Breathtaking Barcelona

Colourful buildings in the square ...

Arrived in Barcelona and the sun was shining and the weather was hot.  It was ironic that the day we left Paris the sun was shining there after three days of cold and rain.

Entrance to the old Cathedral in the Born area - or is that Gotic?

So Paul and I arrived at our next BnB, where we were hosted by Ron and Tadeki.  We had this very comfortable room right in the Born district, which is right in the old city centre.  And if you have been reading my blogs, you know how much I love ‘old’ and ‘city centre’.

Through narrow streets and cathedrals ...

So  making the most of our new found sun, Paul and I dressed for warmer weather and headed out to explore and get some much needed albeit late by North American standards, lunch.  Here lunch is between 1 – 4  pm and then everything for the most part closes and dinner typically starts at 8 pm.  What I don’t understand is how most people remain fairly slim eating dinners so late – but then again they also stay up later.  Personally, at this point in my life, I like getting to bed at 10:30 – 11:00 pm.  Gawd, I am sounding old.  What can I say, I love sleep and I am a morning person for the most part.

Salvador Dali clocks for sale

So after Paul and I had some yummy, albeit expensive tapas (don’t let them ‘suggest’ the ‘jambon’ without checking first how much they are gonna sock it to ya) we decided to go for a walk and explore our ‘neighbourhood’.  Well I loved it.  It had a different energy than Paris.  Right from the start, the people seemed happier and friendlier.  And well I have always loved Spanish tapas.  So the food tasted better.  Although there were still lots of tourists and of all different nationalities, they didn’t seem to be as concentrated as they felt in Paris.  Of course, we had not hit the main attractions yet … but still.

Narrow streets ramping up from the gates of the old Roman wall

So we roamed about the Born and Gotic neighbourhoods and were not disappointed.  Narrow cobbled colourful and expressive streets greeted us at every turn.  Restaurants and stores appealed to our curiousity and then we found the remnants of the ‘wall’.  The old Roman wall from the days when Barcelona was Barcino and was a Roman settlement.

Streets artists creating really big bubbles

Well once again, if you have read many of my posts, you know how much I LOVE Roman history.  So this absolutely appealed to my desire to fill my history cup.

The Roman Gartes

We followed this funky narrow ramped and bridged walkway.  We found an old church.  We found some old ruins.  We found an inner courtyard filled with palms, plants, a fountain and geese.  Everything was beautiful.

The inner sanctuary

So this was my first impression of Barcelona.  I was happy as a pea in a pod.  Lots of pedestrian thoroughfares, lots of funky places to eat, and lots of history.  I haven’t even begun to hit on its artistic expression.  That’s for the next post.

Mirror mirror on the wall ...