Day 4 - Paella

My day started late and my plan for the day was to see the old town - which included Barri Gotico and a lot of other areas nearby.

I had resolved to stick to the recommendations in my guidebook with minimal deviations, after my adventure the previous day. My first stop was the lovely Santa Caterina market. While the Boqueria is the more famous market, the Santa Caterina is architecturally more interesting, while being just as lively and colorful. Fruits, vegetables, meats, eggs and all kinds of other things were on sale. There was even a stall dedicated entirely to different types of olive oils and vinegars.
My husband joined me later in the afternoon for a walk around Barri Gotico. This of course meant we visited the famous Catedral Le Seu - an imposing Gothic cathedral that had been built originally in the 13th century and received several additions in the sixteenth. After being in fake Gothic style churches in N.America, it was amazing to visit an actual one. We sat inside for a while and then went to the roof where in the distance we could see the forms of the Sagrada Familia echoing these ancient towers. Outside the church, two women played exceptionally good instrumental music in the hope of getting some coins from appreciative tourists.


We had an eclectic lunch of pizza rolls, yogurt and fruit juice and wandered some more. We even saw some ancient Roman ruins. My husband left in a while to go back to his conference and I made my way to Cathedral St. Maria Del Mar. The Cathedral was closed but I took some photos of the cathedral and other buildings nearby. There were plenty of shops around carrying really fashionable jewelry, watches and clothes.
After a lot more walking around which included stopping at a multistoreyed lighting store, I made my way to Museu Picasso which housed an impressive collection of the artist's work especially those done in Barcelona. There was also a Museum of Textiles nearby but by the time I was done at the Picasso Museum, it had already closed for the evening. The giftshop was still open and had some gorgeous textiles in the form of bags, scarves and such. I could only admire them and wish that I'd be able to afford them someday.

I also made a quick stop to see the Palau De La Musica Catalana a magnificent concert hall built around 1900. It was a beautiful building alright, but the sun was setting and I was running late for the evening. I was also refused admission inside. Resolving to return the next day, I went back to Las Ramblas where once again my husband joined me for the evening.

We were going to meet some friends of my husband near the Christopher Columbus statue and enroute we saw several more street performers. We also stopped briefly to see the Boqueria market. My husband's friends turned out to be really warm and welcoming and the evening was one of the best in Barcelona. They treated us to dinner at a fantastic restaurant overlooking the sea. The food, the wine and the company were all very good and the evening flew by. They told us more about life in Barcelona and patiently answered all kinds of inane questions from me. After dinner, they took us for a mini tour around the area. We even went to a local carnival where the highlight of the event seemed to be a couple of drag queens. It was well after midnight when they dropped us back at the hotel and they had a full working day the next day.

In all it was an unforgettable evening in an unforgettable trip (Why else would I write of it 5 months after the trip?) that was coming to end.

There was just one more day left.