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The slow start this morning may have had something to do with the bucket sized glasses that the Spanish serve Sangria in!
We had breakfast and visited the rooftop of the hotel to see the city. What a beautiful site it was full of churches and interesting architecture at every turn. We were looking forward to exploring some more. Ray, his lovely wife Sandra and their beautiful 10 month old Eric had offered to show us a Spanish Style sunday, an offer which we gratefully accepted. Our walking tour started at La Rumbla with the strong advice to hold onto our bags/wallets. Unfortunately there are many foreigners (mainly Moroccans and Romanians) who have moved into Barcelona as professional pick pockets and tourists are a key target with La Rumbla, tourist attractions and the Metro being the worst places. We had heard this about much of Europe, but there is something about locals telling you in their own city and relaying personal stories of incidents that makes it all very real. We were yet to realise how real exactly it was.
On our walk we covered so much of Barcelona. We spent a good 12 hours walking, talking and exploring, stopping at little tapas bars in between for small tastes of Spain and refreshments. The day was particularly hot, so water was in great demand by all of us!
It would take too long to offer all of the details of our tour, but a few highlights ( and one not so high) come to mind.
We explored the Gothic Quarter where many of the churches and buildings date back to Medieval times.
We visited Eglasia de Santa Maria del Mar (St Mary of the Sea Catherdal). Built in the 1200's it is renowned for being one of the finest examples of Catalan Gothic Architecture. Also Barcelona Cathedral, the Gothic cathedral and seat of the Archbishop of Barcelona. The cathedral was constructed from the 13th to 15th centuries.
We visited El Born, a fashionable little neighborhood with lots of art galleries and small Tapas bars. We stopped at a at a Pintxos (pinchos) bar - a snack which consists of small slices of bread upon which an ingredient or mixture of ingredients is placed and fastened with a toothpick, which gives the food its name "pincho", meaning "spike". These little morsels are savory heaven, and very filling!
As we enjoyed our discovery of the many different laneways we listened to the spanish guitarists busking.
We visited Parque de la Ciudadela, a beautiful park in the centre of the city with everything from the boating lake to the bands that play in the summer to the weekends. It even has a hidden mammoth and and huge fountain that was designed by Catalanian architect Josep Fontserè. We spent some time under the shady trees chatting and watching Sunday in the park. We also enjoyed some impromptu freestyle tap dancing in one rotunda by a local tap troupe which was really fun to watch.
We headed to a restaurant called La Bombeta where we ate Tapas and tried the signature dish: Bombas Picante. These are balls of mashed potatoes with a savory mince inside which have been rolled in flour and fried. They are served with a garlic mayonnaise and a hot chilli sauce. As the sign in the restaurant states - we don't speak english, but we do make the best bombas (loose translation). They are YUM! We also may have had a sangria to wash them down with.
We were then joined by Carlos and Christina, two close friends of Ray and Sandra's, and we continued our walk to visit Barcelona beach and the newer area near the water, created for the Olympic Games. I have never seen beaches this crowded! We walked under Barcelona's golden fish sculpture, known as Peix, which was commissioned for the Olympics. It faces the sea and measures 35 by 54 meters. It is made of stone, steel, and glass. Its copper-colored shiny metal plates sparkle in the sunshine.
We stopped again for further refreshments... It was very hot... And then made our way to the Magic Fountain.
On our way to the fountain we caught our first taste of the pickpocketing. On the train Rossco and I were spotted by 4 Romanians who proceeded to crowd us and attempt a pick. Lucky for us Ray and Carlos saw the thieves and moved us out of harms way before anything could be taken. Unhappy with the locals intervention they moved elsewhere.
The Magic Fountain of Montjuïc is an illuminated fountain located at the head of Avenida Maria Cristina in the Montjuïc neighborhood. The fountain was constructed for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition and was designed by Carles Buigas. As the fountain goes through changes in water flows across the 120 jets coloured lights and music are carefully coordinated to the water, which turns multiple colours from the lights whilst film, classical, and modern music is played. There are hundreds of people littered around the fountain enjoying the show, and the spay of water during the show that hits the audience, due to the great heights that the water surges to, is welcome on a balmy Barcelona evening. The fountain is spectacular and a brilliant way to cap off a great Spanish Sunday.
Our new friends Carlos and Christina accompanied us back to the hotel to make sure that the evening remained a great one!
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