Barcelona (part 1)

Well, we're back from our Easter holiday ramblings, and in spite of the fact that the kids have been in school for a couple of days already, I am still trying to get myself organized. Here are a few notes about our travels.

Getting to Barcelona we flew "EasyJet", one of the low-cost carriers that serves the UK. Not especially luxurious/pleasant flying experience (bears a very strong resemblance to Southwest airlines), but they do (usually) get you there in one piece in approximately the right about of time. Also, they fly from Stanstead, which is by far the most convenient airport for Cambridge; very easy to get in and out on the train.

The outfit that we found to rent us an apartment is located on "Passatge de Sert", a tiny alleyway connecting "Carrer de Trafalgar" with "Carrer de Sant Pere Mes Alt" in the Barri Gotic, the old Quarter. This part of Barcelona is absolutely riddled with tiny streets, some of them just large enough for small autos but even more that are too small for anything but people and bikes.

Here is a link that shows a google "street view" of the entrance to the alley. The web page takes a while to load, but it is actually a decent shot.

Passatge Sert is only about 70 or 80 meters long, with metal gates at each end that get closed at night. Our apartment was in one of the buildings along the alleyway; nice although somewhat cave-like and poorly lit (clearly designed with an eye to keeping it cool during a hot summer).

After stowing our gear and making a quick trip to the grocery store, we went to explore a little, walking over to "Las Ramblas", one of the biggest and most famous pedestrian/shopping areas in the older part of city. The nice weather had brought out the crowds, so there were lots of other people strolling and taking in the sights. Here is a picture of Las Ramblas:


After we had had our fill of Las Ramblas, we hopped on the metro and headed out for La Sagrada Familia, the enormous Gaudi-designed church, a bit to the north of the old town. Here we discovered that the Barcelona metro works a little differently from the ones in other cities-- if the subway map shows a connection between one line and another at a given stop, it doesn't always mean that you can transfer easily-- sometimes you actually have to leave the station, walk up to street level, and then hunt around for the station on the "connecting" line (as I recall we ran into this same problem in Italy once). Anyhow, after lots of muddle we made it to the Gaudi church -- it was extraordinary. What a mind that guy must have had.





Fantastic weather-- warm but not hot, clear skies, cool breezes. Lovely stuff. For dinner (after we got back from La Sagrada Familia) we wandered over to one of the side streets off Las Ramblas and had a meal at a tapas restaurant ("Taller", I think? can't quite recall the name). Good food; it was a treat. Fresh bread (not sure what kind, but it was vaguely foccacia-like) with crushed tomato on top (this is apparently a Catalan staple), tortilla (potato omelette), "shaved artichoke (artichoke cut into very thin slices and then fried crispy-- yum), chicken grilled on skewers (for Ethan), a chickpeas & spinach dish, sauteed mushrooms, fried calamari (for Lydia), and a plate of grilled vegetables, plus a pitcher of sangria with Cava for Amy and I.

Ethan and I stayed up afterwards to watch a little football: UEFA cup coverage of Manchester City vs Hamburg. Decent game, but it was somewhat disheartening to see Man City doing poorly, since I know they are capable of a much higher level of play. All their top players (including Robinho, the Brazilian) are all in a "slump" these days.