A Flâneur in Barcelona: A fanciful post featuring the letter “F”
japra | Feb 12, 2009 | Comments 19
We flew to Spain. The airport is right on the coast, so our first views of Barcelona included the Mediterranean and sun. It put us in the right frame of mind for our family holiday. (Photo by Roxi on her Casio Exilm 8.1 MP)
We were a bit early to check into our flat, so we stopped at a nearby cafe for a foamy cup of cafe con leche.
As we were letting ourselves into our building, we came across this mini-street festival starring these funsters.
Our flat was on the top floor of the building. We had a big balcony with fantastic views.
All around the city, we came across fruit trees. I wondered if they were Seville Oranges.
This fanatic-looking mannequin was a bit unnerving.
As you might imagine, the food in Barcelona was amazing. This flan was delicious!
And one afternoon after a long walk through the old town, we rested our feet and feasted on churros and chocolate.
Barcelona is a very artsy city. We saw everything from fine art in formal settings (here at the Picasso Museum)…
… to graffiti framed in store fronts.
And of course there is Gaudi and his overwhelming Sagrada Familia,
the fanciful Casa Mila or La Pedrera,
Though we did not see any flamenco dancers, we saw lots of costumes for sale. Wait until you see my apron… You’ll be flush with envy!
One of the strangest things I saw were these furry friends for sale in an outdoor pet market along La Rambla. More on this later too.
Seats for fatigued shoppers and tourists.
We visited the Cathedral of Santa Eulalia where thirteen geese frolic under the giant fronded palm trees in the cloister’s garden. More later.
One of our favourite things to do in Barcelona was simply walk. We loved the tiny streets of the Barri Gotic. In some places the streets were less than eight feet across. Doesn’t this bridge have lovely fretwork?
Farewell, Barcelona. Thanks for four fun days! (Photo by Roxi on her Casio Exilm)
Fin!
PS Fancy a letter of your own for an alphabet post? Leave me a comment and I’ll ask Roxi to pick one for you. Or you can select your favourite letter. Thanks, Elizabeth, this was fun ;-)
Filed Under: Blog • Destinations • Featured • Spain
About the Author: JaPRA is an expat Texan living in England with her husband (Mr. DJ), their 17-year old daughter (Roxi), and their dog Trudy.
What an awesome post!! I loved taking the time off from my super busy and complex afternoon at work to just relax in Barcelona for 5 minutes. Thanks for a lovely time!
Oh, and pretty please don’t give me a letter – the whole reason I took a break was because I need to find a suitable synonym for “targeted” and i am just not succeeding. After re-writing a health and safety report, I might just be all-worded-out.
What fantastic fun fotos! I want to go there! But I’ll have to be satisfied to see the promised future posts.
Emm–I wish I could go back to Barcelona right now. The sun was **sigh** wonderful.
Kathy–You know, Spain was not very high on my list. I don’t know why! It’s beautiful and deserves at least three more trips ;-)
Great post and photos JAPRA. Barcelona is on my list of places to visit.
We’re off to Spain on Monday staying in Benalmadena. :)
Hi JAPRA
A fantabulous foray to foreign frontiers.Fairly freaked me out. First class and first rate. Fank you !
ok, Barcelona’s been added to my wish list of places to visit now! Thanks that was GREAT. Barbara’s Funny!
So fabulous and festive! I’m craving flan now.
Fantastic Fotos!
Looking forward to future forays..
Fantastic! I LOVED your photos and commentary. Now I’m famished for flan.
When you return, you really do need to check out the flamenco dancers. That was one of the highlights of our visit. We saw the show in Pueblo Español de Montjuïc.
And what about the Magic Fountain in Montjuic? Was that an oversight, or did you really not get to see it? YOU HAVE TO SEE IT NEXT TIME!!!
Aaah!!!
Thanks for the PFUN !!
Akelamalu–I cannot wait to hear about your trip to the land of sun. ¡Buen viaje!
Barbara–I was finkin’ you are funny ;-)
Christine–Barcelona deserves a another visit. And now Madrid is high on my list as well. Oh the dangers of travel! And Barbara is a hoot!!
Bee–And flan is one of those things that you have to make for a party. Much to rich to eat on your own, yes?
Susan–I hope a future foray leads me back to Barcelona. I am NOT done yet.
Fantastic Forrest–We were really off with our timing for Montjuic. The funicular and cable cars were closed until the end of the month for repair. And silly us, we didn’t check times for the museums–closed on Mondays (got all the way to the Miro museum and realized this–duh). The fountain was closed for the season. Must go back to Barcelona in the summer (early summer!!) to enjoy the warm weather activities.
Chris–Good one! ;-)
What a FUN,FESTIVE and fulfilling trip you mist have had.
I’m Particularly struck by all the FOOD.
Such lovely photos.
Elizabeth–I thought of you while I was taking those food photos ;-)
Was it nice and warm then?
Emm–During the day it was comfortable. We wore layers and at some point I did take off my jacket. It cooled down a lot at night and was very windy on one night. The best part of Barcelona was THE SUN!! It put us in a good mood immediately :-)
I’ve definitely decided to tak a sun break next December. It seems to be so therapeutic!
Funny, friendly, fantastic, far out fare for a feature blog.
I have never been to Spain. It is on my list though and now I want to go even more! Thanks for the tour. That was quite a feat using all those “Fs”.
Ginny, we LOVED Barcelona! I don’t know why we resisted Spain for so long. Now we can’t wait to see more (and eat more Spanish food–yum)!