We had a busy, fun day in Barcelona yesterday. The first part of the day was doing two Rick Steves walking tours using my iPhone. According to my Fitbit, we walked 19,000 steps, plus another 1,700 steps after midnight LOL.
Our first Rick Steves tour was the gothic quarter with stops that spanned 2,000 years of history. It was amazing to stand next to buildings/ruins that were built created that long ago.
One of my favorite stops was this medieval church with a wooden roof. It is part of a convent and is still a working church today. Here are a few features I found most intriguing:
Another stop on the tour was the Barcelona Cathedral, completed in the 1400s and enhanced with a neo-Gothic facade in the 1800s.
The gargoyles on the back of the cathedral may include a unicorn.
The streets of this old gothic quarter were extremely narrow and twisty.
After that walking tour, we stopped at the Picasso museum. It was interesting to see his early work as an artist. I know Will took a lot of pictures from that visit, though I did not. One thing I didn’t know was how close Picasso and Miro were as friends. Picasso definitely promoted his younger colleague.
We followed up the museum with a delicious lunch of tapas at a place recommended by Doug and Hannah from their trip here last September. It was delicious!
Our next walking tour was Las Ramblas, Barcelona’s famous promenade. We did the tour backwards as we were already at the harbor.
After the last two weeks of cold winter weather, it was nice to walk in a breezy, sunny 50-degrees.
When Christopher Columbus returned from the New World, he was received by the king and queen in Barcelona in 1493. A monument to him was erected in 1888 for the Universal Exposition. Columbus’s discovery began the decline of Barcelona as a major economic port, though it is still a robust port city. Other ports became more strategic for importing wealth taken from the New World.
A favorite stop on this tour was the Boqueria Market, an open air extravaganza of sights and smells. It was bustling, noisy and great fun to walk through.
After coming back to the apartment for a rest, we headed out to dinner. We found a place almost immediately that served pinxtos, small bites similar to tapas. We enjoyed it with a pitcher of sangria.
The owner gave us a complimentary shot of some kind of liquor for a toast. It had a sweetish taste and a goldenrod color.
We went with what seemed like the rest of Barcelona to Plaça d’España for fireworks.
The square was getting so packed that we moved further away. As a result, we didn’t have the best fireworks view. But we saw enough to realize the light show was spectacular.
Happy 2024 to all!
Travel Buddies 
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