Barcelona, Spain: After a week of too many steps, it was decided to use the Hop-on-Hop Bus for our transportation needs today, instead of our feet. The bus made stops at several locations we wanted to see and it passed by several places we had been to in 1992. Plus, the bus had a stop one block from our hotel, near another famed Gaudi site, La Pedrera (Case Mila).
This job was a contract for Gaudi to build an apartment building. The owners would have two floors and rent-out the remaining floors for income. While most of the building is now used for tourism, three families have occupied their apartments for over 70 years. (Can you even imagine living in a place with hundreds of tourists traipsing through all day and night?)
We did snag seats on the upper deck of the double-decker tourist bus and enjoyed nice views of the city as we passed through the streets - narrow and wide. But stopping at Antoni Gaudi's most famous work in Barcelona - Sagrada Familia Cathedral - proved to be impossible due to the crowds and street closures due to the Palm Sunday procession. The Cathedral itself was covered in scaffolding.
But just a few minutes later, our bus passed by a large crowd gathered at a neighborhood church ready to celebrate Palm Sunday. We saw hundreds of people walking all over the city today carrying palm branches and flowers to be blessed.
The route took us to the Barcelona Football Club stadium (also under scaffolding) and then to the Olympic Stadium, which is now set-up for use as a football/soccer field. Some things looked the same as we remembered from 1992; some things we didn't remember at all.
When the bus reached the beach, we hopped-off and found a beach restaurant for lunch. It was a very busy Sunday, with large family groups gathered for picnics or lunch at the many restaurants lining the beach. Many of the establishments are paella restaurants. Some patrons may have preferred a seat looking towards the sea, but we were very happy with a table overlooking the chefs cooking paella.
No shellfish for us today, and they did offer vegetarian paella... but, really, why? Huge paella pans bubbling over the open flames, and it takes about one hour for the dish to be prepared.
We chose a salad of curly endive in a nutty Romesco sauce. The salad was filled with tuna, cod and anchovy and was simple and delicious. Though we could finish the salad - which was presented formed into a disk - there was no way to finish the potatoes and they were the best of the (way too) many versions we have tried during this week in Spain. I guess the Spanish potatoes themselves are just so lovely? Today's version had a bravas sauce most like the one I make at home.
Then it was back on the route to our hotel, where we grabbed jackets and took a taxi back to Montjuic (the small mountain in Barcelona that holds parks, museums, and the Olympic Stadium), to the Barcelona Beer Festival. I purchased tickets last month for this (no senior rate, but admission was only 6€), thinking DT would really enjoy it and he did! I enjoyed it as well, and they also had wine and food carts. Actually, the most interesting things I saw today were the actual "trucks" the food trucks and breweries were using. We both enjoyed chatting with the vendors and learned so much.
Usually the people inside the trucks knew more about their food or beer and had absolutely no idea about the truck. My brain was how these trucks would make great RVs, but the Belgian guy with the black and white truck suggested it can probably only go 20 kilometers a day! There were mostly Spanish beers, and many brewers from around Europe - especially the Czech Republic - and even Canada.
Pedometer: It was a long day of rest for me, but I still had 8,820 steps.
Until my next update, I remain, your hoppy correspondent.
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