Day 1: Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain - Getting drunk on Cava

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The day has finally arrived! After months of planning, my sister and I are finally going on our first Contiki two week trip to Spain, Morocco and Portugal. But first, we are spending an entire week travelling around Spain by ourselves. Our mission, to discover parts of Spain not included in the tour. Our first destination; Barcelona! Known for the famous architect Antoni Gaudi, great food and nightlife, Barcelona was definitely a destination we could not miss on our visit to Spain.



We landed in Barcelona around 5:00 pm on Friday, October 16^th. That gave us enough time to check into our Hostal, El Angels, and wander around the famous street, La Rambla and visit La Boqueria market.



For the off season, La Rambla and La Boqueria market were surprisingly very crowded. La Boqueria market was so crowded that in some areas my sister and I had to squeeze through the crowds. We hoped to have dinner at one of the restaurant stalls in the market but were dissuaded by the large crowds. We ended up having dinner at one of the many restaurants on the La Rambla strip.



I know, I know! I was informed by various internet sites not to eat at any of the restaurants along La Rambla. The food quality is not the greatest and the prices are expensive. Well, in my defense even though I read the warning signs, I was starving and didn’t want to search for a cheaper restaurant on the side streets.



We ended up eating at this restaurant called Pita House. We ordered the tourist menu del dia (menu of the day) and had our first taste of Cava, the Catalonia version of sparkling wine or champagne. But instead of the two single glasses of Cava we thought we ordered, we received a whole bottle of Cava to share. Nevertheless, the Cava was delicious and it more than compensated for the mediocre meal. By the end of the meal, we were both very, very happy!!



Our night concluded with us walking down La Rambla Street and watching the living statues at work. We stared up at the Christopher Columbus Monument and discovered a closed mall near the Port Vell harbour. The night ended with us taking the long route back to our Hostal where we crashed for the rest of the night.



Tomorrow, we visit the Sagrada Familia, the Hospital de Sant Pau, and the Museum of National Art of Catalunya. We end the night with a FC Barcelona football game! Stay tuned!

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