Hola Barcelona!

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Barcelona is a fantastic city: the pulse of Tel Aviv, the history of Rome, great food, music, culture...and it's warm! I love this place.

We arrived in the evening and the first thing I discovered was how good the tapas are. The bars are literally covered in choices - though not eating ham or shellfish narrows it down a bit. The couple of times I have eaten tapas in Melbourne they were not exciting but here they are a forum to be creative with combinations and flavours, using small amounts of top quality ingredients piled high on a slice of baguette. My favourite featured half an egg, an anchovy, a white asparagus, tomato and olive tapenade. Yum!

We are staying in the very evocative Barri Gothic, the old town which is a maze of twisting streets with accordion players and flamenco guitarists, outdoor cafés, impressive Gothic churches and hidden plazas.

On our first day we did a walking tour of Old Barcelona which was fascinating. There are so many layers of history here and the guide was full of great trivia. We saw the old Roman columns of the Temple of Augustus which until recently were hidden in the living rooms of a residential block of flats that had been built around the ruins. Also interesting and poignant were the walls of the Cathedral which include stones still bearing Hebrew words that had been removed from the Call, (Jewish Quarter from the Hebrew "Kahal" meaning community) after the expulsion in 1492. The tranquil Placa del Joseph Oriel bears the scars of the Spanish Civil War while in the buzzing main road La Rambla there are modernista buildings and a mosaic by Miro.

We also had a good introduction to Catalan culture and politics. Catalonia is scheduled to vote on independence in November and there is a strong movement for the culture with lots of flags on display featuring the four red stripes on a yellow background (supposedly the blood of Wilfred the Hairy after he slew the dragon and no, Monty Python did not make up that name!) The Catalan language is everywhere though they also speak Spanish and we are having fun conducting basic transactions in Spanish. Some people switch to English to help the tourists but lots don't and it's a real buzz when we understand or make ourselves understood.

After the tour we explored inside the impressive Gothic Cathedral and went to the Boqueria Market where we stocked up in fruit, vegetables, and some Spanish essentials like olives, anchovies and Catalan-style cheese.

Then we had a siesta before heading out late at night Spanish style for a street festival in Gracia. This was a real bonus that Alex, our guide, had mentioned was on this weekend in an inner suburb and it was packed with real locals - not tourists. We enjoyed a swing band and joined the people dancing in the streets.

...and that was only Day 1!

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