After one week in Barcelona, Marilynn and I look forward to separate, solo international travel adventures. She will fly to Bulgaria, while I take a train to one of France’s oldest cities, Clermont Ferrand. We will find out where the travel gods guide us from there, until we meet three weeks later at our rendezvous point, in Helsinki, Finland. For now, we will stroll the streets and eat our way through Barcelona together. Come along and enjoy Barcelona with us.
Rabbit for Dinner
After an all-night flight with no sleep, and unable to check into the hotel early, we stroll these walk-friendly, “artsy” streets dazed and jet-lagged.
Street Art Barcelona
Street Art
The travel gods bring us to what becomes our favorite place in all of Barcelona, “Mercado de Boqueria” a super fresh market, where seafood rules and butchers slice razor thin hams and cheeses.
Ham in a Cone
Bread, fruits, vegies, sweets, baked goods, and unknowns fill the surrounding stalls. I stock up on our usual breakfast fare and snacks for in the room.
Ron shopping for breakfast at Mercado de Boqueria
Mercado de Boqueria
We love seafood and make a beeline to the seafood bars, returning so often that the proprietors recognize us in the elbow-to-elbow crowd.
Mercado de Boqueria
They laugh and seat us as soon as possible. The beer and cava pour and soon we devour our favorite delights.
Cava – Mercado de Boqueria
Scallops
Can’t stay away from the oysters
Hats off to the first human being who had ever eaten a raw oyster.
Oysters for lunch
Barceloneta Beach and the harbor fail to inspire desert dwellers like us who seek shade.
Barceloneta Beach
That is, until we have one overcast cool day, perfect for walking, running, or sailing.
Barceloneta Beach
Barcelona Harbor
Sit. Sip Estrella beers. Watch the continuous flow of people walk along “La Rambla,” Barcelona’s most popular pedestrian walkway. People watching never grows old.
La Rambla
When the strong Estrella beers kick-in, munch on various tapas or your preferred “flavor” of paella. The squid ink variety wins our stomachs.
Baby Squid Tapas
Squid Ink Paella
We notice that none of the restaurants or cafes play music here. Quite refreshing to focus on conversation rather than musical bombardment that reduces conversation to shouting. And despite the crowds everyone acts polite. As an American used to having lots of personal space, I find it impossible to let my guard down.
Barcelona Cathedral
Just when you think that nothing can be any more magnificent than the Barcelona Cathedral, “La Sagrada Familia” makes an appearance.
La Sagrada Familia
The Basilica, which has been under construction forever and ever, makes everything else look modest. Are we in Disneyland?
La Sagrada Familia
La Sagrada Familia
After several days of strolling the streets, our senses adapt and start to notice intricate details.
La Sagrada Familia
Street Art
However, one cannot miss Master Gaudi’s architecture at “Casa Batllo” and yes, the word “Gaudy” comes to mind.
Casa Batllo
A walk up to Carmel Hill to explore Park Guell, famous as one of Gaudi’s greatest creations, finds entry tickets sold out. That is our punishment for rarely making plans. But we still enjoy the view.
Views from Carmel Hill
Both of us feel that advance plans are overrated unless on a tight time schedule. We are not. Sold our house, have no residence, and not even sure of where we want to live. Travel expense dominates our monthly budget, for as long as we can maintain health and mobility. For now, we break down and buy tickets to the park to use on our last day in Barcelona. Even that creates a bit of stress. Yes, we would drive “normal” travelers crazy.
Views from Park Guell
Time for me to head out to the train station, and for Marilynn to the airport. We invite you to come along and see what kind of adventure awaits.
Thank you, Abundant Universe!
As always you guys never disappoint in sharing with us all the interesting sites everywhere you land . A good friend of mine’s daughter was in Spain recently as well and she also loved it . Curious as to why you both decides to head in different directions but it’ll be even more interesting to see what you both have to share in the coming posts . Enjoy your travels and as always be safe .
Thank you, Glenn. We have gone solo before, it is a different, often strange experience that’s good for the soul. Feeling like if there is something that we would like to experience in life, that we better get busy as the clock is ticking!
Enjoy your travels and thanks for taking me along!
Thank you, Mary Anne. You are welcome to come along anytime!
Been there, done that! I love Barcelona, la Boqueria, Sagrada Familia and everything else. I’m ready to jump on a plane and go there again any time. Last year I was supposed to go with 2 of my neighbors but the trip didn’t work out because one of them didn’t have a Schengen visa and it was goingto take a while for her to get one, making it difficult for us to book flights, hotels, etc. But I hope to be able to return some other time. ENJOY!!
Sometimes the hardest part of travel is getting ready to go, for sure! We never quite believe the trip is happening until sitting in that plane seat.
Lots to love Vicki!! Sorry about your trip last year. Maybe this year….!?! Thanks for following along with us. Best, Marilynn
Thanks for sharing your travels….and the wonderful pictures!
Totally our pleasure. Great to hear from you, Lady!
Yeah, you’re back traveling! Looking forward to food porn from France too!
I just had a pizza made with croissant dough and Brie cream cheese and ham bacon pieces!
Love all you guys adventures and absolutely fantastic work thank you so much
Thank you so much. We love to share our travels and appreciate your comments.
So much of this post resonates! Even after 16 years of living in Asia, I struggle with my American need for personal space. When we return to Oregon I find myself drawn to wide open spaces with as few people as possible. Traveling without definitive plans? Big yes! Can’t wait until we have some more flexibility in our travel schedules to do such. We got a little taste of it on our sabbatical year and loved it. People watching… food… Barcelona… “living light”… all of it! Even your plans for a few weeks of future solo travel. I’ve got 2 weeks of summer carved out for a solo adventure and can’t wait. Enjoy the rest of your time in Europe.
Wow! You still having the need for personal space after 16 years! Tells me that it never goes away. I just sat on a train trying to not touch knees with the people directly across from me for 5.5 hours. It’s nothing to them, but I’m taking slow deep breaths trying to focus on “you can be comfortable in uncomfortable situations” amidst the squealing of an infant. Hopeless. Reduced to a hope that young mama would breastfeed or something to break the monotony. She did something alright, changed a diaper! That’s what I deserve I suppose. Sounds like we would be good travel partners.
That market looks mighty crowded, maybe because it’s near summer. The Sagrada Familia is going to be completed in 2026. 100 yrs. after Gaudi’s death.
The market must be crazy during peak season, but hard for me to imagine that it can get even more crowded! There might be betting/wager odds on the completion date for Sagrada Familia!
Connie and I went to Barcelona on our 50th, it is an amazing city. Enjoyed your post, bought back memories.
Thanks, Colleen. Hopefully, we’ll see you here soon!