Exploring España
Just like everywhere we’ve been so far on this trip, Barcelona has turned on the blue skies and sunny days for us. It’s a lot more humid here than it was in London. We took a quick trip to the organic food market around the corner to grab something for breakfast and saw plenty of UFVs-unidentified flying vegetables (well OK they weren’t flying but they were definitely unidentifiable). There were huge orange citrus fruits, like grapefruits- but orange, cute purple and white striped eggplants, all kinds of tomatoes in various shades of red, brown and green and stone fruit that was all misshapen and flat. I guess that’s what food looks like without the genetic modification. They had yummy bread too but the coffee was nothing short of atrocious. Barcelona hasn’t dazzled us with its coffee that’s for sure.
After a leisurely morning hanging around the unit, we walked up La Rambla again in search of a connector for Molly’s computer. Mission accomplished, we attempted to browse in the shops but the natives were restless and lots of the shops had pulled their shutters down, closed for siesta! They shut for around three hours in the middle of the day, not opening again until 4:30, they trade right up until 8pm! Wandering over to the Gothic Quarter (Barri Gòtic) we marvelled at the narrow, winding streets, many of which were built in Roman times! While the streets of Barcelona are a neat grid, the Gothic Quarter felt like a labyrinth, making it a little harder to get our bearings. It was like an urban Mallorca. Barri Gotic was full of cute little dress shops, amazing shoe shops, chocolate shops (chocolate is ‘xocolata’ in Catalan – isn’t that a great word?!), cafes and bars. We stumbled upon a local design market which had some fantastic stuff. I fell in love with the framed mosaic tile pictures, made from fragments of colourful Spanish handpainted tiles. Im not sure they’ll fit in my luggage, sadly. They also had gorgeous bright coloured jewellery. Molly couldn’t resist a cool handpainted t-shirt and bought it with some Birthday Euros (thanks Jayne!)
Toby farewelled us this morning to go and hang out with his Spanish school friends. He’s absolutely loving being back. It’s great they’re all on school holidays so they can spend time with him. Though we were warned repeatedly about pickpockets in Barcelona and have our hands on our bags and wallets at all times in fear of the Artful Dodger, Barcelona seems relatively safe. We were initially hesitant to let Toby take the Metro by himself, especially with his broken leg, but he knows it like the back of his hand and he assures us he did it ‘all the time’ when he lived here. Crossing the hectic roads here, we have a laugh each time, when all six of our heads turn in practiced unison to carefully check the RIGHT, before venturing off the footpath, which is of absolutely no help when the traffic is on the other side of the road! There are mopeds galore in Barcelona and you have to keep your wits about you because they seem to randomly drive along the footpath when you’re not expecting it.
There’s a beautiful big square – Plaça Reial – in the Gothic Quarter, surrounded by Barcelona’s signature apartment blocks with their wrought iron Juliet balconies and huge shuttered windows, where residents can peer down at those mingling below. Plaça Reial has a magnificent fountain in its centre, while tall, well-established palm trees and ornate street lamps dot the Square. Spoiling us for choice, was the plethora of vibrant restaurants and bars housed under huge archways at the foot of the buildings surrounding the Square, with their outdoor seating areas spilling out onto the walkways. We met Toby and had some amazing tapas there.
One thing I haven’t liked about Barcelona is how many people smoke here! There seem to be no restrictions about smoking in restaurants and bars and it’s like being back in the 1970s. Today I snapped when the lady at the table right next to us was puffing and spewing out her gross smoke ALL over our food and I asked her, politely of course, if she could please refrain while we were eating. She was actually quite shocked that it would bother us (?!) but did move seats to give us some relief and was very nice about it. The kids told me I was “SO embarrassing” but hey, aren’t parents supposed to embarrass their kids? Jokes aside, Europe needs to do a lot more about educating its people about the dangers of smoking and passive smoking (around kids too!) and get some better laws in place. It actually angers me to see so many young people puffing away and makes me appreciate how far we’ve come in Australia. Sorry, rant over!
Off La Rambla is an incredible fresh food market, La Boqueria. Full of colour and pulsating with people and energy, this place is a smorgasbord of culinary delights including cheeses, fruits, veggies, cakes, pastries, jamon and chorizo. We had a moment of horror when we turned one corner and saw a pile of skinned sheep’s heads staring at us with their big goggly eyes! This was the stuff of nightmares!
After lunch we braved the stifling heat of the packed Metro and visited the magnificent ‘Batlló House’, an architectural masterpiece designed by famous Spanish architect, Antoni Gaudi in 1907. Toby and I were the only ones who were keen to do the guided tour so after a quick look, the others went and grabbed a drink while we walked around inside and marvelled at the imagination, innovation and design that had gone into this place. The building had a slight theme park quality to it, the colours and shapes inside reminding me of Alice In Wonderland. I expected to turn a corner and run into the Cheshire Cat. Curved ceilings, twirling staircases, coloured glass and rich wood – so beautiful! Our favourite part was the roof, with its chimneys covered in multicoloured glazed tile mosaics. It was incredible and so ahead of its time!
Tonight we had the pleasure of dining at the restaurant owned by one of Toby’s best friends’ families. Sebas, from Toby’s rugby team, and his brother Rodriguez were actually our waiters and they looked after us like VIPs! (Every now and then Sebas would whack Toby on the head with a menu!) Las Mañanitas had delicious Mexican food and the restaurant was packed to the rafters with sombreros, painted skulls, vases of fresh flowers and other cool Mexican memorabilia. It was a great atmosphere. I kindly complimented Sebas’ mum on her great English and Toby told me later she’d grown up and lived in the USA until she was 16! Oops.
We are trying to get on the Spanish timetable, eating lunch at 2pm and dinner at 10pm but we are flagging at the end of the day! No matter how hard we try, we can’t make it home before 11pm!
