Barcelona!

The first thing I did on our way to Barcelona was play Barcelona! of course.  A great combination of two over-the-top musical forms.  It was only a short train ride from Carcasonne to Barcelona.

The first thing we saw in Barcelona after we emerged from the Metro was El Drac.

We were able to check into our hotel early.  It was one of those deals you sometimes get on Booking.com - and the hotel was so posh I refrained from washing clothes in the sink and drying them in the shower!  In the first area of Barcelona to be developed once the city extended beyond the medieval walls the hotel was in a listed building with a frescoed facade, although I confess I was really quite keen to try out the swimming pool.  A nice touch too I thought when the toiletries were in a little bag ready for you to take home.

After we settled in we went to the Design Hub where I had arranged to meet a friend, coincidentally in Barcelona at the same time as us.  We were supposed to be talking about her studies (she is doing a MA with a children's literature specialty just like I did) but kept getting sidetracked into other things!  We also visited the traveling David Bowie exhibition which recently opened.  Friday night is a great time to visit a popular show, it wasn't too busy at all (apparently the queues are usually long and the displays crowded.  Maybe the intended audience were all in Madrid at the gay pride festival?).  Three hours or so later we emerged.  And if it's 8pm in Spain, it must be time for tapas!

Every meal we've eaten in Spain so far has been tapas (I know we haven't been here long but when you're on a winning thing why change anything?).  I think I'd like to move to Barcelona - we also saw yum cha and sushi advertised.  And to his repertoire of anchovies Matt has added something which appears to be a plate of whole deep fried jalapenos.

The next being Sunday of course we went to church.  Again, the other mob were in charge and this time they were selling tickets.  Unfortunately they had sold out for both Sunday and Monday so we were not able to see the inside of La Sagrada Familia but only admire from the outside.  It really does look like a melted sandcastle in places!  I guess it will probably be the last major cathederal the world will see built so it was quite awe inspiring to see the work in progress.  I'm a fan.  We also saw the Gaudi houses just outside our closest metro stop.  The sense of playfulness you can see in these lesser works is still apparent in his masterpiece.

 A post lunch stroll took us the length of La Rambla and through the Gothic Quarter where we ended up at Monument a Colem.  Translated - the monument on a column.  Christopher Columbus (an Italian who sailed for the Spaniards) was celebrated with lions guarding the steps and people who were influential in his life supporting his statue.  Underneath was a tourist information centre and wine tasting!  When we were offered a trip to the top of the monument with our wine we couldn't say no to the birds eye view of the city.

We also took the time to wander through the maritime museum - even better because admission is free on Sunday afternoons.  The museum is in the old shipbuilding yards and is enormous.  A replica of the gargantuan royal ship barely filled a corner.  They also had a number of different types of smaller local vessels on display ranging from traditional fishing craft to speed racers.  Models from the former Naval Academies were also of interest.  

Sexy cozies from the 1920s

Matt tries to work out how to get into the model of the Ictineo I (a mid C19 submersible)

On our final morning we visited the food markets.  It was swarming with hungry people and I was only sorry I didn't have room in the esky for more food!  The only thing that stopped me stocking up on all sorts of spices was the thought that they would probably be confiscated by bio-security on return to Australia.

Returning to our hotel we collected our luggage and set out for the station.  Despite rolling strikes we didn't take too long to get there, however, getting through Sants was complex. Boarding a long distance train involved security similar to getting onto a plane.  Our tickets had to be produced and our baggage was x-rayed.  I'm not sure just how efficient the security checks were though as despite the signs insisting that knives, scissors and other things which could be used as weapons were banned our luggage passed the test.  Despite containing my multipurpose sharp knife used for cutting everything you might eat in a hotel room picnic and Matt's corkscrew complete with blade for cutting the foil on bottles.  The train reached speeds of over 300km/h and in just 2 1/2 hours we covered the 630 km and reached Madrid.