Paella and Pubs

Sorry for the delay in this post...stop the hate mail please. :)

Yesterday was Thursday here in Barcelona and I decided to take a tour of the city via a tour bus. The tour bus offered an audio guide with ear buds. It had 3 routes around Barcelona, and I went on two of the three. I saw a good majority of the city. I didn't have a guidebook for this city, so I wasn't so sure what to see (except Erica helped me out!). This bus tour took me all over. I got to see Gaudi's Casa Batllo and his Casa Mila. I discovered yesterday that Gaudi is a LARGE part of Barcelona's culture. He also started work on the famous Sagrada Familia. I got sneak peak to that as I am going there with Scott and Jara. Also, I got to see the Futbol Club Barcelona's Area, which is HUGE, the Olympic Arena where the '92 Olympics where held, the Placa d'Espanya, Museu National d'Art de Catalunya (I didn't go in, because I'm kind of museumed out from Paris), the Arc de Triomf, and many more. The ride was definitely worth the money. I was able to hop on and off the bus at different stops, and I stayed on the tour for about 4.5 hours.

Barcelona's Arc de Trimof

Gaudi's Creations

Futbol Club Barcelona

MNAC

Olympic Arena

After Scott and Jara had another day at the beach, I met them back at the hotel to depart for dinner. We searched high and low for the best deal on Paella and Sangria...well I should say I searched high and low and they were good sports about it.

Finally we found a great spot on La Rambla. I ordered Paella Mariscos (seafood) and a Sangria (it was combo for only 10 euros!!) It was TO DIE FOR!! Scott got a Chorizo Sandwich and Jara ordered a salad with Sangria.

Then it was back to the hotel to get ready for our Pub Crawl. The night before as we strolled down La Rambla (the famous street that our hotel is on), multiple people approached about various pub crawls going on all week. We thought we should get a taste of it, and pick the one we thought was best. So last night we paid a flat rate, traveled to 4 pubs with free drinks and then ended at a club.

There were so many people that joined the Pub Crawl. It was a lot of fun meeting so many new people from all over the world. We met some Swedish boys, Cristopher and Stephen, who were a lot of fun!

Today is a beach day! I'm getting an umbrella this time! Then I think it's a Flamenco show tonight!

There are so many street performers on La Rambla and we are bamboozled by this one. We think we have figured it out, but how do you think he does it? He sits like that for hours on end!!

Three Things I Learned Yesterday:

1. Barcelona hosted the Olympic Games both in 1929 and 1992.

2. There are two languages spoken here Spanish and Catalan.

3. Shrimp isn't shelled. It comes with the shell, legs, eyes, and ALL!