Eating and Walking and Eating and Walking

A few more pictures taken while wandering around Barcelona...

You can't really resist stopping in at La Boqueria market, which has been basically in the same spot since the 13th century. As crowded and touristy as it is, it's an amazing way to try some amazing foods.

Not just ham.

It's a zoo, but worth it to get a seat at one of the tiny kiosk eateries in the market.

They use olive oil here like the French use butter.

The seafood was really fantastic. I would almost warn those who aren't a fan to not even bother showing up. The shrimp, the langoustines, the squid, the fish, the shellfish.

Here's looking at you, kid.

Afterwards, a walk through the gothic quarter to check out Barcelona Cathedral.

They have an odd policy where Saturday late afternoons, it is free admission after a certain time. A line begins to form for people waiting for the free hours to begin. I sat down in front of the informational sign and snapped away.

There was a really excellent Picasso museum nearby, plus a really friendly bar where they served natural wines and were happy to chat about them.

On the weekends, the giant "magic fountain" does a light and music show. It's quite something. A wee bit of Las Vegas.

Barcelona

Barcelona is magic.

It's perpetually sunny and warm enough to shed some layers, even in November.

In some cases, a lot of layers are shed.

I instantly fell in love. The people lived to be social and eat good food well into the night. Unearthly amounts of food. They put the shame on the Italians as far as meal sizes go. I ate more good tapas then I ever thought possible. It's just a leisurely and fun way to eat- sharing and chatting and drinking wine well into the evening.

It was a fantastic place to explore. Having five days was not enough time here.

I kept my schedule open...it thought that if I didn't love Barcelona, I could mosey on to another place by train. Five days here flew by, with nowhere near the coverage a city properly deserves.

The crowds on La Rambla, the main tourist street, were a little much, but there were lots of little old streets and neighborhoods to explore and quickly get away from that.

I'll get to the Gaudi stuff in a bit, but they had a really crazy architectural aesthetic here- a nice existence of new, ancient, and weird and artsy.

You can't really call the Barcelonans "Spanish" (it's akin to calling Scots "British". You just don't.)- they are Catalans, and intensely proud of this.

I do love a good beach-side city.

It was a bit cool for a dip, but perfectly pleasant otherwise. There's lots of bars and nightclubs along this stretch of sand, so I'm sure this is an absolute mad place in high summer.