Sue arrived yesterday in one of the many taxis that blazes
into my plaza each and every morning. It’s really delightful because these is
an informal taxi stand in the corner of the plaza and you can always find a taxi
there ready to take you anywhere you want to go. Extremely convenient!
After a full day of travel Sue arrived looking fresh and
ready to go….why didn’t that surprise me?
She travels a lot and is a master packer so came complete with a light
weight carry on. This making the task
of getting the suitcase up two flights of stairs next to nothing at all. And……..the amazing thing is she will continue
to pull the most darling clothes out of that bag the whole time she is here.
We dropped off the bag in the flat and headed out to the
Gotic Cathedral plaza for coffee and to get an overall plan for her visit. We already had firm plans to go Sitges on
July 17 to spend a few days at one of Spain’s most famous beach resorts and a
long list of ‘recommended tapas’ bars we intend to take full advantage of but
there were still a few details to work out.
The plan came together quickly.
Everyone who comes to visit me has a slightly different
focus as to what’s important to them. I
love it because I get to experience Barcelona in so many unique ways. I always knew with Sue it would be ‘really
good food’ and ‘shopping’ and a museum or two.
So after an afternoon of getting acquainted with the neighborhood, just
a little shopping at a couple of my favorite stores and of course, the ‘welcome
to Barcelona Champagne Sangria’, we
headed out last night to one, if not the most famous tapas bars in town, Quimet
i Quimet. When I say this is a ‘hole in
the wall’ that is an understatement. The
place is like 12’ x 12’ and set in the middle of the block down an alleyway. There is a very small bar, maybe 10 people
and two stand-up tables, that’s it. When
we walked in a gentleman at the bar cleared room for us but just about the time
we were moving in a table cleared and the gentleman looked at us and said, ‘you
must take it, you are the blessed ones’.
So somehow we found ourselves at a table and the envy of the entire
crowd that arrived very shortly after we did.
The tapas were divine, so much so that I even eat anchovies and I hate
anchovies!!
Today we started at a small café for coffee and a
pastry. We were a little late as Sue had
slept in after her long day yesterday.
Well, as it would be the café was out of pastries so we had to eat apple
pie for breakfast…….it worked for me! Hahaha
For some reason Barcelona has decided to put everything they
are trying to sell on sale just for Sue’s visit so between us we had a really
difficult time staying out of stores today!
After all, I’m not sure Sue could have gotten the ‘gold lame’ jeans’ she
bought anywhere else in the world but Spain!! Somehow in between stores we did made our why
to two of Gaudi museums: The Casa Batllo and La Pedrera, an apartment building. These are both located on Passig Garcia, a
major and grand avenue with a great deal of history. These buildings are both World Heritage sites
and it is easy to see why. I just don’t
think you can get too much Gaudi. The complexity
of the man continues to awe me with each new additional accomplishment of his
that I am exposed to.
We had intended to have a simple dinner tonight because we
have plans tomorrow night for a big dinner at one of Barcelona’s fancy hot
restaurants so we went to a small boutique restaurant I’ve had my eye on for a
while, Xaloc (I have no idea how to pronounce that!). It turned out to be one of
those great finds and we had a delightful meal with a darling waitress and a
great atmosphere. I think Sue summed up
the day perfectly when she looked at me over her dessert and said, ‘I’m
sinfully happy’!
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