Friday, September 21, 2018

Put A Fork In Us, We’re Done!


Not really, but we have decided the next couple of days are about doing what we want to do at our own pace. We no longer have to worry about our ship setting sail without us, so why not sit back and enjoy the last little bit of our metaphorical “vacation ride”?

We started the day off at a café near our hotel that had carrot cake pancakes… yes, I said carrot cake pancakes. Ummm, they were AMAZING. Instead of syrup, there was cream cheese filling in between the layers. My mom and I are huge fans of carrot cake and I am an even huger fan of pancakes,  so the merging of the two was like a marriage made in food heaven. I couldn’t even finish them, which truly broke my breakfast loving heart.

Since I was practically in a self-induced food coma after our meal, we immediately got ourselves on the move and took a tour of the Palau de la Musica Catalana. As Gaudi groupies, we couldn’t wait to see yet another masterpiece of this great artist, but alas, it was designed by  Lluís Domènech i Montaner (Try saying his name ten times in a row—I can’t even say it once.) Sorry Gaudi, we still love you best, but we have to admit the concert hall is a glorious structure, the centerpiece of which is a stained glass skylight that resembles a woman’s breast. Am I the only one that thinks that? It’s certainly prettier than the ceiling boob lamps we all have in our apartments in NYC. Anyone that has one of these knows what I’m talking about, but I digress (as I often do.) The building was designed so efficiently that it’s the only auditorium in Europe that is completely  illuminated during the day by natural light. Pretty cool, huh? (Apologies again, Gaudi. You still rock.)

There’s an outdoor terrace on the same floor you enter the auditorium that has picture-perfect columns surrounding you. And I do mean picture perfect. My friend took a photo out there earlier this summer and she looked like a super model. There she was, strolling across the terrace in her flowing, white dress, looking like something out of a magazine. Any moment I expected the photo to come to life and for her to say, “Light Blue… by Dolce Gabbana” (insert your favorite perfume). Hell, I would’ve bought whatever she was selling! And then there’s me… posing on that same terrace for a photograph, but only managing to look like a vagabond surrounded by other camera happy tourists like myself. No one’s buying anything from me. Not today, anyway.

We spent the rest of the day wandering around the Gothic Quarter which is the oldest section of the city apparently. It dates back to Medieval times (yes, once again I am a lover of everything Medieval thanks to all the fantasy novels I’ve read throughout my lifetime), though I discovered that much of it was demolished to make way for the 1929 World’s Fair. Sigh, commercialism always seems to trump preserving history. Despite that, it was still fun to wander through all the alleys and not worry about where we were headed. It reminded me a lot of Rome and made me miss my Italian city! While there, we managed to find ourselves in the Jewish section of the Gothic Quarter. It was very serendipitous, since we had no idea it was even there. Visiting a historic temple was the pinnacle of a very relaxing day, and we met a bunch of people who felt just as lucky as us to discover this hidden gem of Barcelona. Shout out to Carrie and Troy, our very special honeymooners.

Tonight, we are trying for Paella for the third time and you know what they say about the third time… Let’s hope it’s our lucky night!

2 comments:

  1. You must eat at PETRA! My absolutely fav in Barça! http://www.restaurantpetra.com/ES/carta/carta-de-vinos/


    ReplyDelete