One Last Sangria

What to do with an extra full day in Barcelona?  Put on our walking shoes and hit the pavement!  Truly no better way to explore a city than on foot.  The things you come across accidentally are often the best and getting turned around or "lost" isn't stressful, it's fun.

Our train to Marseille leaves at 16h45 and so with an early start, checking out and storing our luggage at the hotel for the day, we set out, aiming to be back at the hotel by 330pm to give us enough to time to get to the train station and figure all that out.  With my trustee pocket guide, we make a shortlist of things we haven't yet seen and we go out to find them.  It's like our own personal scavenger hunt.

We didn't get to explore the city's most famous market La Boqueria even though it was right off La Rambla and basically down the street from us as it was closed the day we intended to go. So this was a perfect opportunity,  We hadn't eaten breakfast yet either, so what better place to get your fill up of delicious food than the local fresh market.  This one is clearly geared to tourists as well as locals with it's fresh cut fruit cups available by the thousands.  All kinds of fruit, every combination imaginable it seems and all pretty reasonable - 1 to 2 Euro depending on the type.  They look delicious!  Sue got one, however I got sidetracked by a bakery stall that had these enormous cinnamon buns in the counter.  And anyone who knows me, knows these are my biggest weakness.  So I obviously can't say no to that, and grab a sandwich and a cappuccino on the way out of the market, clearly leaving no room in my hands for a fruit cup.  Oh well...

La Rambla is getting crowded and is shaded so we make our way to Placa Catalunya, the main square to park our butts, picnic and people watch whilst enjoying the beautiful Mediterranean Sun.  And that cinnamon bun?  Heavenly!  Also had some apple filling in there somehow... The Angels are singing!  

From here we make our way down Passeig de Gracia which is Barcelona posh shopping district.  Wide streets, lots of people and very expensive stores.  Every big city has these streets, but this one was particularly charming with it's different architecture and all its greenery.  Barcelona is truly beautiful.  Dare I say the most beautiful city I've been to?  Maybe not... But it's very very close!  Down this street somewhere are a few more Gaudi structures that we had passed on the hop on hop off bus but missed as the bus doesn't really stop for you to look at them.  The first one is Casa Battlo which personally reminds me of something out the The Little Mermaid and the other is Casa Mila which is completely different and lacking the typical Gaudi colours but maintains those curvy features and unique intricate details. They are both museums and come highly rated to go through, however they were both very expensive to enter and given our limited time, we wanted to see as much as we could.  #SpeedTourisming

Gaudi wasn't the only guy building interesting structures in the city.  Before and after him, some inspired by or learning from him all left their marks on the city and you rarely turn onto a street without being taken aback by the uniqueness of some of the buildings.  

Barcelona is big on the green space.  There isn't a lot of "park" space due to the way the city developed but the city has clearly invested so much in making sure its streets are full of beautiful trees, plants, shrubs and flowers, especially in the more residential areas.  Walking through there you feel great.  The air feels cleaner, the colours brighten your day both literally and figuratively and make you feel like you are in a quaint neighbourhood and not the middle of a metropolis.  

More churches, always churches to go check out and of course our last day in Barcelona would not be complete without one last Sangria.  Bittersweet.  Not the Sangria itself, it was delicious, but the fact that it is our last one here...  We found a Arc de Triomphe that for whatever reason was not listed in my pocket guide but was super cool and a beautiful park with gorgeous fountains and a little lake for people to enjoy (ok more like a pond... but it's still nice to have in the middle of the city).  Working our way back to the hotel, we walked through what we thought was a market (as that is what it's called and that is what it used to be) but is now in fact a cultural centre with archeological remains of the old city from the 17th century.  It is free to the public and has a lot of very interesting information and history about the market building itself as well as the lifestyle of the people who lived where the remains are.  Also has very lovely and very clean bathrooms - which is ALWAYS a good find in Europe.  Double win for Mercat El Born.  We ended with a quick stroll back through the Gothic Quarter after a visit through the las market - Santa Catalina, but it was closing already and we were pressed for time.  BUT I am a professional of course (ok, not really) and I did get us back to the hotel at 3:32pm precisely on time.  

Aside from having to lug large heavy suitcases through the subway station, getting there was relatively simple.  Lucked out having the train station on our metro line a few stops away.  Barcelona Sants station runs like an airport and is as nice as one too.  Stores and restaurants and big open spaces, easy to get around.  Pro tip, unless you dont have baggage, dont get a coffee just before crossing security.  Sure they let you bring it, but it creates quite the obstacle trying to load your luggage on the belt with a coffee in your hand.  Ask me how I know... Haha