BARCELONA: Cafe Salo De Te; Joseph and "Travel Bar"; Guitarra Flamenca at Basilica Santa Marie Del Pi

Hola friends: Another beautiful, sunny day. The air is cool, but stepping outside is refreshing. You just have to make the best of the fact that it's not 25 degrees Celsius. This morning, we walked around the corner from our apartment to an outdoor cafe called Cafe Salo de te in Placa del Pei. It was perfect because we could sit, and soak up the morning sun on the patio while having coffee and croissants. So very pleasant.

Beautiful, rich sounds of church bells rang out from the gothic church of Santa Maria del Pi, which was built between 1319 and 1391. We could hear music and it seemed as though some sort of celebration was going to take place. I was hoping the giants would make an appearance again. In trying to discover what might occur, I spoke to an Irish girl seated nearby. Although a resident, she wasn't certain about what was coming. She did however, ask me if I had heard of the Travel Bar. I consider this small encounter with her to be one of those little miracles that takes place. She pointed down the street, and motioned right. She said there was a man named Joseph who takes people through the area on guided tours. So, we went to the Travel Bar, near the yellow building with the Catalan flags which in fact turned out to be a tiny, dark bar, that reminded me of an English pub.

I walked through the back door, past a cook who was busy making puffy omelettes. (We decided to come back here tomorrow and try the omelettes). Along came Joseph and asked if we were interested in the tour. We said "Yes, and he signed us up. We then joined 6 others and started our tour of the Barri Gotic area. We spent two hours walking around listening to Joseph, the historian, tell the story of the area, and lots of Spanish history added in, as well as some humour. It was so interesting! He also gave tips for tourists, and told us how to save ourselves some money...Joseph said no one should ever pay more than 1.90 Euro for a tapa. He pointed out that La Ramblas (the very famous street) is "a street to forget". I so agree. You find yourself dodging people continually. We found it as busy and crowded in the morning as it was the previous evening! Joseph also enlightened us on Antoni Gaudi. He said Gaudi was an entitled young man, who didn't get along with many people, and had few friends. We were then guided to a lamp post created by Antoni Gaudi in Placa Reial. Apparently Gaudi created this at the age of 22. It was his first commission! So cool...

The tour is offered for free but the understanding is that you make a donation at the end. It's nice to be generous, because that's what Travel Bar tour guides do for a living! It was so informative and fun. As well, it was so enjoyable to be with a group of like-minded people. Everyone who signs up for a tour is there because they want to be! At the end, I asked Joseph if he minded me mentioning him in my blog, and he smiled and said, "Please do! The publicity helps the tour guides, and Travel Bar". Here's a picture of Joseph.

We left the tour and went to try paella (Spanish rice dish originating in Valencia, Spain). We asked Joseph for a recommendation, and he advised us to try Avinyo 10. We took his advice and went into a lovely restaurant down a little side street. It is actually a restaurant and an art gallery. We shared one tapa of tomatoes on a baguette, and one pan of chicken paella. It was delicious and a perfect amount for lunch. Even though, I was practicing paella at home from a Spanish cook book before I came to Spain, I learned one new thing right away! The paella can be a little on the moist side and even have a bit more sauce in it. Good to know...

When the tour ended, we returned to the Museum of History of Barcelona or "MUHBA" Placa del Rei, one of the places we had visited while on the walking tour. The Placa del Rei was built upon 2000 year old Roman ruins. The Placa del Rei was once the royal palace of the counts of Barcelona and rulers of the Crown of Aragon, who held court in the ancient palace halls. Joseph, the guide, stated that this was where Christopher Columbus came to give accounts of his travel to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. I never realized that Christopher Columbus was quite the brute, and could be most unpleasant! He also let the ship called Santa Maria run aground, because he fell asleep and let the cabin boy steer the ship. Unfortunately, the ship sank and was lost! While continuing our stroll around, we heard the most beautiful Spanish guitar by street musicians. Also - a man stood on a corner playing the harp. The music filled the air and was lovely to hear.

Afterwards, we came back to our apartment for a little break and to get ready to our walk to a Hillsong Church service which is located on La Ramblas. We got there, and no service and no info posted anywhere. Alas... So, we carried on and stopped in at a recommended tapas place called El Pintxo. We tried a few and then left. Neither of us cared for this place. The tapas didn't appear to be fresh, It's a bad sign when a tapas bar in Barcelona is quiet and empty, but we thought the Irish girl who gave us the recommendation earlier, knew what she was talking about! Nope - don't go... We also went to "Maestros de Guitarra Flamenca" (Spanish guitar by Maestro Pedro Javier Gonzalez) at Basilica Santa Maria Del Pi. The concert took place at 9:00 pm. For one hour, we listened to flamenco guitar. It was amazing to watch this performance and witness such incredible talent on guitar.

Well we are loving Barcelona. What a glorious place...I think you would have to be here a long time to learn about this city. We have only just begun to discover it. Already, we find ourselves walking back to places we have already seen in the short time we have been here...and so much more to do over the next few days! Karen