Cathedrals, Markets and Shopping, Oh My!

Today (Saturday) was busy, interesting and delicious. We began the day by walking to the Metro to reach the Cathedral in Barri Gotic in the heart of Barcelona. It was a very interesting place and the organ music sounded like our church. We went to a museum (Monumental Ensemble of the Placa del Rei) in the old part of the city where there were structures and relics from Roman days centuries ago. It was very interesting, even for Molly who has had more than her fair share of museums lately. Afterwards, we enjoyed walking around the Gothic Quarter with its tiny streets lined with beautiful old 6-story apartments, shops and restaurants. At one of the side altars in another pretty church, people had hung little replicas of body parts on the golden gate which we think was for prayers representing their health issues....Jeff said we should tie a little ankle on there for him (since he has a torn tendon) which got me tickled so much I snorted! We got ham & cheese paninis and sat on the steps of city hall in a cute plaza eating our lunch and watching the end of one wedding and the beginning of another.

We went to La Boquieroa which, according to my trusty travel guide, is the best food market in Europe. It was the most amazing place we've seen so far and may end up being our favorite. The displays of fruit, vegtables, fish, nuts, candies, meats and animal parts (ranging from interesting to down right gross) are incredible and there were hundreds of people in the little aisles. We enjoyed fresh fruit drinks (like smoothies) and fruit trays for our afternoon snack...yum!

Next on our agenda was a little shopping. In addition to S'fera and H&M, one of the places we went to was El Cortes Ingles which is Spain's largest department store. It has 12 stories and we felt it our duty to explore all the way to the top. The top floor has a restaurant with an incredible view of the city, but unfortunately we weren't hungry. We had a rest stop/photo op across the street at Placa de Catalunya which is a huge plaza in the center of a great part of the city, complete with fountains, pigeons and beautiful trees and flowers.

Then all of us had a sinking spell and decided a cab ride to the hotel was a good use of Euros rather than the long walk, Metro ride, then more walking. We ended up taking a much-needed siesta and afterwards felt fortified to enjoy a Saturday night on the town.

We took the Metro (this involves a lot of walking, a couple of subway rides and more walking) to an area of town called Barceloneta which is on the port. It is a long strip of outdoor restaurants that lead to the beach. We got there about 6:30 and there were still tons of people on the beach, probably because it doesn't even get dark until nearly 10pm here. The water and sand are much prettier than in south Texas, by the way. We had dinner (outside, of course) and ordered Menu del Dia which is a fixed price 3-course meal since we had read that this is the best value meal. Molly and I out-ordered they guys (haha) with our steamed mussels appetizer and seafood paella entree...so good!

We parted ways for the rest of the evening. Jeff and I headed back to La Rambla and enjoyed walking up that boulevard which is interesting and festive at night. We ended up having Cava and the best cafe con leche ever at Cafe Zurich. We sat outside on this busy intersection people-watching and enjoying the cool summer evening in this awesome city. Meanwhile, Molly and Nathan shopped amongst the illegal street vendors for "Tous" tote bags, "Ray Bans" and "fine" watches. They too enjoyed a La Rambla late Saturday night stroll.

We have gotten a kick out of hearing Molly speak Spanish with the waiters and store clerks. (Maybe she can get extra credit in her Spanish class.) She has even gotten good a negotiating lower prices from the street vendors!

Click here for today's pictures. Click on Slideshow, then click on Full View in upper right.