Alright, this is going to be a doozy of a post! About a month ago, I packed up and headed south on a bus for 6 hours to Spain!
Now, Barcelona, in four days... What a whirlwind! So we started out-
"Hey Jen..."
"Yes Frederick?"
"Can I do the blog this week?"
"Uh... sure. Just let me spellcheck it when you're finished."
Hey everyone! I'm Frederick, and Gram snuck me into Jen's luggage before she left California! Jen takes me around with her on trips and takes lots of pictures of me so I can remember all the places we've gone. An elephant may never forget, but giraffes don't have the best memory...
As Jen was saying, we shipped off for Barcelona a few weeks ago, for her fall break, and I was allowed to tag along for the trip!
On a Saturday morning Jen woke me up really early, and we said good-bye to Oatmeal (someone had to be a guard bear for the weekend!) and went to meet the bus. I think we both slept the entire 6 hours to Barcelona, but finally Jen pulled me out of the cozy spot in her backpack and we were there! Barcelona looks a lot different than France! There were palm trees and beaches and a lot more people than there are in Aix. Jen says is reminded her of San Francisco, and she was a little worried about not knowing Spanish, but luckily a few of her friends speak Spanish, so they were able to help us get around.
So when we first got there, Jen had to drag her luggage a long ways to get to the hostel and then there was a lot of waiting around trying to sort out the rooms and sleeping arrangements. Finally we had a bed (Jen picked the top bunk which I think is the best place to sleep!)
This is me on our bed. The pillow was pretty small, but Jen still shared.
This is Andrew, he was in the bed underneath our bed. He's a funny kid.
After all the people on the trip dropped off their things, we went to meet George (he's always our tour guide and tells really awesome stories! But he only speaks French...) for a walking tour of Barcelona. As always, Jen had her big-obnoxious-tourist camera for taking lots of photos. For the walk, we crossed Las Ramblas, which is the main street and shopping area in Barcelona, and headed for the Gothic Quarter. George told everyone to be very careful with their belongings because Barcelona is the number one pickpocket city in the world! I was glad Jen brought her anti-theft purse, even if she thinks it's ugly.
As we walked through the Gothic Quarter, there were a lot of stylized buildings with gargoyles and remnants of roman architecture. The area also has several large cathedrals and narrow alleys, all built during the Middle Ages. Jen and I are learning a lot about architecture and building types.
This is at Carrer des Bisbe, one of the more popular streets that connects the Cathedral square with a main street off Las Ramblas. There were a lot of street musicians and artists out during our walk.
George took us through the passage and to the Cathedral Square close to City Hall. Jen and I really like the old Cathedrals because the designs are usually gothic stylized and nothing like we'd ever see at home.
Here I am in front of the Cathedral. We didn't get to go inside this one, but there was another one, (which you'll recognize from Postcards) that we saw the next day!
After the walking tour, George let us do whatever we wanted. Jen and her friends Milan and Andrew wanted to go to La Boqueria, a massive open-air market in the center of Las Ramblas. After maneuvering through the crowds, we found the market and headed inside, drawn by the smells of tapas and rows of fresh fruit juices.
This market was an overload for the senses, but Jen and I loved every minute of it. There's rows and rows of fresh tropical fruit and vegetables, plastic cups of fresh squeezed juices stacked in rows that stretch for 50 feet, butchers and offal vendors, candy and treats and the seafood market was bustling with activity. Jen started with a fresh coconut and cactus fruit juice, though it took her a long time to decide which flavor she wanted.
Now walking around sipping her fresh juice, Jen was free to snap lots and lots of pictures, while mentioning and pointing out everything she wanted to eat. If there was ever a place to people watch, La Boqueria is that place! The tiny grandmas buying vacuumed sealed offal and teetering with bags of produce. The men sitting around sipping cafés and chatting in garbled Catalan, one of the original languages of Spain. The market was definitely a favorite stop on the weekend in Barcelona.
After twenty minutes of walking around the fruit juice was long gone, so Jen stopped by a dried meats stall and grabbed a cone of cured meats that reminded her of the Ferry Building in San Francisco.
After this last snack, the group was ready to head back to the hostel and rest their feet. And research somewhere to find dinner for the evening!
And of course Jen would hunt down a build-your-own wok restaurant in Barcelona, the capital of tapa cuisine. Well, at least she enjoyed it!
The next day, Jen was up and at-'em before anyone else and ready to head to the beach, so she met up with her friend Julia and I tagged along for the walk. It was a beautiful Sunday morning, quiet and the sun replacing the clouds from the day before. It was a short walk to the beach, but then Julia and Jen started talking and before we knew it, we were almost an hour down the boardwalk.
The beautiful weather at least made the walk more than enjoyable.
Bread vendor where Jen and Julia bought muffins for their breakfasts. These loaves of bread were humongous! At least as big as Bandit! They were beautifully crafted and looked (and of course smelled!) delicious.
No wonder Barcelona's beaches are always so highly rated! The water was a bit cold for swimming, but relaxing in the sun was more than worth it, especially when they're nice enough to give you free loungers.
After three hours or so, they realized they had to hurry back for a bus tour of Barcelona avec George, and so Jen suggested the metro because I guess there's one in San Francisco that she uses to get around.
Good thing because they made it back in enough time to grab some waters and head for the bus.
The bus ride stretched on forever, and Jen was disappointed that they weren't given a lot of time to look around, but one stop, it was decided, we would all return to tomorrow bright and early.
Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia. A cathedral that has been under construction and in the process of being built since 1882 and is projected to be finished around 2025.
Before this post get's too long, and everyone is tired of reading, I think I'll stop and help Jen clean up the apartment. Part 2: will commence later today or tomorrow.
Gros bisous!
-Frederick (& Jen for spellcheck and reaching the shift key.)
No comments:
Post a Comment