we stopped at La Poma where we have eaten before and shared a pizza with Iberian ham, tomatoes, arugula, mozzarella, parmesan cheese, and tomato sauce, and Coke Zero.  I love the little robot they  use to deliver the food, but not the pizza,  

La Poma restaurant

menu

our pizza

A darling little robot that carries plates to diners

I don't sleep on airplanes, so why I was OK, I don't know, but we returned to the hotel so TK could rest and I could write. He did a wonderful job of planning this trip! 

TK's Takes:  He wishes there were benches along Las Ramblas for sitting.  He was cranped on the first two flights, but thought the flight overseas was much better, but very long. Great seats!

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