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Published: November 14th 2011
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Note: All events in this entry occurred back in April 18, 2007. For more updated entries and trips, please refer back to this blog at a later date. All updated entries and trips will NOT include a note like this. Thanks and enjoy!
I leave Valencia I think around 8 AM GMT and I arrive at the train station via taxi. Before getting on the train, I had to put my luggage through security. After my luggage was cleared, I now had to wait for my train, which arrived an hour later. The train ride was nice and very comfortable. It was a three hour trip from Valencia to Barcelona, made easier with the film that was being played. I forget the name of the film, but I know it was about the encounter three children had with a haunted house, that also talked. I knew the film was American, but was dubbed with Castillian. I think food was provided on the train as well.
I finally arrive in Barcelona, and I take a taxi to my hostel. After I am shown to my room, I secure my luggage and get advice from the hostel staff on how to
get to Las Ramblas. Before getting on the metro, I pass by Casa Batllo, Antoni Gaudi's commissioned work of an apartment with a facade and interior depicting Saint George's slaying of the dragon. I only got to see and take a picture of the facade before I went underground.
Eventually I arrive to Las Ramblas, and I spend the remainder of my afternoon here. It was pretty much as I expected it to be; it's a long boulevard found in the historical center of Barcelona, similar in design to the Cours Mirabeau in Aix-en-Provence. The reason why I deign the Cours Mirabeau and Las Ramblas sister boulevards is because they are both wide, primarily pedestrian except for two surrounding ash fault roads that run parallel to it for automotive traffic, and attract lots of street vendors. However, the street vendors and also the additive of street performers that make Las Ramblas unique. I passed by several florists and also a huge part of the boulevard dedicated to local artists selling their works. I also saw some very unique "mimes" I guess you could call them, with closer routines to the ones you encounter throughout the Boston area. For example,
I encountered a man with fuchsia face and body paint covering his hands and neck. He is wearing a suit, with a lei of flowers dangling from his hands, and a sign that said in English "Welcome to Barcelona." I also saw another "mime" with bronze colored body paint and a late 19th century style men's suit that has been spray painted with the same color and he is "riding" a bicycle that is mounted in place. I found these two and other performers with similar routines to be the most unique I had encountered, until I moved to the Boston area three years later.
Like the Cours Mirabeau, Las Ramblas has various stores, restaurants and shops that are associated with it. I remember seeing a lot of American chains like Starbucks and Dunkan Doughnuts, and I think even a Burger King, however there were some stores I didn't recognize. Anyone who has ever been or has planned a trip to Barcelona has heard about the wonders of Las Ramblas' famous establishment, the indoor food market. I will admit, I was not as enchanted with this market as I had been with the indoor food markets I had seen
Random Building
This was located near my hostel, as was Casa Batllo in Dijon (refer to my blog entry entitled "A Day in My Life,") Florence (refer to my blog entry entitled "Leather Jackets, Cappuccino and Gelato in the Rain" and "A Study in the Florentine Church and Tuscan Cuisine") and Valencia (refer to my first blog entry related to Valencia). This is because I saw a very small selection of raw fruits, vegetables, seafood and meat but a lot of little restaurants, mini grocery stores selling canned, bottled and dried food and homemade juice stands. However I did purchase some lovely pork loin, head-on shrimp, chorizo, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro, and onion from four of the sellers for several of my dinners. I remember cooking the pork loin that night, in a Puerto Rican style sauce with my own twist on my mother's sofrito (a seasoning sauce made with garlic, onion, pepper, and tomato base which sometimes includes vinegar, red wine, cilantro, lime juice or other herbs and spices according to the cook. It is often added as the first seasoning element in a Caribbean, in particular a Puerto Rican style cuisine, before other ingredients are added.) My meal turned out perfect and I remember that the pork was very tender, succulent
Mime 1, Las Ramblas
This is one of several mimes you will see along Las Ramblas. This gentleman is pretending that he is a moving statue of a 19th century gentleman on a bicycle. and had a sweetness to it that American pork just doesn't have. This made me glad for my purchase at Las Ramblas' famous indoor market.
I briefly leave Las Ramblas in order to see the Christopher Columbus monument featured at the very end. I wanted to go into the Maritime Museum across the street but it was closed. I then take a walk along the port where I admire the board walk, people watch and look at the palm trees. I then go back to the hostel and cook my wonderful pork dish in my version of carne asada. After talking to a few fellow guests I then decide to go to sleep and prepare for a long day of sight seeing the next day.
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