This unreasonable stress hit me like a ton of bricks on our first full day in Barcelona, so we decided to hit some of the major highlights of the city on...
Day 6
Barcelona, Spain
Highlights: Las Ramblas, La Boqueria, Barcelona Cathedral
Thanks to our trusty Rick Steves guidebook, we had a decent plan of attack for trekking through the city. We started at Plaça de Catalunya, the city's central square and the meeting point between the old city and the newer Eixample district. We wandered around the square, admiring the statues, fountains, sculptures, and ridiculously bold pigeons, before moving along our self-guided tour.
Our first leg of the tour included Barri Gòtic, the oldest section of the city with ruins and buildings that have survived since the Middle Ages. On our way, we passed by Els Quatre Gats, a gorgeous cafe that served as a creative meeting space for most of Barcelona's prominent artists during the modernist period, including Pablo Picasso and Antoni Gaudí. We also noticed some remnants left over from the Catalan celebration (pro-independence rally) the day before.
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| Els Quatre Gats |
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Barri Gòtic was stunning. We spent most of the afternoon transfixed by the architecture, ambling around with eyes up and jaws dropped as local artists played music on nearly every corner. We navigated down narrow alleys and soaked in the atmosphere of outdoor cafes and boutique shops. Wheat was thrilled when we stumbled upon Roman ruins tucked between newer walls and we dodged a soccer game being played by children at recess in the Jewish Quarter. I'll let the pictures do the talking.
The crown jewel of Barri Gòtic, the Barcelona Cathedral, was open for free exploration later in the day, so we decided to skip it for the time being and stop for a lunch of pintxos (essentially tapas on bread). There are tapas restaurants on just about every street, so it took a while for us to finally settle on one. If you ever travel to Barcelona, I highly recommend eating at a traditional pintxos bar because it's an experience in and of itself. These restaurants have long bars lined with plates piled high with all kinds of tapas - meat, cheese, fish, fruit, and veggies on bread prepared hot, cold, sweet, and savory. All of the tapas have a toothpick in them that the waiter uses to calculate your tab at the end of the meal (basically a fixed price per toothpick). We had a blast sampling different ones and going back for more of our favorites.
After lunch, we made our way to Las Ramblas, the city's most famous street. Nestled between two lanes of traffic is a gorgeous pedestrian boulevard flanked on both sides by massive trees. Vendors set up shop on the walkway, selling souvenirs, candy, and flowers while street performers and living statues do their best to earn your spare change. Due to the atrocious terror attack that occurred less than a month before our visit, there was an increased police presence on the street and we also noticed several notes scribbled on trees and benches in remembrance of the victims.
I'll be honest - I could have spent all day on Las Ramblas. Tourists and locals alike congregate in this beautiful space to sip their coffee, peruse the market, and enjoy the sunlight that peeks through the trees. At the beginning of the nearly mile-long street, there is a large water fountain (Font de Canaletes) topped with a lamp post. Rumor has it that if you drink from the ornate fountain, you will return to Barcelona one day. I'll let you guess whether or not we took a sip...
While strolling along Las Ramblas, we ran into my personal highlight of the day - La Boqueria. The city's famous public market is an absolute dream for anyone with a camera. Vibrant colors abound as you pass vendors selling produce, meat, cheese, fish, candy, and everything under the sun. Although it was crowded, we had a blast walking around while sipping freshly squeezed juice and going into sensory overload with all the sights, sounds, and smells of the market. Side note: The old man smiling with his bobblehead likeness below is named Juan and he owns Bar Pinotxo in the market.
Las Ramblas also provided us with Wheat's probable highlight of the day - the NBA Cafe, the world's only official NBA restaurant (for now). We spent longer than I'd like to admit checking out the memorabilia and the wall of jerseys, measuring our hands and feet against the likes of Shaq and LeBron, and playing basketball video games. Of course, there was a particular focus on the Gasol brothers (Pau and Marc), Barcelona's most notable contribution to the NBA.
When I finally pried Wheat away from the video game, we made a quick beeline back to Barcelona Cathedral, which was opening soon for free tours. There was already a line of tourists stretching from the front door when we arrived, but we easily passed the time by marveling at the gorgeous gothic exterior and the massive bubbles being blown by a street performer nearby. The cathedral, like most I've encountered in Europe, was astounding with impressive high ceilings and bell towers. It is dedicated to the one of the city's patron saints - Eulalia - a girl who was martyred at the age of 13 for refusing to say that Jesus was not the son of God. Her tomb lies in the church's crypt and the beautiful cloister now keeps 13 white geese in her honor (and as a rudimentary security system).
From the church, we made our way back to Las Ramblas to finish the trek down to the Mediterranean Sea. The street culminates with a large monument to Christopher Columbus, who reported to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand in Barcelona after his first trip to the Americas. When we'd had our fill of the water, we hopped on the metro and took it back to our hotel to rest our abused feet. We closed the night with a trip to a local restaurant for another Spanish delicacy, paella.
...because with that amount of walking, haven't you earned that pot of ricey goodness?
