Day 1 in Barcelona
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Today was our first full day in Barcelona. Being that we were affected by jet-lag, we did not get up until about 10:30, 
(after going to bed at 4:30am). Meghan's sister Erin met us at our hotel and acted as our guide for the day. First we walked to the open air market, and my heart was warmed at the sight of real meat: the entire pig legs covered in sand hanging from the ceilings. I was amazed at the selection of tropical fruits. My favorite being the bright pink fruits with a white center and black dots. We discovered carts that carried many different flavors of fresh fruit juices, which I will say was amazing. I got strawberry-pineapple, which was like drinking a strawberry.
After that I got a yummy looking pastry that had sugar and roasted pine nuts on top, then found a cafe and I had my very first Spanish coffee (or European coffee of the trip) which was delicious. After that we headed out to see the town.
I love large cities because of the metro systems. They may not be the cleanest places, but they allow you to get most anywhere in the city pretty fast. We did a lot of walking today, saw a lot of the city by foot. The Picasso Museum was interesting, although the one in Paris has a better collection of his most famous works. The amazing thing about the museum was the building. It was in the middle of the city, and they melded these 5 old beautiful pallazo type homes into the museum. They are all made of beautiful sand colored brick with giant archways.
We made it all the way over to the Gothic quarter of town, saw the old church, and finally got some lunch. We stopped in a nice cafe and got sandwiches, and of course, a "cafe con leche" - coffee with milk. After this we hopped on the metro and made it to the famous cathedral by Art Nouveau Spanish Architect Antoni Gaudi called the "Sagrada Familia". This building is AMAZING! It was already dark when we were there, but I had no idea about this place. First of all, it was started in 1882, and has yet to be finished. Secondly, this place is massive. I think they had to alter the original plans because they would have had to take out an entire city block.
(after going to bed at 4:30am). Meghan's sister Erin met us at our hotel and acted as our guide for the day. First we walked to the open air market, and my heart was warmed at the sight of real meat: the entire pig legs covered in sand hanging from the ceilings. I was amazed at the selection of tropical fruits. My favorite being the bright pink fruits with a white center and black dots. We discovered carts that carried many different flavors of fresh fruit juices, which I will say was amazing. I got strawberry-pineapple, which was like drinking a strawberry.After that I got a yummy looking pastry that had sugar and roasted pine nuts on top, then found a cafe and I had my very first Spanish coffee (or European coffee of the trip) which was delicious. After that we headed out to see the town.
I love large cities because of the metro systems. They may not be the cleanest places, but they allow you to get most anywhere in the city pretty fast. We did a lot of walking today, saw a lot of the city by foot. The Picasso Museum was interesting, although the one in Paris has a better collection of his most famous works. The amazing thing about the museum was the building. It was in the middle of the city, and they melded these 5 old beautiful pallazo type homes into the museum. They are all made of beautiful sand colored brick with giant archways.
We made it all the way over to the Gothic quarter of town, saw the old church, and finally got some lunch. We stopped in a nice cafe and got sandwiches, and of course, a "cafe con leche" - coffee with milk. After this we hopped on the metro and made it to the famous cathedral by Art Nouveau Spanish Architect Antoni Gaudi called the "Sagrada Familia". This building is AMAZING! It was already dark when we were there, but I had no idea about this place. First of all, it was started in 1882, and has yet to be finished. Secondly, this place is massive. I think they had to alter the original plans because they would have had to take out an entire city block.Labels: Barcelona, Gaudi, Sagrada Familia
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on Saturday, February 2, 2008 at 3:51 AM.
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Monday, February 04, 2008 1:45:00 AM
Sounds like the trip is still going real well. Keep up the updates.