Barcelona: Dia Tres

Lunch - pan con tomate - toasted baguette with ground tomato, sea salt and olive oil.


Gambas al ajillo - shrimp in olive oil with garlic and pepper.
Ai yi yi!!!!!


The cleanest darn train station I have ever seen!


The train - look next to the track - NOTHING but clean!


Over one of the entrances at Familia Sagrada. This cathedral has been under construction for 100 years - like many of the great cathedrals of the world.


Just the cutest pair of tourists - don't you think they are from England? She just looks so English!


Warning: not for the feint of heart....


Easter Bunnys. :-(


The seafood here doesn't even look like seafood I have seen - so big and rich-colored.

Eeeek, we slept until noon. At ten this morning, I awoke. Lee said, "Honey, do you know what time it is? It's ten." So I said, "Well that is just about right. I sleep nine hours a night and I went to bed at 1:00." Then I rolled over and we both went back to sleep for two more hours. At noon, Izzy called in. "Mom, it's noon. Get up. We are in Barcelona. Are you going to sleep all day?" When was the last time my children had to tell me to get up? It makes me just laugh. I am so happy to be so relaxed.

So, we motivated and left the apartment around 2:00 - you can see we didn't motivate very fast. It is rainy and cold (39 degrees) and kind of yucky. We had to buy an umbrella because we forgot ours. How can a New Yorker constantly forget an umbrella? Then we headed to the Familia Sagrada, the Dr. Suess-like catheral by Gaudi started in 1909, but had lunch on the way, which was quite wonderful. I had shrimp with garlic and peppers that was outrageously good. Here are some photos. Lee and Izzy had fritatta, one with potatoes and one with sausage. We ate it surrounded by handsome Spanish men in beautiful suits, many of them smoking after eating.

On to Famlia Sagrada on the train - now there is a story. The trains in Barcelona are cleaner than my grandmother's bathrooms! They are amazing. I cannot believe how dirty and pissy smelling the trains are in NY and now it bothers me. Another function of socialism, I guess. I have pictures here, too. There was not one single piece of litter on the tracks. Not one. In NY, you might find a body or two, it is just so bad in some places. But, still, I love NY - don't get me wrong.

On to the Barrio Gotic (Gothic Neighborhood) but we couldn't get out bearings and mostly wandered in circles getting wet. Happily we found the market and, foodie that Izzy is, we spent quite a bit of time in awe of the meats, game, and poultry heads hanging about. The fish, fruits and spices were so beautifully presented, with a sense of pride.

Chilled to the bone by 5:30, we found a cab and headed back to the apartment. Lee and Izzy are napping while I write - life is good.