Barcelona #3

Quite by accident, just off La Rambla, I discovered Mercat de la Boqueria, billed as "one of Europe's best-stocked and most colourful produce markets".

Best said with photos...

Filleting fish

Sweeties

Chillies hanging

Lots of tripe

Hmmmm....

Barcelona #2

I don't know how to even begin to write about Barcelona... I need days and days just to convey everything that has been happening. I'll start where I finished - with the convent - because it is endlessly fascinating, like the city.

There is always an elderly sister on duty. I ring a bell at the door in the wall, there's a short wait and one of two sisters whom I've met opens it. Both are small, neither speaks English but they are just lovely, can't do enough to help (which often involves finding someone else who has a small amount of English to solve a problem). This morning I needed to wash some clothes (more than I could easily do in the bathroom sink). However to use the convent washing machine and dryer was going to take more time than I had. So Sister Nuria (phonetic) and I had a gestural conversation in which she showed me how to set up and pay for the wash and indicated that she would peg the clothes out and get them back to me. I returned home this evening to find a tray of perfectly folded clothes - more beautifully folded than I could ever manage.

Yesterday, once I had been greeted and initiated (no signing in as such) I parked my bags in my room and just went walking. Tired as I was from a fairly sleepless night, an early start and a fairly demanding sequence of transport changes, I managed to hang out on the streets of Barcelona from about 2.30pm until after 10.00pm. So what did I discover?

It's hot...

...but being in the shade makes a big difference and there's always a shady spot somewhere nearby.

Down near the waterfront

La Rambla - the pedestrian artery - is tree-lined

Big, old and gorgeous is everywhere...

Placa de Sant Jaume - the convent is about a minute's walk from here

The gothic Catedral - also nearby

Museu Nacional d'Art Catalunya

...so are the tourists...

Queue outside Museu Picasso this morning

...and so are the poor, who range from those sleeping on the streets and begging (whom I cannot bring myself to photograph) to those who have a job of sorts...

Shoe-cleaning (I think) on La Rambla

...or who like a smoke while walking the dog.

Barcleona #1...

When I hear or read the name 'Barcelona' I think of Freddie Mercury and Monserrat Caballe belting out the song :-) But not even that prepared me for this city!

I farewelled Merel, Lauren, Nina and Lasse at 7.30am Monday morning, trotting off to the tram stop to catch tram to Holland Spoor then train to Leiden where I changed trains to get to Schiphol. Not so easy at a busy time of day with luggage and a crook right hand. I had to stand both train trips.

Vueling airline - well there is less room between the seats than on any airline I have flown with. Seriously. And everything was charged for - tea, coffee, snacks - so I went thirsty and hungry. But the bus from Barcelona Airport to the city was efficient and speedy. I got off at the Placa Catalunya - huge, packed with people - and followed instructions by catching a taxi to Carrer Bellafila 4, a convent in the heart of the Barri Gotic, the medieval area of Barcelona. It seems that the nuns have established a part of the convent for university students (who of course are on holiday at present) - Residencia Universiteria Maria, Rena de la Pau. I think the nuns reside a floor above! Anyway this is an amazing oasis in the middle of a city that never sleeps. My room is  light, basic but totally comfortable and quiet!!

This is the view from my bedroom window...

Very cheerful colour scheme!

And this is the street in which the convent is located...