Okay, it’s buenos dias most of the day, then switch to buenos noches in the evening, and, as I was told by a cab driver, don’t use buenos tardes until it’s almost time to go to bed. The buenos tardes may not be true, but it’s a good story. I thought tardes was afternoon.......oh well, it’s not important.
So, it’s 8:00 on Saturday evening and we’re in --- Marlene’s knee and hip hurt, so the walking has been concluded for this day. The day didn’t go as planned, but the beauty of being on vacation is the plan doesn’t have to work.
The photos show the basement of a little restaurant for coffee (small tables, drinks including coffee and pastries) down the street from our apartment. There were tables upstairs looking out onto the street and then the basement, The basement should be used as a fancy restaurant, but then I don’t care to get into the restaurant business. Marlene had her coffee there this morning (I was along for the ride). Under beverages and next to coffees on the menu, I went with “chocolate”. Below “chocolate” was “chocolate” with another word next to it and a 1/2 euro higher tariff. I asked if this was hot chocolate and was told “yes”. The higher priced hot chocolate beverage is with liquor. I didn’t need that. The hot chocolate came and it was a cup of the darkest chocolate ever imagined by man and it was like the thick chocolate sauce or fudge you’d pour on ice cream. Not really enjoying dark chocolate, it was a taste with the spoon and more money wasted as far as I was concerned.
We eventually made our way via the subway to the beautiful, rich fashion boulevard Passeig de Garcia. Thus, you get a photo showing the width of the street. It is pretty typical of many streets here in Barcelona. Also, find some photos of the architecture. Moments ago, after taking a taxicab home, we had a short walk to the apartment and it was like Times Square in NYC. So, I got a photo of Marlene and Keaka standing in front of McDonalds on La Ramblas (Sophia was a “no show” for the photo because Keaka wasn’t being nice to her). Then a photo of the “big” street right by our apartment – pedestrians only. And, finally a quick shot of the a little street just a few doors from our apartment. There’s no lack of action.
We didn’t get a real good start to the day, thus we didn’t accomplish much. We began by going up to the subway stop, but ran into the local farmers market. It would be tough to find a market more exciting and interesting than this one. The structure seemed to be an old railroad station (the covered area where the trains pull in). It would be easier to tell you what wasn’t there than what was. We got into buying nuts and had some of the biggest and best tasting macadamia nuts one has ever tasted. We ventured into what looked like a meat pie (crust, etc.) that had potato and cheese inside. That’s how they promoted it. We got it warmed up and the inside tasted like corn meal. It found the cylindrical very quickly. But, you’ve got to try. We eventually got on the subway and went to the stop to Montjuic Cable Car. I had checked the website to make sure it was open on Saturday and what the hours were. You get off at the nearest subway station, then there is an angled train of four cars that goes right from the subway station through a tunnel up a hill to the start of the actual cable car ride to the top of the mountain. We got there only to find out the cable car is closed Feb. 24 through March 5 for technical inspections. We would have liked some notice, as we ate up a lot of time. So, we took our disappointment back onto the subway and up to the fancy shopping area. We all were looking for meal #1 of the day (not including snacking at the farmers market). We covered a couple of blocks of Passeig de Garcia and wandered in to Burberrys and a few other shops. There were expensive shops and expensive people everywhere, if you get the drift. Nice neighborhood. We had eaten a couple of days earlier at a restaurant called “Samoa” right on Passieg de Garcia and enjoyed it and it was not pricey. So, we went back today. Throughout the afternoon I had been trying to find where we could get on the trams (above ground) or a train that went above ground, as we definitely determined that the Metro system was totally underground. I had a train lined up at a station attached to the subway station we had gotten off at. So, I figured a meal then a train ride to see some of the real people. Well, much to my surprise, when we sat down for lunch it was 6:00 pm. So, we ate, left the restaurant into the dark, skipped the train and came home.
Not the most exciting day of the trip. One thing for sure, it is extremely challenging to get any idea of where to go or what to see in a day or two or three in a city. At about day three I really get the hang of how to operate in a city and get some real enjoyment and learning from the visit. No matter how much preparation and study you do before the trip, there’s no replacement for getting real paper maps of the city and the transit system, and actually seeing things and getting a feel for the place.
Speaking of eating, two paragraphs back, it’s pretty clear that restaurant prices are 30 – 50% less than we experience in France. Maybe we’re actually in Mexico? McDonalds (McDon-ah as the Spanish call it) is the real test of price comparisons, and the Big Mac Meal is over 9 euros in France and just over 6 euros here in Madrid. I notice on restaurant bills the tax in France is usually 20%, while the tax here in Barcelona is 10%. That still doesn’t cover the big difference.
Being so use to everything being closed on Sunday in France, we asked if stores were open here on Sunday? The answer was “yes”, with a big smile. There’s nothing planned for tomorrow, though I’ll be taking the subway to Camp Nou (the FC Barcelona football stadium) at noon to get my tickets printed at the stadium ticket office (those same tickets I left on my desk in France – idiot!). Latertomorrow, my hope is to catch a train, which will go above ground and out to the outlying areas. You can’t see too much.
Marlene is trying to figure a way to watch the Academy Awards Show on tv. She believes it must be on here. Of course, it begins at 3:00 am Monday here in Barcelona. I believe she’ll have to get bits and pieces after the fact.
By the way, during our shopping trip I found myself in front of a group of television monitors. One was showing (floor) hockey, being played on a basketball court surface and looking just like ice hockey, but the players were using roller blade skates and the boards were only about 2-3 feet high. From a long distance it could easily have looked like an NHL game on tv. The FC Barcelona football team not only owns the football club, but they own the local professional basketball team and the hockey team, as well as operating an ice rink across the street from their football stadium.
Hopefully, lots of sleep tonight (despite the partying out the window that seems to last all night), so we’ll be ready to last until the 9:00 pm football match tomorrow.
The Wilsons
