BARCELONA: Mirador de Colom; Cova Fumada; Montjuic; Museu Nacional D'Art De Catalunya; Magic Fountain of Montijuic

Hi Friends! Well,after almost 24 hours of travel, we made it to our cool, little apartment around 8:30 pm. last night. We're very happy with it. So private and immaculate. We would recommend "Friendly Rentals" to anyone who is interested in saving money on accommodation! We quickly unpacked, and in fashion of the Spanish, went out to enjoy some tapas and wine. The city is so alive and there is an air of excitement! Back to tapas - one of my favorites is called "La Bomba", which is a fried, potato ball, and stuffed with spiced carrot. Delish. Ron enjoyed tapas with a variety of fish on them. If you haven't heard -tapas are small, savoury snacks or small plates. They are often served on a sliced baguette. Honestly - anything can be a tapa. The way they do them here is quite brilliant - and there's no way you can't come home with a lot of new ideas for entertaining friends! When we came back to the apartment, it was definitely time for bed, I think we both slept off and on, like one does from travel-discombobulation. We heard loud singing in the streets from a group of happy guys, very late. Around 4:00 am, there was the sound of whirlwind coming down the street - I got up and looked out and saw a very loud truck blowing garbage down the street, and then spraying the pavement with water. Everything was spic and span in the morning! Anyway, it was wonderful getting up in beautiful Barcelona. Although chilly, it was sunny and so we prepared ourselves. Out we went to start the first day of our glorious adventure in this famous city! Since our apartment is a 5 minute walk from the popular Mercat de la Boqueria (Market) - that's where we had breakfast. Delightful tortilla patatas (potato tortilla) and steaming coffee in china cups Delish! Just a word about La Boqueria. It's a large, market of fresh vegetables, fish, fruits and juices. It's very touristy, and we plan to visit a few markets which are a little more off the beaten path. We even recognized one of the venders, when we first walked in the market. We've seen this elderly man on Rick Steves and a few other travel shows! While seated and loving my tortilla patata at Bar Boqueria, I listened to a group of elderly men, engaging in loud, boisterous conversation - as if they were trying to prove something to each other. This was one of those colorful moments you have while enjoying life a world away from the usual...

We left the market, strolled back onto La Ramblas which is another popular area with tourists and locals. It's about 1.2 km long and most people who go to Barcelona will walk along La Ramblas. Off in the distance, we could see one of our first destinations called Mirador de Colom. It was sculpted by Rafael Atche. This is a 60 metre high monument which celebrates Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World. The greatest thing is that you can take a tiny elevator (which holds 3 people) to the top and view the city and Mediterranean sea from the vantage of Christopher Columbus. It is spectacular and a ticket only costs 6 euro.

So then we carried on walking towards an area called Barceloneta - which is known for its sandy beaches and restaurants. We zig zagged through the narrow streets and commented on how many of those little streets reminded us of Naples, Italy. Dozens of tiny balconies were decorated with colorful clothing drying in the sun!

We finally reached the promenade where we took in beautiful views of the water which stretched out as far as the eye could see. As we strolled along, we admired a few yachts along the way.

After this, Ron discovered one of the neatest places we have ever had the pleasure of eating in. (There was no sign on the door.) It was called Cova Fumada. It is a tiny, old place and apparently is a "gastronomic icon". It was so loud, and busy you could barely hear yourself think. Definitely full of the locals. About 6 cooks worked away in a steamy, hot kitchen about the size of my own! There was no place to sit and we almost left - but we didn't, and I'm so glad. We just squashed in and stood at the counter like anyone else who couldn't get a seat. There was a variety of tapas laid out. We tried 2 bombas, and Ron had a piece of cod, and we each had a teensy glass of red wine. I watched as the server took the wine out of a square box on the wall, with a home made spout inserted in it. He placed the glass on the counter, about 2 feet under the spout and let the wine fall into the glass. What a fascinating experience!

We then continued with our plan and went to Montijuic by cable car. The cable car took us over the harbor and part way up the mountain. Montijuic actually means "hill of Jove' or 'Jew Mountain'. We walked around the area and then strolled through a beautiful, peaceful garden called Jardins de Laribal on our way to Museu Nacional D'Art De Catalunya which houses treasures of Catalan art in the main building of the 1929 World Exhibition, the Palau Nacional.

There is a collection of art which spans over 1,000 years in this gallery. We loved this and spent about 2 hours walking around looking at art. After, we took the elevator to the roof top, which again, gives panoramic views of the city, mountainous regions and of course, water.

Leaving here, we walked down the steps to the Magic Fountain of Montijuic. The first light show took place at 7:00 p.m It was a breathtaking display of water, light and music. We loved every minute of it. The water display was majestic to watch, especially with the Museu Nacional D'Art De Catalunya Building in the background!

After this, we had every intention of walking the one hour trip back to our apartment, however, the sore feet and aching legs made us hop on the metro and got us very close to our little place. (By the way - we bought what is called a T-10 pass, which allows you 10 trips on the metro, at a discount). Now it's 10:00 pm. and Friday night, so we are going back out to find something to eat! Until tomorrow... Karen