Foolish gibberish
Today I didn’t take a lot of iPhone snaps because I was more focused on pinhole photography. We had an amazing tour around the city center and ended up at a park where we played pétanque. I eventually became too exhausted to continue to dinner, which makes me kinda sad because when am I ever going to do this again? But my body is all, “nope. We’re done.” So I am now going to pass out.
Here are some photos from today.
Today was a big day in Barcelona. It was St Jordi’s day. It’s a sweet holiday. The tradition is that you are supposed to give your sweetheart a rose (if you are a man) and in return you get a book. So raf gave me a rose.
In return I bought him a handmade sketchbook.
In the evening I met up with my pinhole photography friends and we went to an amazing gallery show of pinhole photography. This was my favorite photo in the show.
As I was looking at this I realized all of my friends disappeared. Eventually I was led into a room where they were making a giant print of a pinhole image.
It was amazing.
I now need to get some sleep because I have an early morning.
Today I had the pleasure of going on a tour of the Gracia neighborhood of Barcelona by a local resident. It was amazing to see the city from his perspective. I almost slept in today but am so glad I didn’t and was able to make the meet up! Here are some photos. We saw lots of Gaudi architecture.
He also showed us the costumes of a very old tradition – a kind of neighborhood parade of dragons and people. The giant man and woman are those that watch over the neighborhood. He said that when Franco was in power the parade was banned but as soon as he died the people brought it back.
We also saw some cool street art
In the evening I met up with several internet friends and we drank, ate tapas, and chatted till midnight. I regret not taking more photos of my friends!! I remember regretting this about my trip to Amsterdam so I need to remember to do more people photos over the weekend!
Still trying to recover from Jet lag, but starting to feel normal finally. We set the alarm to wake up in the morning at a respectable hour. Then, after fortifying myself with coffee, set out for Sagrada Familia. All I can say is, “wow.” I walked inside and was completely blown away. Photos of this place don’t do it justice.
After a nap we decided to walk along The Ramblas using our Rick Steves guidebook. I always seem to learn something when I bring his books and the Ramblas tour did not disappoint. Yesterday while sitting and resting in a chair on The Ramblas I noticed an interesting fountain that people walked up to and drank from. It was different from any drinking fountain I’d ever seen. Well today I learned that it has some historical significance. It’s called The Fountain Of Canaletes and legend has it that if you drink from it you will return to the city. So guess what I did?
I am officially a tourist!
We also had desert at Escribà bakery.
And then (and I never would have seen this if I didn’t have this book) we took a detour and saw the remains of a Roman Metropolis. Very cool!!
When I woke up this morning and looked at the clock I couldn’t believe my eyes. It said 11:45 am. We’d practically slept the day away!! Honestly, I could have slept longer but we forced ourselves to get up and get out there. We decided to go to the Picasso Museum. On our way there, Google took us on an amazing adventure through some narrow alleyways.
I am in love with these narrow passageways. I shot an entire roll of 35mm today!
The Picasso museum was very inspiring and now I want to learn more about Velasquez.
Next we decided to walk down to the beach. First we needed food so we stopped for Tapas & Sangria – the first time I’ve had both.
Then we reached the beach and dipped our toes in the water. Our first view of the Mediterranean Sea. 😀 exciting!!
Blatherskite 