Tired and hungry, I emerged from a metro stop on La Rambla.
A column with Columbus pointing the way to the new world.
The harbor with what I presume are very expensive boats.
'Barcelona Head' by Roy Lichtensten.
Wandering the narrow streets of the Barri Gotic.
Back on La Rambla, encountering guys with startlingly similar hats.
Behind the ubiquitous and kind of stupid street mimes and human statues, lies Cafe Vienna. This is where I finally found the sandwich I'd been looking for (more on that later) and encountered the full horror of Spanish beer.
The Cathedral, under repair.
This is in the old part of the city- Roman walls.
This guy was the best accordionist I've ever heard.
Tucked away in the Barri Gotic is another roman remnant.
Four columns from a temple to Augustus. Houses were built around them in later centuries, now they're in this oddly colored basement.
Plaça de Sant Felip Neri- very peaceful.
Random street signage.
In Plaça Catalunya now, watching a guy on a ridiculous bike scatter pigeons.
Benicio del Toro approves of this ice cream bar! The taped-on paper is a poorly translated screed against bullfights. I approve of screeds against bullfights!
Amusing at the time.
Local supercomputer tour. I tend to find this kind of thing a bit nerdy. This one's in a church, which is sort of interesting.
Out in the country for the conference dinner.
It was at this 16th century house.
The entertainment was this assortment of families who climbed on top of each other to make towers. This was accompanied by a drum and two primitive clarinets.
The girl on top is three years old! She has a helmet though.
High fives for the three year old after her finale.
Sam and Calvin arrived! The first of several meals where Cal was not happy staying still.
Paella!
They were exhausted from a super early flight, and it was really hot, but we wandered through the Barri Gotic for a while.
Plaça de Sant Felip Neri again.
Here's the sandwich that Mark Bittman called the best sandwich he'd ever had. The flauta d’ibéric d.o. jabugo. A few rich slices of the world's most exquisite ham, on a perfectly crusty bread smeared with tomato. It was good enough that picnicing with this on Plaça Catalunya became our routine.
Wait- is that rain? Yes. After a week of sun, the first full day of Sam and Cal's trip was rainy.
To the maritime museum! This is a replica of a galley. The museum's housed in the medieval shipyards.
Crayfish!
Sam!
The public bike program is funkier than most.
Calvin rearranging some furniture.
Heading towards La Sagrada Familia.
Pretty cool.
Sam enjoys the view in the rain.
The other side.
More Gaudi- La Pedrera.
The chimneys are the big attraction, but standing in line in the rain in order to stand on a roof in the rain sounded grim.
Casa Batlló.
The next day, heading uphill to Park Güell, designed by Gaudi.
Cal picks where to go in the park.
Nice views over the city, even though it was kind of hazy today.
Up on top of the park.
Cal expending some energy with his new favorite pastime.
The sinuous, mosaiced benches.
Tapas for lunch.
Calvin had strong ideas about where to walk during lunch.
More tapas!
Inside the cathedral.
Up on top- more cool city views.
No unattended children allowed.
Floor decorations made out of leaves.
In the cloister, for some reason, geese.
On to the beach- it was a little cloudy again, but still fun.
It was pretty cold water, and this may not look like fun, but he was enjoying swatting at waves.
More Roman wall action.
Our final morning, another stroll on La Rambla and a stop at La Boqueria.
You can buy probably any food you want at this place.
Delicious pork products.
Cal scored a banana, then it was off to the airport.
