barcelona, capital of catalunya and my last stop

Kim and I are staying in a cute boutique hotel in Barcelona right on a main street. Yesterday, we walked around the city all day until we crashed on our beds for a late afternoon nap. Barcelona is a lot more like a big city than Granada. There are wide avenues and tall buildings with lots of people roaming around. Since Barcelona is the capital of Catalunya, Catalan is used on signs everywhere. Catalan looks a little like Spanish because it has its root in Latin but it is more closely linked to French while Spanish has been influenced more by Arabic. I´m just glad that people speak Spanish here- that makes me happy.

So we took a stroll down La Rambla which is the central street of Barcelona that leads to the Mediterrean port. We thought it was really amusing that vendors sell birds and other little critters on the street...we think we saw ferrets too. We wandered into the Boqueria market to find tons of seafood and meats. Yum...pig heads and fish everywhere. I don´t usually get too grossed out by markets but this one was a little much by the end. Somehow we still ended up eating seafood for lunch... In the market, they offered quite a variety of sea creatures. I got a picture of a swordfish´s head that I would share if I could.

We continued down to the port to Colombus´ monument and walked along the waterside before heading up towards the Picasso Museum. We almost didn´t go to the museum but we were both glad that we did afterward. The museum had a lot of work from his early years and then highlighted a couple moments later in his life. He was an amaxing artist from the time he was 15. At 16, Pablo (since we´re on a first name basis) painted an impressive realist work that really showed that he could´ve been like other artists. He got more and more unique as time went on. Towards the end of his life, he did an intensive study of Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez. I saw Velazquez´classic barroque painting in Madrid so it was really cool to see where Picasso took it. I was really impressed with his originality in taking apart such a famous work.

After soaking up Picasso, we visited la iglesia de Santa Maria del Mar- Church of Saint Mary of the Sea. It was a nice break to be inside a quiet church but we both got the feeling that it was more of a museum than a church. Nonetheless, they architecture was intriguing with its ancient rose window and repition of the number eight throughout the building.

We eventually made our way back to the hotel but without making lots of stops in little shops along the way. We called it a day at about 7pm because we were so exhausted.

Today the plan is to rent bikes and ride around in search of Gaudi´s famous architecture throughout the city. Tomorrow we´ll probably take a trip out of the city to a Monastery on Montserrat... a nice break from the city´s hustle and bustle. Saturday will be our last day in the city and then we´ll be returning home on Sunday. It is really weird to be coming to the end of such a long trip but I´m definitely looking forward to seeing family and friends...and God willing, I´ll get to be in one spot for awhile.

Hasta luego, mis paisanos!