Barcelona - Day 2

Number of steps: over 15,000+
Number of drinks consumed: 1 Fanta, 32 oz sangria, coffee con leche, water
Number of tapas consumed: 3
Number of jamon/cheese sandwiches: 2
Today we woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed. Ready to take on Barcelona. With the sleep wiped out of our eyes we went down to breakfast. 

We weren't really sure what to expect as several of the reviews said the breakfasts were horrible. We had a backup plan to go to la Boqueria for breakfast if it was bad. Turned out it was fantastic. They had two espresso makers ready to brew you a fresh cup of coffee, hot milk ready for your café con leche and all the fixings of a European continental breakfast.  Pastries, fruit, yogurt, toast, cereal…and my personal favorite, ham and cheese with hard crusted - but soft in the middle - bread, and an assortment of salamis.  What were those reviewers thinking? They also had some warmed items like scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon. Which I couldn't imagine why you'd want to eat when there was a hard role, ham and cheese for the taking. 

 

Filled up on goodness we headed out. Our first stop was the hop on hop off tour of the East side, and in my opinion, more interesting side of Barcelona. I love these hop on hop off busses. They let you see so much of the city with little to no effort. The guide was a recording and was right on with all the sights.

 

The tour started and ended at Placa Catalunya. After we finished we were both famished. Café Zurich was right on the corner and while we assumed it was a tourist trap, with tourist trap prices, we thought the people watching would be worth it. And oh boy was it. 

 

Lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich and an Orange Fanta. I love Fanta in Europe. It tastes sooo different. Janet had a beer and ham/cheese sandwich. We ate and watched as so many different types of people walked by. It was very obvious who were the tourists and who were locals just trying to get through the crowd to get to work. 

 

 

We had to be at the tourist information desk at 3 pm for our Picasso tour so to kill time we wandered around Placa Catalunya. So many things going on there…so many groups of teenagers out on spring break trips. Ugh.

 

Our Picasso tour guide, it turned out, was none other than our buddy Carlos from the la Sagrada Familia tour. Again we were blown away with his knowledge and how much he clearly had a passion about art and specifically Picasso. 

 

 

He walked us all of the Gothic Quarter neighborhood point out old haunts of Picasso. One of which is the 4 Cats. 

 

Famous for being where Picasso and his buddies used to hang out and draw. The walls are lined with Picasso paintings. Janet and I surmised that they were likely replicas otherwise this little restaurant would need quite the security team.

 

From there we walked through the neighborhood of El Born which is where the museum is. He took us through many of the rooms in the museum explaining the differences in the work and really outlining all that Picasso accomplished. He really was a master at art. Some of the paintings he did when he was just 9 amazed me. I could barely draw a stick figure at 9, let alone almost perfect portraits of family and neighbors. 

 

Carlos released us to our own free time. Janet spent a few more minutes in the museum. I, on the other hand, was ready to sit. I sat out in the waiting area and watched a gaggle of teenagers from France get schooled in the history of Picasso.  None of them wanted to be there…and I wondered if that was how we looked in school the entire time some teacher was yammering on about some masterpiece. I sometimes wished I would have paid more attention. 

 

Out of the museum and we found our way back to la Rambla. I was amazed at how easy Barcelona was to get around. Their streets are all clearly marked, once you know where to look. The street names are all on the sides of the buildings. Once we figured that out, with a map in hand, we could find anything…and we did. 

 

 

 

We had seen these amazing sangrias being served on la Rambla and so decided it was time to stop and have one. Did I mention they were 32oz and served in a huge glass stein with one regular straw and one LONG straw? Janet ultimately broke her long straw and so had to resort to drinking like a normal person. Tapas accompanied our sangria. We wouldn't, after all, want to drink on an empty stomach. So we had Iberian jamon, the traditional bread wiped with a tomato, garlic shrimp and fried potatoes (reminded me of the cubed fried potatoes served every dinner at TASIS.) We ate. We drank. We drank some more. Then we tried to stand.

 

Oh boy…we were snookered. Walking back to the hotel was amusing - to say the least. We get there and Janet literally stumbles into the hotel and almost bites it. Thankfully the lobby was PACKED and everyone just looked at her. She said I abandoned her and just kept walking to the elevator - ignoring her…I don't remember that. I had been drinking after all.