Arriving in Barcelona

We had a great flight from Toronto to Paris.  We left at about 7:00 p.m. and arrived 30 minutes early at 7:30 a.m. Paris time on Monday February 23.  Unfortunately, we then had a five hour layover until our flight left for Barcelona.

When we arrived in Barcelona, we took the Aerobus (only 10.40 Euros for a return ticket) to a downtown Plaza. We walked to our apartment, which is about a five minute walk from the Picasso Museum in an area called El Born.  So much has changed in the city since our last and only visit in 1998.  All the airport signage is now in Catalan, Spanish and English.

Our apartment is on the third floor (fourth in Canada) in a very old building on a very narrow street called Banys Vells.  The place is very serviceable and large, with everything one needs to cook and hang out.

The bedroom

Dining room and door leading to bedroom

Alano in Dining Room 

The kitchen

Our street is very narrow and even though some stores were closed because it was Monday- there were a number of funky clothes stores and small local bars and restaurants open. The street is also very, very quiet at night.

            Looking down our narrow street

                                                      Banner at one end of street- Arts, Crafts and Artisans

Signage at one end of the street - I loved this vision of the yellow scarf...

Graffiti

Mask imbedded on street

We wandered around the 'hood and quickly discovered El Magnifico, a coffee house dating back to 1919.  Alano bought some beans for his morning coffee.

We then walked some more before heading to Euskal Etxea for some tapas.  This place was recommended in our Time Out Barcelona, which we are finding to be an excellent guide.

Outside the tapas bar-- some people eating outside ( a bit chilly, but still around 14C)

Delicious plates set out on the bar

One takes a plate and helps oneself to the pintxos (mostly food on small pieces of crusty bread) that are speared with toothpicks.  At the end of your meal, a server counts up the number of toothpicks and that is your bill.

Our first plate and some wine

                                                         Alano and his chorizo

It reminded me a bit of dim sum, as kitchen staff would circulate with plates of new tapas, hot from the oven.  In addition to those in the photos, we also had a delicious cod cake, a spicy small piece of omelet and a shrimp delicacy.  Our total bill was only 20.80 Euros, including the wine.  A great intro to Barcelona.  We then headed back to the apartment for a long sleep.

We awoke on Tuesday February 24 to a bright blue sky.  We are headed off for a "free" tour of Barcelona.