Barcelona - November 5, 2010

The Gothic Quarter

La Boqueria Market

After an uneventful but bumpy flight we arrived in Barcelona just as the sun was rising. We had arranged for a car and driver to pick us up so in short order we were off to our hotel, the Hotel 1898. The hotel was formerly the headquarters of the Phillippine Tobacco Company and is a beautiful old building directly on La Rambla only about a block from La Boqueria Market. The location could not be better for wandering around, especially in the Gothic Quarter. After taking just a little nap, we set out for our first walkabout. Since we love markets that was our first stop. The selections of all sorts of foods was amazing! I don't think I've ever seen so many hams and so many varieties of seafood. I'm not sure what some of it was.

From the market we walked along La Rambla for a few blocks taking in the sights. The street is perhaps the most famous in the city. With a tree-lined median where pedestrians can stroll and watch the many street performers it’s busy at all hours of the day and night. We had been warned to be wary of pickpockets there but we never felt uncomfortable. Next we crossed over into the Gothic Quarter, one of the oldest parts of the city.

In this area you can find some of the remnants of the old Roman walled city and also the Cathedral of Barcelona. Tomorrow the Pope is arriving and on Sunday he will consecrate Sagrada Familia Church. The area around the Cathedral was being made ready for his visit since he must be stopping there too.

After wandering around until we were tired and hungry we stopped at a lovely tapas restaurant that Katie and I had eaten at in May. It’s off the beaten path on a little square. We had a great assortment of tapas and a good house wine. We tried a couple of desserts too (we can’t do that every day!) One was a lemon sorbet with a generous splash of a Galician liquor called Orujo poured over it. It was potent stuff but made for an interesting combination of tastes.