Barcelona in Photos

Our vacation began in Barcelona. I went into our trip armed with only a modicum of information about this city where we were about to spend a few nights- I went mostly with the attitude of "let's just see what we find." What we found was an incredible city. Barcelona was beautiful, vibrant, but laid-back and full of interesting things to see and delicious things to eat.

It was also quite photogenic. After the jump, I've posted several of the photos taken that I consider "keepers" (with a few others mixed in); the full "keepers" set can be found on my Flickr page. The entire album of presentable photos strictly from Barcelona has been posted to Google+. (There is another post to describe the other places we visited, coming next).

We spent the first day wandering up and down La Rambla, the main pedestrian thoroughfare of the city, moseying through shops, stopping to munch in tapas bars, and firing away with our cameras. I really appreciated the prescient city planning that cut off the corners of city blocks which allowed for gorgeous open intersections, complementing the many wide walkways to culminate happily in an outstandingly walkable city.

La Rambla at mid-day

One of our favorite places in all of Barcelona: Placa Reial

The Rambla del Mar, an extension of La Rambla onto the long pier

Sharon's portrait in the scarf stand mirror at the night market along La Rambla

It has fast become a major part of our travel m.o. to seek out and hungrily explore the major market for every city we visit (See: Reading Terminal Market; see also: every other city on this trip). The variety of offerings in a city market assume the affect of a kind of personality test for us to get a feel for a place. The delicious bombardment of the senses translates to a real, strong currency with us. And once we visited the Mercat de la Boqueria we were hooked by both market and city.

We picked through the fruit stands selling fresh, cut fruit (where we rediscovered the chirimoya, a delicious, sweet, fleshy tropical fruit we first tasted during our 2008 visit to Taiwan! We were thrilled to find this again, since we had yet to find it anywhere else). We gawked at all the fresh seafood delivered each morning. We snacked through the candy, nuts, bakery, and Iberian ham stands; these all brought us back each morning we had in the city. We could get lost all day in the Boqueria if you gave us the chance.

Chirimoya: sweet, fleshy, and 3 euro a pop

One of the many vendors at the Boqueria selling cured Spanish hams. Oh, so delicious

Candyland at the Boqueria

And finally, we were able to spend some time taking in the other major sights of Barcelona. If you ever visit, I would highly recommend taking advantage of a one- or two-day pass on a tour bus; it takes visitors to major sightseeing locales and allows for hopping on and off to take in the city at your own pace. We rode the bus to see Antoni Gaudi's masterpiece Sagrada Familia cathedral (though we didn't bother with the long line and expensive admission to get inside and see the beautiful interior), to marvel at the Modernisma architecture of the Passeig de Gracia, to absorb the beautiful views of the city and the Mediterranean from the mountainside of Montjuic, and to visit and crawl about Gaudi's iconic Park Guell housing project.

The view of the city from Museo Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, on Montjuic

La Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi's last masterpiece

Columns at the Square of Nature at Park Guell, former housing project turned city park designed by Gaudi

The view of the city and the Mediterranean from Park Guell

Pushing off from the port of Barcelona: a gorgeous sunset

We really did (cliched as it is) fall in love with Barcelona. Were we to be so fortunate in the future to have the opportunity for more time for another visit, we could happily wander through the city for days and continue to find new things that suit our senses and sensibilities just right.