Exploding with Happiness!: Brunch, Walking Tour and Parc de la Ciutadella

We started our day with brunch at a restaurant Laura took us to called Milk. It was delicious. We had pancakes, French toast, omelet and eggs – plus OJ and wonderful coffee. Yum!

Well-fortified by brunch, we set out to meet our group and guide for a walking tour of the old city. Our guide, Helen, was terrific. She was Scottish but had lived in Barcelona for a couple of years. She was wonderfully informative and entertaining. She walked us around from site to site in the old city, weaving together history and lore in a way that made everything we saw very memorable. The two and a half hour tour flew by. We learned about the early settlers (who, according to legend, were sailors on one of Ulysses’ ships who ran aground in Barcelona and decided to stay), the Romans, Wilfred the Hairy, St. Jordi and the dragon, and the 13 ordeals of St. Eulalia, one of the patron saints of Barcelona. We heard the story behind the church of Santa Maria and the pine tree in the square in front of it and saw the church of Santa Maria del Mar, which was an inspiration for Antoni Gaudi. We saw a square that had been bombed during the Spanish Civil War and learned a little about Catalunyan history, the past and current tensions between Catalunya and Spain and the independence movement.

When the tour was over, we had made our way through the Barri Gothic (the oldest part of the city, which is where our apartment is located), El Born (the adjacent area) and were just inside the huge Parc de la Ciutadella, which was built for the 1888 Barcelona World’s Fair. The park is huge and gorgeous. We walked past the spectacular fountains at the north end and meandered around for a while, enjoying the perfect afternoon and all the people and children out having fun.

To get home, we decided to try the Metro. On our way to the station, we passed a troupe of street performers who were very entertaining and quite professional. We sat in the sun and had front row seats to enjoy their full performance.

Upon our return home, the final FBC (Barcelona soccer team) match of the season was underway. We were able to find it online and watched it in our living room. Unfortunately, FBC and Atletico Madrid tied, which meant that, based on overall records, Atletico Madrid is the top team in Spain and will go on to the league championship, and the season is over for FBC. The city didn’t seem too distraught, however, as there was still a lot of activity in the streets until very late in the evening.