Late Nights in Barcelona

While it's really fun to meet up with people in Europe, it often leads to late nights of drinking. On Tuesday night, we were to meet up with the recently-wedded couple for dinner but earlier Nicole had discovered that one of her college friends, who now lives in Berlin, happened to be in Barcelona. He was traveling with a friend so we decided to meet on a rooftop bar for drinks and pica pica.  Later, another friend who had been at the wedding joined us.  It would have been an earlier night but it started to rain which was not only not predicted, but also unusual for this time of year. It rained much longer than usual, according to the Barcelona people. We stayed under some umbrellas on the roof until we could all go home, ok, actually, until we were kicked out.

The first day back to Barcelona (Sunday), we visited the two most famous cathedrals, the Barcelona Cathedral and Santa Maria del Mar (the Sailors chuch), and the Music Palace. To see inside the Palau de la Musica Catalana, you must take a tour. Probably so they can keep an eye on you. The outside of the building is spectacular but it's hard to see all of it because it is hemmed in location by other buildings.  We got to hear the pipe organ which has over 3700 pipes. The main auditorium seats over 2000 people.  We were told that all types of music are welcome in this venue. The stage was not planned to accommodate opera, however, since there was already an opera house in Barcelona. Besides the main stage, there are several smaller auditoriums.

Skylight in the Palau de la Musica

Santa Maria del Mar

Monday was museum day. We visited the Picasso Museum and the Chocolate Museum which are very close to each other.  The Picasso Museum was actually a disappointment. I think it's the biggest collection that any Picasso museum has but his stuff is spread out all over the world. There were a lot of drawings for some of his major works and a lot of his earlier stuff. Also, there seemed to be a lot of doodles.

The chocolate museum is very small and fun. It contains a lot of information about chocolate--how it is made, how it got to Europe, how it was used in advertising and culture. But the highlight of the museum is its chocolate sculptures. There are various figures made of chocolate; probably the most interesting is the Pieta but we don't have a picture of that.

Don Quixote in Chocolate

In the afternoon, we walked Las Ramblas. Nicole had joined us by this time and showed us where she used to stay in a hostel in Placa Reial which is a beautiful square but not so safe at night. There's a lot of junk for sale on Las Ramblas but the highlight is the market. All types of food are for sale there, from exotic fruits to fresh fish. You could spend the whole day there but we bought some chocolate and ice cream and finally left.

Lola's Artsy photo of a scene in the Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria (on Las Ramblas)

Our last day in Barcelona we spent the entire day in Montjuic. We took a bus to the top of the mountain where there's a gigantic fort which has served to protect the various ruling class from wars and other conflicts. The cannons were last used in the late 1800s but it had been used as a prison and execution site until 1901. It was hot up there but the views are amazing. There are also acres of gardens you can walk through if you know the way.  A lot of people walk down the entire mountain but we made about half of it. First, we had to stop at a small roadside refreshment stand and later at a fancy restaurant for lunch. The area around the restaurant complex included a municipal pool which was built for the Olympics. The restaurant is Michelin recommended and very fancy. We guessed business people probably bring groups there for dinners. After we ate, we took the bus the rest of the way to Plaza Espanya and then the metro home.

Later, we walked to see the Arc de Triomf and had a light dinner of crepes.  Sounds French, but these were Spanish ones. Really.  Then we all packed to leave today; Nicole flew home to Chicago and we took a 5 hour train ride to Seville. And that's when the trouble started.

Arc de Triomf--Barcelona

We had the service from our Home Away rental pick us up because I was assured the drivers knew all the rentals. He did and we met with the representative who showed us the apartment. It's fantastic. There's 2 bedrooms, 2 great Spanish bathrooms, living room, kitchen, patio with huge plants and a washing machine and more storage than most huge homes have. It's very interesting. After the rep left, I happened to nottice I couldn't find my backpack which always has my computer, the alternate credit cards in case I get pickpocketed again, all the electronic stuff, etc. I thought I had a memory of having it in the van but feared I left it on the train.  So we called our contact person who said she'd make the driver return it but she never called us back to say he found out. Meanwhile, we discovered we couldn't make the wifi work so we called again.  Lucky for me, the bag was in the van and I got it back. The wifi problem, however, has not been solved but I can plug this computer into the router. Doesn't help the phones, though.

After the drama, we walked to the cathedral which had a long line and so did the Alcazar (a royal palace that was originally a Moorish fort). We bought no-line tickets to see both tomorrow. Spain gives the best deals to old people of any country I've ever been in. The reduction is at least 50%, sometimes more.  We're paying 4 euros to get into the cathedral while young people are paying 9.5. We do have to show ids though since no one can believe we're over 65.

 It is very, very, very hot here; in fact, I read that it is the hottest city in Europe. But we stopped at a restaurant that was recommended by our rep and had the best meal and the best wine ever so that made up for all the travel woes.