Holly Crowds!

We decided to take a different path then our normal route and wound up on La Ramba. La Ramba is a famous street that cuts down the middle of Barcelona. Many of the streets have middle walkways that are nice from strolling. Here we walked shoulder to shoulder with what seemed to be the entire cities population all jammed onto one street. Not a lot of time was needed on La Ramba, we ducked down one of the narrow side streets to head in the direction of the Barcelona cathedral. On our way to the cathedral we trekked down many tiny alleyways, some of which opened up into different city squares with restaurants, street performers and of course a ton of tourists.

On one of the alleyways we decided to stop for a sweet snack, it has been 4 hours since we had last eaten after all. We ducked into a gelato shop where we were given several samples. We decided on biscotti and were told that we got to pick two so we added a caramel gelato. Delicious does not describe this wonderful before dinner treat. We continued our trek to the church with gelato in hand and found ourselves again in another square.

This one was different in the sense that it was surrounded on most sides by a tall brick building that looked almost like a castle. A large staircase went up two sides into the corner of the building, it was very pretty so we decided to sit and enjoy our gelato (and Tina didn’t want Jared to eat it all since he was carrying it). We discussed what we thought the building was, even after looking at a couple maps and her guidebook Tina couldn’t figure it out. So we continued our trek in search of the church. Little did we know we were sitting on the back steps of the church all along.

We finally figured this out when we walked around to the side of the building, still wondering what it was and then again around another corner to discover the front of the church. The Barcelona Cathedral has a gothic 19^th century façade and was built in 1298. See photos of this breath taking cathedral and the intricate work by an architect other than Gaudi. To add to the ambiance of the church at dusk we followed vocal music down a small alleyway to find a man singing (in Spanish of course) with a crowd of many listening. After a song or two a viewer got up and joined him, much to our surprise this happened again when someone else approached. Before we knew we had a trio singing away, see the video for a snip it of the performance.

From there we headed back to Sagarda Familia to see it at night. We both agreed that they could have a few more lights on the structure. We added these photos to the ones of the church from our first viewing.

We ended the night with of course another small meal at a corner tapas bar, El Principle that was within 100 yards of our hotel. We walked by this bar at least 6 times, each time agreeing that we needed to go there! It was always crowded so Tina thought that it must be good. The beers were cheep, they were different from what we have been enjoying on our terrace, but also local to the region. Something that is common in Barcelona is 3 dollars for 2 beers.

The food was delicious; ever since lunch Tina feels a need to photograph what we eat. Can you tell she is a foodie! We ordered sausage and pesto, I know you are thinking “aren’t they in Spain not Italy?” but it was a wonderful fusion of the two cultures. The sausage was a mix of chorizo and Italian sausage, both cut into tiny pieces and mixed with a wonderful pesto sauce.

We also ordered a traditional tapas called Truita de Patates, which is pretty much a potato omelet, which came with Pa amb Tomaquet. That is the bread we have already had twice, again it was different from the first two times. We both agreed that the second time we had it, it was the best. The Truita de Patates was amazingly simple and delicious. One thing that has impressed Tina is the wonderful seasoning of the food. For those of you who have not dined with her, she salt and peppers everything, however it has not been the case so far.

We also ordered nacho queso. The cheese sauce was different from what we were used to, couldn’t decide what made it different. Not our favorite of the three, but the chips offered a nice crunch to the meal.

One thing Barcelona does not lack is outdoor seating, it was nice to sit, talk, eat and enjoy a nice cold beer and watch the world go by. Around one in the morning (the great thing about this trip is we have no perception of time as the hotel room doesn’t have a clock and we don’t always wear our watches) so we do what we want to do when we want to. We don’t feel confined to traditional American dinner hours or the stresses of having to get up early.

Much to Tina’s surprise upon returning to the room Jared didn’t want to go to bed, he was in the mood to do a little reading. The kindle has proved to not only increase Jared’s motivation to read, but also his enthusiasm towards reading as he talks about the book frequently throughout the day.

Live Entertainment outside the Barcelona Cathedral