Tours, Taps & Tapas: Part I (Barcelona, Spain)

Barcelona

After a few hours of broken sleep throughout the night, we arrived in Barcelona. One easy trip by train, we made it to our superbly located AirBnB in the Eixample area. Last minute, as we were traveling standby, we were able to find a two bedroom, clean and centrally located apartment for less than half the cost of two hotel rooms. We headed out to get some tapas nearby and enjoyed some wine on our balcony, before taking a stroll on La Rambla and getting lost on the labyrinth-like streets of the Gothic Quarter. As the Spanish do, late in the evening, we again stopped at a local taverna for more delicious tapas, and drinks.

The next day was jam-packed with walking adventures. We were awed by the genius design, old and new sections alike, of the Sagrada Familia; an artistic beauty. We marveled over Park Guell’s historical and creative features, and then found ourselves enjoying the Labyrinth Park of Horda's romantic gardens and hedge labyrinth. Tired feet aside, after a little rest, we discovered a foodie’s treasure called La Triunfal.

Speaking of food and drink, we did a lot of eating and drinking on our trip and mimicked life in Spain. We ate delicious local Tapas, and drank beautiful beverages 3-5 times a day, stopping to enjoy the surroundings, often overlooking an incredible square, vista, cathedral, ancient architecture or Alcazar. There were far too many places that were a delectable experience to list them all unfortunately. I will dream of the food and drink in Spain.

Barcelona, and many other Spanish cities, still offer many markets. We visited La Boqueria, one of the most popular markets in Barcelona easily found just off the La Rambla. After strolling with the masses, food and drink called our names again, and we found our way to a market taverna and knocked off two more traditional Spanish tapas off our list of “Have to Try” tapas while in Spain. After eating, we were able to take in the massive, colorful market with every kind of Spanish food and drink you could want, enticingly displayed.

We wound our way to the port through the winding streets of the Gothic Quarter, ducking into The London Bar to avoid the rain and a quick drink, and found our way to the port. We viewed the Columbus Monument, took in the walkways leading to a shopping and dining complex, and paid for tickets to stroll the boat show at the marina and dreamt of life of the “rich and famous”.

I often seek out a sunset in the places I visit, and what better place in Barcelona would there be but Montjuic. We took the funicular up and strolled further up the hill seeking a good sunset location. We had gathered savory sandwiches, water and some Spanish red wine ahead of time and were looking forward to rest after two days of intense walking. We accidently found the Olympic Ring, a group of buildings and grounds used for the 1992 Olympics. After glimpsing through a gate and catching a soccer/football practice on the Olympic field, we found our way to the Torre Telefonica Tower, a beautiful piece of art with a practical function as well. Surrounding us were the beautiful lighted columns, water features and Olympic history whispering it's tales of hard work, competition, excitement and pride. We imagined the thousands of people that filled these grounds 25 years ago, and the sense of human connection that was felt as the world watched. And, despite some low cloud clouds, the colors of the end of day over the city and the port of Barcelona did not disappoint.

As we made our way down the hill to catch the fabulous nightly show at Font Magica, or the Magic Fountain, we were drawn to a crowd gathering in front of the Palau Nacional (National Palace), which in now home to the National Museum of Catalan Art. We were delighted that we did because when we arrived on the impressive steps in front and turned our gaze to view, we could see the spectacular fountains. The museum is actually the 'icing on the cake' of the the city's awe inspiring project to mark the International Fair of 1929, positioned high on the hill above columned flanked cascading waterfalls with twin staircases and terraces, all leading to the majestic Magic Fountain. And at night, lighting created a vision, both from above and below. We had a seat on the steps and enjoyed the fountain show from above with it's rhythmic dance of water coordinated to colorful lights and music. As the show went on for longer than an hour, we eventually made our way to the fountains themselves where we could fully hear the classical and popular pop music experiencing the full effects. Our only regret about visiting this area was not having time to visit the museum. Apparently, the inside rivals the splendor of the outside.

Note: Beware the pickpocket capital of the world! Despite being extremely aware of this fact, one of us still had our wallet taken on a very busy train. Slickly, a team of youth managed to get into a zippered side leg pocket and off the train before we realized it had happened. Awareness was not even an issue, as we were very conscious that this group was trying tactics to distract and it still happened.