Monday, October 10, 2022
One must always remember that every day should start with . . .
. . . a nutritious breakfast
Without question, ours did today
As we would see a lot of walking today in our quest for peak physical fitness levels, this meal was doubly important.
While everyone else was using our breakfast spot in La Boqueria Market, I explored the market a tad more.
One of my favorite photo ops
at La Boqueria
It was closed when we visited on Saturday but open for business on this fine morning.
Spanish ham in all of its
glorious forms
How long has that cross been
on this La Boqueria pillar?
Time to leave La Boqueria and
further explore the outside world that
is Barcelona starting with Las Ramblas
Betlem Church proudly
welcomed the new day
Colorfully flowered balconies
We boarded the Metro at Plaça Catalunya and headed back to Antoní Gaudi's magnificent Basílica de la Sagrada Familia for both another look and to buy the necessary tickets to enter this incredible church.
Where the Glory side of the Basílica
meets the Nativity side
A closer look at the Glory side
As we pondered this Gaudi
tribute to nature, we found out
that tickets could only be purchased
on-line, definitely not in person
Brian tried furiously to work his
internet magic via his phone to get us
tickets for some time today
Due in part to poor internet reception and, I'm sure, to some of Franco's remaining Fascist minions jamming our attempts, none of our requests for tickets were able to be completed.
We decided to try again later today from my computer back at the flat to see if we could accomplish a purchase for tickets tomorrow.
It worked so we'll be inside La Sagrada Familia at 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday.
It should be spectacular!
We entered the FC Barcelona store
across the street from La Sagrada Familia
Tempting but no
I liked the Catalan flag stripes
on the left sleeve
We had been thwarted on our La Sagrada Familia plans but were undaunted in our zeal to get more of Gaudi regardless of the consequences.
We boldly highjacked a taxi for the
trip to Gaudi's Park Güell
This fanciful sight is tucked in the foothills of Barcelona. Gaudi's original intention was for this to be an upscale housing development for early 20th-century urbanites.
For whatever the reasons, it just did not take off as planned. What we have now is a space with some more of Gaudi's love of nature in clear evidence and grand vistas of Barcelona.
Gaudi for sure
Building things with a rugged
but natural appearance
I wonder what the acoustics
would be like in here?
Pretty good I'll bet
Maybe he could help us answer
the acoustics question
Ok, it is a good acoustical spot
Impressive
Güell is Catalan for sweat
On this warm and humid day, while traipsing mostly up and rarely down these Barcelona foothills we did a lot of güelling.
That's why we were happy to stop and pose for all the photos that Brian wanted to take of us.
How did Gaudi's mind work I wonder?
Oh Lord, more shiny things!
I was partial to this
artist's palette
The Trias House
located at the uppermost
edge of Park Güell
Wild parakeets in need of water
Barcelona vistas
That's La Sagrada Familia on the left with the ever present construction crane high above it.
The Gaudi House Museum
A smart way to easily display
your portable jewelry store goods
Always blending with nature
Park Güells vista point known as either
The Greek Theatre or the Nature Square
The view of Park Güell's
exit area
Where's Laurie?
There she is!
This entire theatre/square is lined with these broken tiles and extremely comfortable seats designed by architect Josep Maria Jujol and built between 1909 and 1914.
It was great to sit with this gorgeous
creature and enjoy the Sun and breeze
for some time while Brian and Koreen
visited the Gaudi House Museum
Simply breathtaking
The backside view of
our previous seats
The support beams beneath the
theatre/square that we just visited
A nice Gaudi touch on the
ceiling never hurts
Shooting the Gaudi curl
I liked this innovative fence . . .
. . . made to look as if it were
constructed of palm fronds
A gingerbread house,
if you ask me
Then there is the exit area
Careful niño, it looks hungry!
A jaguar fountain
At least I think it's a jaguar
More of the my gingerbread house
Brian captured this tile work nicely
That's it, the more than
interesting Park Güell was
a great stop for our expedition
We headed back to our flat to buy those pesky La Sagrada Familia tickets.
This kebab spot is near our
flat and is always busy with
hungry customers
After our short break, we were back at it exploring Las Ramblas as it heads to the harbor area.
Another colorful balcony left
over from last weekend's festival
on Las Ramblas
Guarding the Columbus Monument
at the base of Las Ramblas
People watching at its finest
with this worldly young man
Koreen abhors seafood but it
seems as if that prawn likes her
An iconic Barcelona harbor sight
The Postal and Telegraph Building
Celia Cruz, the great Cuban singer
This is the doorway to one of my two favorite bars in this area. Unfortunately they were both closed on Mondays.
Damn.
We kept moving along in the
backstreets of the Barri Gòtic
George Orweel served on the democratic,
anti-fascist side during the
Spanish Civil War
His book, Homage to Catalonia, is all about his experiences during his time serving on the Barcelona front.
The Love Couple takes the point
Koreen led us to . . .
. . . the Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas Store
Based in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, the heart of Germany's Romantic Road. That was the store where Laurie once got hopelessly lost.
Their Barcelona shop was infinitely smaller thank goodness.
Of course they had Alpine clocks
Christmas ornaments galore
No surprise there.
"The Shitter"
A Christmas ornament?
As they story goes from the 18th-century, a farm worker like this one in traditional garb taking a dump in the fields is a sign of good fortune as his waste would fertilize the fields insuring a great crop cycle the next year.
Honestly, you just can't
make this stuff up
On to more colorful balconies
After our last pre-Covid visit to Barcelona, I started reading rave reviews about an ancient tapas bar located in the El Raval district that I had never heard of before and, obviously, had not frequented.
Until tonight
The mystery spot in question is called Quimet y Quimet and we found it with little trouble.
Quimet y Quimet is located
on a small street
The tapas bar is even smaller, able to only serve about 25 people who will all be standing to eat and drink.
There was a line of about 15 people waiting outside but the queue moved quickly as the Quimet y Quimet staff had things well in hand.
Once inside, we learned of their three house rules.
Rule #1: Everyone who enters must order food to eat.
Rule #2: An individual and/or group can only order as maximum of five tapas at a time.
Rule #3: An individual and/or group can only stay in the bar for a maximum of one hour.
We processed all of the information
and proceeded by throwing
caution to the wind
This sign has the man on the left from the Tourist Information Office asking the two travelers if they need directions to any sights for Gaudi, Picasso or Miró?
The two tourists respond by saying, "Yes, but first give me the directions to Quimet y Quimet."
At the bottom of this sign it states that this tapas bas was founded in 1914.
Lots of libations to choose from
Koreen was promoted to
Assistant Tour Guide today
Hence, the official matching shirts symbolic of our group travel company.
On the left is some AMAZINGLY smooth
foie gras with black volcanic salt
On the right is a yogurt based salmon and honey concoction that also brought smiles to our faces.
These Jamón Ibérico tapas with
caramelized onions on top were
pleasing to my pallete as well
We had a great first visit to Quimet y Quimet to say the least.
Their tapas' core concept is quality ingredients first and foremost. I really felt that I needed to agree, these may easily be the best tapas in Barcelona.
Now, about that one house Rule #3 . . .
We needed all of this quality
nourishment to re-energize ourselves
after a hard day of exercise
Just another GREAT day in Barcelona! Tomorrow we visit the inside of the Basílica de la Sagrada Familia, stay tuned . . .
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