Barcelona (pronounced Barthalona)

We hadn’t read much about the city before leaving, but thankfully we didn’t need to. The city offers surprisingly few tourist attractions: a charming pedestrian zone with creepy street performers, gads of art nouveau architecture (called “Moderismé”), a Picasso museum, and a shiny day star called the sun (unknown in Germany).
But its lack of “must-sees” didn’t damper our days, as we spent our “in-between-sights” time enjoying much-needed 60-degrees-and-sunny weather, the labyrinthine medieval gothic quarter, and delicious grub.

I’ve been to this Catalan capital before, but neither Kate nor Josh had had the opportunity – nay the delectable privilege – to sample its paella, sangria, and Serrano ham. So after arriving, unloading our packs, and energizing ourselves with a buttery pastry (I went for the pound-and-a-half cream danish), we cheerfully set out to discover the sights and tastes of this Mediterranean metropolis … and get lost doing so.

Before el lunchos, we walked around a bit and saw the scary performers on the pedestrian street (called Las Ramblas, which is Arabic for “the place with scary street performers”) and the Columbus monument, which we determined had Señor Colón pointing south.
Luckily, our eventual eatery had Serrano ham – so Kate and I indulged. Unluckily, the pepper top was screwed on by a two-year-old who’d just eaten French fries, so my bite of ham had a bit of bite for me.
Afterward we walked to an unfinished Moderismé church called Sagrada Familia and saw architect Antoni Gaudi’s fascinating Ninth Symphony equivalent. Here are a few pics.

Although Kate and I both liked the place, Josh seemed a little scared.
Anyway, it had a playful mix of styles that all reflected nature in some way (spires shaped like grapes, columns made to look like chestnut trees, honey-comb-like decorations), and is well worth the time and money. AND it made me hungry for churros. (Pronounced “¡¡¡¡CHURROS!!!!” because we’re always way too happy and excited when it’s time to eat them.)

After the churros (¡¡¡¡CHURROS!!!!), an hour spent watching college-aged jugglers in a park, a quick nap, and a rapid ramble around the Barri Gothic (which we loved) we were back out for more food, sampling tasty tapas and palatable paella. The next day started with a jaunt by the Cathedral La Seu – which employs a gaggle of geese as night watchmen – and a sunny daydream on the steps of some other nondescript church that tourists kept taking pictures of. Either that or they thought the homeless guy sleeping behind Kate and Josh in this picture was the second coming of Gallagher. That was followed by watching a crowd of surprisingly alive folks doing an ancient Catalan back-and-forth shuffly waddle “dance” to Mediterranean-style music.
Then, the last thing on our list of must-sees was the Picasso museum, which had a lot of his earlier (read: not drug-induced) work, in which the Spaniard actually paints pretty well. I’m always relieved by evidence that modern artists actually have talent, as it makes it less tempting for me to pay a four-year-old to paint the next “it” painting.

Afterward we rambled and ambled through the sun-drenched, palm-laden, lake-centered park, watching men with no rowing experience unwittingly paddle their families in circles. What fun! (First picture)

We then watched the jugglers again while working on our tans. Somewhere between the lake and the jugglers my belly growled for churros (¡¡¡¡CHURROS!!!!), but I knew I had to contain myself….for tonight was the Pièce de résistance of our trip: Spanish game food at a real, honest-to-goodness European Futbol match.

Josh had purchased soccer tickets for all three of us to see FC Barcelona trounce underdog Santander Sunday night and I could tell he was excited. He wanted action. He wanted crazy European hooliganism. I wanted flan.
So we got there and everyone was excited. Josh was eager to see how close our seats were to the pitch and Kate and I were eager to read the food stand menus. Paella perhaps? Got any Gambas? Fancy a flan?

On a good note, Barcelona won, 1-0. On a sad note, I’m sorry to say they didn’t offer flan at the soccer match (only a sports-a-phobe like me would actually think such a nonsensical victual would be offered at a sporting event.). But despite the flan-less-ness of the trip, we liked Barcelona.

It was a relaxingly simple getaway filled with sun, fun, and a Mediterranean feel. And of course churros (¡¡¡¡CHURROS!!!!).