Javier!!! Oh, Javier!!!! Donde esta???

Haven’t seen Mr Bardem yet, but then we’ve only been in Barcelona about 9 hours.  Perhaps tomorrow.  We did see was La Rambla, a swell pedestrian way featuring shops, kiosks and all kinds of goodies.

First we had to get here and for that, we took the AVE, Spain’s high-speed train, which made the 314 miles trip in just over 3 hours and that included about 3 stops along the way at other major cities.  My worries were all for naught:  the baggage regulations are enforced about as tightly as the carry-on regulations are in the States.  We got all our bags on with no problems.  But we ultimately purchased a smaller, but still good-sized – piece and plan on somehow giving the over-sized one away while here.  We think it will make the rest of our journey easier.  It’s a struggle lugging that behemoth of a suitcase around.

Oh and by the way.....



Gene enjoys the AVE   (mwah ha ha!!!!!)



Once in Barcelona, we checked into our hotel, smack on La Rambla, a splendid modernistic, clean-line beauty that features DOUBLE SINKS!!!! in the bathroom and a small patio off our room that goes out about 10 feet and runs the length of the room.

 

Right outside our room for our personal use
and below, views of the lobby

We dropped our luggage in the room and hit La Rambla, to discover its treats.  We found this right across the street from our hotel:   



Another cool trompe l'oeil, Stacy!

And one of many beautiful flower kiosks along La Rambla





Then we discovered the Mercat, an mouth-watering covered marketplace, featuring some of the largest pieces of fruit and mouth-watering truffles and sweets I’ve seen.  Nothin’ like walking around eating mango ice cream that actually tasted like mangoes! 

 





Strawberries, Mangoes, Peppers oh my!!!


 

We stopped for dinner at an insane little stand that was straight out of a Saturday Night Live skit.  We received a 2-page menu, but every time Gene and I chose something, this gruff guy would go “no”.   He finally took the menu and said “no this, no this, no this…” which cut out about 3/4 of the choices.   I expected him to say “no coke, pepsi” when I ordered my drink.  But we eventually got food and it wasn’t bad.  



Cheezeburger!   Cheezeburger!!  Cheezeburger!!!!!!!



Rain off and on today, though weather has never slowed us down and won’t this time around either.  Tomorrow, we check out those Gaudi buildings Barcelona is famous for!