Barcelona (AUGUST 11, 2015)

August 10 to 11, 2015

We arrived in Barcelona about 8:30 pm and got to our hotel about 9 pm. Even though I had declined an email offer to upgrade our room to one with a view that would be soundproof, I declined. I knew the hostal was on La Rambla which is noisy 24/7, I didn't believe it would be sound proof, and I didn't want to pay the money to be kept awake all night. Well somehow we got the upgraded room, didn't pay the extra money, and it is pretty sound proof. So we made ourselves comfy and relaxed after our 11-hour journey. 

The next morning we went to the Mercat, an amazing market of fresh food. They have stalls with an extensive offering of juices or cups of cut up fruit and melon. This morning I had a cup with watermelon, cantaloupe, pol de sapo (which the Spanish just call melon- kind of like honeydew only better,) pineapple, dragon fruit and a piece of fresh coconut. Leea had juice. She also had a croissant and I also had a Spanish tortilla. And we both had café con leche, of course. The latter we got at a little cafe where you sit around a stall on stools and in the center of the stall, in full view, they prepare and serve the food and drinks. It's a great place to people watch. This morning we saw a woman, older than me, with a full head of purple hair.  

Breakfast at the Mercat

 After breakfast, we sussed out a laundromat for future use. Then we hopped on the Hoppy bus. The one here has three different routes. We took the red route this morning. There are lots of people in Barcelona right now. I have been here four or five times in the past 15 years and I have never seen it this crowded. The hotels are at 95% capacity. And they have become the number one cruise ship port in Europe. It is crazy busy. 

Toward the end of the red route, it was getting hot so we hopped off the hoppy bus and walked along the port to a nice restaurant and had a bite to eat. Leea had salmon and patatas bravas, and I had grilled razor clams and small portions of Leea's lunch. Then we had a couple of café con leches. After lunch, we went back to the hotel for a brief respite. 

About 6 pm we hopped on the metro and rode up to see one of Gaudi's buildings, Casa Batllo, and to hop on the Hoppy bus for the blue route. The weather was cooler and there was a nice breeze. This route goes by the Sagrada Familia,  

Sagrada Familia

 Gaudi's masterpiece. He died in 1970 before it was finished and they are still working on completing it. I can't believe how much it has changed since I saw it in 2006. What was then the front side, is now more like the back side. Leea saw it when we were here in 2009, but I was busy recovering from major surgery at the Hospital del Mar down in the port. One of the highlights of the hoppy tour this evening was two young good looking guys on their balcony in their skivvies waving to the tourists. lol

On our way home from the hoppy bus we ran across a demonstration about human rights. I think it was something about the way some of the people who are in the country illegally are being treated.  What was really interesting is there were no cops in riot gear. There were a couple of cops in their normal uniforms patrolling La Ramla, as they always do, but they were just walking in front of the protestors. So there was no riot.   

Protest

 We stopped for helado before going to the hotel to relax and sleep.