Buenos Dias From Espana:
It’s Saturday morning (almost noon) and the female side of the family is still sleeping. We’re winding down our Barcelona visit, having done most of the things we had intended to conquer. Yesterday we did visit Sagrada Familia (to go inside), but didn’t make it to the Mongjuic cable car, so that is on the docket today with a visit to the Barcelona Catedral (Cathedral). There’s talk of a walk down Passeig de Gracia, one of the very upscale shopping districts, another subway journey (looking for a train that goes above ground out in the suburbs), and the FC Barcelona game tomorrownight. And, there’s always eating.
Our apartment is very centrally located, right off La Ramblas, the shopping and strolling avenue with a wide walking boulevard in the middle. We’re in the area of the original Roman settlement. There is a fairly large area of what is probably best called old town, with the very narrow walking streets, lots of shops and housing above them.
Yesterday we took a cab to Sagrada Familia, which we had seen on the earlier bus tour. Sagrada Familia is a very unusual church (check the photos). I joke when I say “look it up”, but Sagrada Familiar is so different that it probably is worthwhile to look it up. Construction began in 1882 and is projected to be completed around 2028. The main architect was the fore mentioned Antoni Gaudi. There are six photos in all of the church, including two from the outside. The building is a one of a kind and the tour was fascinating.
Afterwards we hopped on the subway and went to La Bodegueta for lunch. We started with a list of about a dozen restaurants to consider during our Barcelona stay and La Bodegueta was on the list. The scouting report was that it was a local hangout and great for lunch. You entered off a main street, going down four steps (sort of falling into the restaurant). It had character and was completely full at 3:30, which is about when Spanish lunch is supposed to be over. Let’s just say the attitude was New York City, which should give you a little flare for the place and the waiters. The menu is nothing like a French menu and not anything like an American menu. Like many things, the menu was in Catalan, Spanish and English. Sophia got a tuna sandwich (a sliced baquette roll with a few strips of dry tuna). She asked for mayonnaise and we think the staff dug deep and discovered the only bottle in the restaurant. It’s not a staple, but you’ll get lots of things served with tartar sauce (not necessarily seafood). Marlene got some sort of breaded meat that was deep fried. She and Keaka each got a plate of fried potatoes. They were tasty and came with a spicy ketchup-like sauce and tartar sauce. I ordered a Spanish omelet. I figured I’d get a typical egg omelet with peppers in it. No, no, no. Picture a one-inch high cake pan. Fill it with a mix of stirred up eggs and junks of potato. Cook it, chill it and serve it, cut up into half-inch squares. My serving was about 1/4 of the pan. It had good flavor, but I believe it would have been better warm.
Then it was a cab back to the apartment. I went for a walk, as we’d never walked out of our apartment to the right. Well, there was entire new world. Just a few blocks away was the Catedral we’d heard about and plan to visit today. It’s located where some of the remains of the Roman wall are. I got a pair of photos, just to wet your whistle for the full photographic tour after we visit the Catedral today.
Then it was off to Flamenco dancing. The program was perfect --- 10 euros per head for 30 minutes of excitement. There are three shows nightly and the proprietor has a jazz club next store. The venue is very small, with about 40 seats, a bar and some standing room. They let you in 30 minutes before the show, the bar is open prior to the show. Everything is short, sweet and simple.
Marlene felt the Flamenco dancing was like war. Well, it is rather intense. It’s not the hula. It’s amazing what they can do. I have no idea how many folks can actually do that type of dancing at that level, but it can’t be that many. Of course, I know absolutely nothing about Flamenco dancing, except you better be able to tap your feet. You can look it up.
After the 8:30 show the kids wanted to go home. One can’t be removed from games and the computer for very long. So, we stopped at the pizza parlor around the corner and got them a slice of pizza. Interesting place. The pizza is prepared on a large rectangular pan (2 ft x 3 ft ?) and then cut into square pieces, as they only sell pizza by the slice. Not the greatest pizza in the world, but in Aix-en Provence it would be the best pizza.
Marlene and I had to choose between the large Italian restaurant on the list and a place called “Pork”, which tells you that story. We decided to cab over to “Pork”. Only one table was taken – it was10:00 pm – so we walked on. We were in the El Born neighborhood where there are lots of restaurants. My theory is if there are people inside there’s a reason. So, we saw a storefront restaurant with about 15 tables and it was jammed. In we went. It turned out to be an organic restaurant, but they had cold beer so all was good. I had my safe staple, leg of lamb. It was terrific, with a great sauce and mashed potatoes that were actually a mix of potatoes and carrots (pureed). The food was really good. It was interesting that by 11:00 pm people were coming in for dinner as if it was 7:00 pm. Of course, we were yawning.
Time to get the rest of the crew up and going. Down to two full days and plenty to do.
The Wilsons
