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Published: March 29th 2009
La Rambla
Looking up the La Rambla in the morning before the crowds show up. Friday - Day 10
First thing we went back to La Rambla and walked down to the port area where our cruise ship will be docked on Monday. The weather was warm so we decided to head back to La Rambla and stop at the Mercat St Joseph which is a large farmers market like place but much more than we are used to in the states. There were over 100 stalls where vendors were offering fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, charcuterie, candy, breads, pastries, spices, and just about anything thing else you can think of in the way of food. We picked up some cheese, pepper salami, pasta, red peppers, fresh shelled peas, onion, garlic, asparagus, bread, and headed back to the apartment. Jim was looking forward to cooking so this was his chance. Since we have been eating so much Jamon and other meats we decided on a more healthy lunch with mostly vegetables. Since the weather was nice we wanted to eat lunch on our terrace. We cooked up our lunch and ate on the terrace with some Sangria. However, before we could head up to the terrace, we had to watch the DogCam we have running at
Pimentos de Padron
These peppers are grown in a city called Padron and are served fried in olive oil with salt. One in every ten has some heat. These were introduced to us by Chuck, one of Jim's brewing buddies. We now grow them in our garden. home. We know it would be close to the time that Jim's mom would come in to let the dogs out. We were just watching them sleep until mom came in. Technology is great!
We found one of the best deals in Spain - a one liter box of Don Simon Sangria for 1.10 Euros. Surprisingly it is as good as any Sangria we have had in a tapas bar. After lunch we relaxed a little too much and fell asleep on the terrace in the sun. Luckily it is a private terrace so we did not need to worry about anyone disturbing us. Finally we experienced a true Spanish siesta!
After our siesta we did some laundry and then headed out to find one of the best martini bars in Europe called the Dry Martini Bar. After a half hour walk we found it and it was a classic bar . Watching the bartenders shake a martini was like watching a flamenco dancer, they had rhythm and style. We sat at the bar and after about a half hour the regulars showed up and we quickly felt like we were sitting in their spot. Lisa got the
The Mercat de St. Joseph
Around lunch time the market is packed with locals. feeling they were the Spanish mafia but Jim thought they were the guys that owned all the pigs in Spain. Either way they were powerful people. We finished our drinks and headed back to our neighborhood.
Along the way we found a tapas bar that serves pintxo tapas. These are small single tapas with a toothpick in each of them and you can pick as many as you want in any variety and when you are done the waiter counts the toothpicks and charges you for each one. Similar to dim sum and being charged by each plate. The selection was amazing and Jim seemed to try each one they had to offer. While sitting at the counter a young couple from Austria came up next to us and were curious on which of the tapas were good. Since Jim had most of them he offered his opinion and before we knew it we where talking about our families and where each of us had been. One common question we get from all the folks we meet is what we think of our new president. The couple from Austria were no different. They also had to mention that the
Jim Cooking Lunch
Preparing lunch after shopping at the mercat. governor of California is from Austria. We must have spent an hour talking with them and enjoying tapas together. It was a great experience and we hope to run into them again in the next couple of days. They are here on a long weekend after dropping the kids off at her mother's house.
Saturday Day 11
The weather forecast called for rain so we decided to do some touristy things. We took the metro over to the Sagrada de Famlia that was originally designed by Antoni Gaudi and is still under construction. This church is not scheduled to be finished until for another 30 years even though construction began in around 1884. Taking the tour was like walking through a construction zone and even though it was Saturday there was work going on. Gaudi is known for designing many buildings in Barcelona so after the tour we walked a few blocks to see more of the buildings he designed. His work is unique and timeless. We continued to walk along Ave. Diagonal until we reached the Cort de Engles department store. This store is like Macys, Nordstrom, Sears, Alberstons, Whole Foods, and Museo de Jamon, all in
On the Terrazza
Friday the temp was about 70 degrees so we enjoyed lunch and Sangria on the terrace. one store. We only walked through three floors and found a full supermarket, specialty foods, tires, batteries, car stereos, makeup, perfumes, clothing, aquarium supplies, pet supplies, jewelry, shoes, and just about anything else you can think of. Jim looked for some Sierra Nevada Pale Ale but no luck. If any place would stock it, this store would.
Once we left the Cort de Engles we headed back to the apartment to rest for an hour. Then we headed over to Museu Olimpic where the 1992 Olympics were held to see the museum and the facilities. Luckily there are flights of escalators because it is quite a climb to the top of the hill. Within the museum, there was a kiosk where you could select from various sports and get clips of the events. Lisa was looking for her cousin that competed in the 1976 Olympics and won 2 gold medals (swimming). Unfortunately, they only had 3 clips from the Summer games that year and his was not one of them. She was disappointed but it was still a good trip.
From there we went to Font Magica - the fountains of Montjuic. The fountains go off to music
La Segrada Familia
The church designed by Gaudi and still under construction. at 7:00, 7:30 and 8:00. While they are not quite as impressive as the fountains at the Bellagio, it was still a great show. Unfortunately it started to get very cold and rained off and on throughout the day. Since it was quite cold, we were not too interested in venturing too far in search of a new place to eat. We opted to go back to the Irish pub. The same lady we met before was there and asked about our trip. The same waitress (originally from Australia) was also there. We had a bite to eat and a beer and ended the evening at home planning our adventures for tomorrow.
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John
non-member comment
Eating your way through the world...
Jim, Lisa, I'm really jealous, the food and, of course, the locations, are fabulous. I'm in the hunt for the fixins for the Obama inaugural luncheon for Max's birthday next weekend. Pictures will tell the story... Such fun to follow the travels, thanks.