Today we wandered through the Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter), following a route described in our guide book. This section of Barcelona is the oldest part of the city and the area where ancient Romans first founded the city of Barcino, where medieval Christians built the great Cathedral of Barcelona, and where Jews were forced to live until 1492 when they were expelled from Spain. Today, the Barri Gotic is a charming area filled with narrow, winding lanes opening onto grand squares. As we wandered through these lanes we encountered unique shops, Art Nouveau storefronts (such as the Els Quatre Gats restaurant), street musicians and beggars. (It wasn't all sightseeing today, however, as Becky and I did a fair amount of shopping in some of the shops we came across.)
By the time we finished our walk, it was close to 2:30 and time for lunch (wonder how long it will take Rich to revert back to his 11:30 lunch time). We stopped at a tapas bar Becky had read about. It was jammed with locals, but we were lucky enough to get seats at the bar where we could watch all the action. Some of the tapas we ordered included a Russian salad (not exactly what we had thought it would be, but delicious none the less), chicken croquettes, octopus, white asparagus with fish roe (first time I've had fish roe and it wasn't too bad, surprisingly), pork ribs (without the ribs), and some type of pasta with sausage. Everything was delicious and we topped off our meal with a lemon ice served in a hollowed out lemon topped with meringue. Again, one of the best meals we've had this trip, but sadly also one of the last few meals we'll have in Spain. Tomorrow we fly to Madrid and on Thursday we begin our long trek home.
Cathedral of Barcelona
Monument to the Martyrs of Independence
Asparagus tapa with fish roe - isn't this a work of art?
Boneless pork rib tapa
Octopus tapa
Lemon ice dessert
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