At 9:30 am we met our tour director, Paula, in the lobby. We walked two blocks to the Metra. It is a lovely sunny day. At 10:00 am we met Francesca the local guide who we have seen twice before. He. took us on a walking tour of the Gothic Quarter which included touring a huge old cathedral, the Jewish quarter, seeing some Roman columns and part of a Roman aqueduct, and part of the original city wall. We stopped by a coffee shop and had some churros and hot chocolate (think very rich, thick chocolate pudding). You dip the churros in the chocolate and eat the rest with a spoon. We continued our walk. Although Barcelona has quite a bit of graffiti, it is very clean. That came to mind because we walked down the very wet street behind the street cleaner. We had the afternoon free. Chuck and I walked a couple blocks to the Palau (Musical Palace). While waiting for our tour, we had a small sandwich. The Palace was actually a 2,000 seat concert hall which was built in the early 20th century. The centerpiece of the auditorium was an inverted dome of colored class. It captured beautiful light. We heard a Handel piece (recorded) played on the organ, watched the workers set up for a concert (over 300 in a year), and climbed many steps. We found our way back to the Metra. Eventually we found our hotel. Every ‘square’ block is not square. The corners are cut off at a diagonal which adds to the turns you take and the confusion. There are many bikes, motor scooters, and motor bikes which think they can also use the sidewalk if they need to. After a nap, we went for a coffee and apple kuchen. Delicious. Happy Hour at 6:45 pm.
No comments:
Post a Comment