Thursday, September 24, Back to Barcelona

On Saturday, our plans to return home begin with a flight from Barcelona to Paris, so we must return to Barcelona to get home -- not a bad option.  We rose early (after not sleeping well) and were on our way with no breakfast.  At the Rome airport we checked in and cleared security quickly and easily, then stopped for an almond croissant.  As usual in Europe, it was a free-for-all to board the plane, but the flight was uneventful.  We are both very tired, though.  It was deja vu as we took a cab to the same hotel where we were booked three weeks ago at the very beginning of this trip (the Hotel Alexandra, a Hilton Doubletree property).  We were checked in and given a top floor room this time, a little larger and nicer that the one we had before.  We had asked the check in clerk for a lunch recommendation and he told of us a tapas place one block away called Cervesseria Catalan.  When we arrived, the place was very full -- and seemingly with local people.  We were told that the wait for a table would be about 15 to 20 minutes, so we waited and enjoyed a delicious glass of white wine (for only 2 euros each!).  We were seated in about fifteen minutes.

We ordered the tapas:  tortilla with cod and mixed vegetables, a traditional spanish omelette, asparagus and mushrooms, two chicken croquettes, and fried potatoes (bravas), along with bread.  The bread here is brushed with some type of tomato sauce that softens it, different but good.  We had a second glass of wine (who could resist?), and then we returned to the hotel for a nap.  This restaurant was really good!

At 4pm, we roused ourselves and headed out to do some sightseeing.  We had thought this afternoon would be a good opportunity to tour the Casa Batllo, a mansion of the Passag de Gracia designed by Gaudi that is a real Barcelona landmark.  We stood in the short line to buy tickets and then began our tour with the audioguide.  It is a beautiful mansion, although very untraditional, inspired by the shapes and colors of the sea.  Here are a few of my photos:

Rob took a lot more than I did -- I really just focused on the tour.

After this, we walked down to the Placa de Catalunya, the main square.  We were noticing that it was odd that the sidewalks were full, but all the stores were closed.  Why would that be?  We soon had our answer, as we stumbled on a parade of paper-mache giant people.  What is this?  We asked a couple watching the parade who looked like they might speak English (they did), who were very happy to tell us:  this was the day of the annual festival of Barcelona.  Each community in Catalunya has a festival day each summer, and Barcelona's is the last one, and the biggest.  There are many events in the festival (including fireworks later tonight), but this was the parade.  Each paper-mache giant (gigante) represents an area of the city and some historical figure, often a lord and lady.  The event is geared toward children, and we were also really enjoying it.  The giants twirled and danced -- the parade went on for a very long time!  There were also parade delegations from other countries, plus dragons and dinosaurs.  Here are a few of my pictures:

Not quite sure what the bare breasted bird-head lady ws all about ... just a little creapy ... is this really for children?  Anyway, it was great fun and an unexpected treat of local culture!

For dinner, we returned to the rooftop patio restaurant called Cercle, where we had dined three weeks ago.  The ambience was nice and the food was perfect:  fried calamari, fresh salad, and cod with beans.  We weren't sure if we could get in (there are so many people out and about after the parade), but we did.  Then it was time to turn in and get some rest.  On the way back, we admired the fountain colored red and yellow: