geriandlennyblog: Monday May 16th Barcelona

Monday, May 16, 2011

Got up late and didn’t leave the hotel until about 10:00. The weather has been perfect for touring; in the low 70s and sunny. Our subway pass is really paying off and it is a great buy. The subway goes everywhere and we have figured out how to travel efficiently on it.

We had breakfast at the local café around the corner from the hotel; café con leche and a pastry, and then set off for the Guell Park to see more of Gaudi’s strange buildings, statues and structures. Gaudi originally wanted this area to be a housing project. That failed and it became a park. Our hotel concierge gave us instructions on how to get there. We made a mistake that we didn’t realize until the end of our trip. We had to climb the steepest and longest set of steps we have ever climbed except perhaps for our trip up the Great Wall in China. It was truly a workout. The steps seemed have no end. When we finally reached the park, we realized that we had entered from a side entrance which was much steeper than if we had come through the front gate. We actually toured the park backwards. This is definitely a worthwhile and a must see area when visiting Barcelona.

After leaving the park, we also realized that one block from where we climbed all of those steps was a street with several escalators going up to the park the same way that we climbed on our own. In retrospect, we decided that the climb was excellent aerobic workout and weight control.

For lunch, we then headed to a restaurant, Ceverseria Catalana which is near Eixample neighborhood on Mallorca 236. We got off at Subway stop Diagonal and walked south about three blocks, stopping to find someone who spoke English for directions along the way. This great tapas restaurant was recommended to us by Joan Frankel and Howard Mullin and it was certainly the highlight of our Spanish eateries so far. We had a huge lunch with terrific Sangria. When we left the restaurant, it was already 4:00 p.m. so we walked off our lunch along the Passeig de Garcia which is lined with posh shops. We passed the Manazana Dela Discordia which is a very interesting building. We are definitely finding that Barcelona is a very expensive city. We have to keep reminding ourselves that the prices are in Euros, not dollars. A simple tapas lunch can be about $40.00 and dinner close to $100.00. None the less, we seem to be having breakfast and lunch and then a coffee in the late afternoon, ending the day in our room with a bottle of wine and some snacks.

Before returning to our hotel, we walked down the Ramblas, stopping at the famous market called the

Boqueria where we bought some strawberries and bananas, cheese and bread and wine which we had for our dinner in our room. Our day today ended with 1500 steps which is 7.8 miles. We are certainly making our walking goal each day.