Rambla On

Our first day in Barcelona, we landed around noon, checked in at the hotel, and headed straight for the city. We stayed in a hotel near the airport. To get into the city we took a city bus to the Espanya metro station (metro is what they call the subway) and then took the metro further into the city. (If you're wondering why it's not spelled España, it's because most of the place names in Barcelona are Catalán, not Spanish. Even the signs are all in Catalán.)

From Espanya, we went to Plaça Catalunya where La Rambla starts. La Rambla is a street that goes from Plaça Catalunya to the sea. It's lined with shops, markets, and street performers. Some shops sold flowers. Others sold pets. A few had some cool art.

Halfway down La Rambla is the Mercat de la Boquería, a big open market of fruit, fish, meat, cheese, and sweets stands. We got some fruit, some cheese, and some chocolate. It was the best mozzarella cheese I've ever had.

Off the side streets of La Rambla there are some really cool narrow streets with more little shops. It's an area called Barri Gòtic. We just wound through the streets for a while and checked out some clothing stores, book stores, and toy stores.

At the end of La Rambla there's a big statue of Christopher Columbus, or Cristobol Colón as they would say. It's the tall statue at in the picture to the right. Columbus has his back to us because he's looking out to sea.

By the way, if you're wondering where our stroller is in all these pictures, it's back in London. We forgot to take it with us. That basically meant Mama carried McKenzie all around Barcelona for three days. Her muscles are like twice as big now. You think anyone wants a roundhouse kick to the face from her now? Forget about it.