Can You Believe It's Been 17 Days Already?

Are you kidding me! Do you see this picture!? This is taken at Santa Maria Del Mar. I was lucky enough to walk by (randomly) as a wedding was being performed so the church doors were open. This is taken from the back of the church! I love it!

Today was another very active day of walking. I walked down by La Rambla, El Born, and Barri Gotic in hopes of seeing some more sites that I was not able to see the last (10 times) time I was in that area. On my way to see the Picasso Museum, I stopped by the "Roman Wall and Defense Tower". When I finally got to the Picasson Museum, the line took way too long - so I bailed. Instead, happened to walk by the church- Santa Maria Del Mar (I am glad I did).

Aftewards, I decided to go read in Parque de La Ciutadella. I had been to that park once, but didn't bring my camera the last time. The park was beautiful and completely full of life. I enjoyed a great nap under a tree and read a few chapters in my book.

After I left the park, I headed up La Rambla to see la Palau Guell. Unfortunately, I missed the hours of operation by 30 minutes. I will definitely return though, as it's GRATIS! La Boqueria became my next stop, though it was not planned. La Boqueria is an open air market. The colors of the fruit and candy was stunning. You can see in the pictures below. I EVEN was brave enough to walk to the back and walk through the sea food/fish. You all should be very proud. Ironically enough, 2 minutes after walking out of the market, I walked past a vegetarian restaurant. It got me thinking! Only thinking : )

After a great workout, I saw my gym crush and smiled at him today. I will have to try and get a photo of him- not sure how I will do this without looking like a perve (well, I kind of am). Hopefully I will say hola sometime before I leave and then he will become my gym BOYFRIEND- ha ha ha! Anyhow, back to the important stuff. I met up with Jen at the plaza and had a great conversation. We got to see a little boy learn to ride his bike for the very first time. His father was so adorable- screaming and yelling.

It made me think of me learning to ride my bike and remembering going down the sidewalk on Albert (the opposite side that I lived on). I remember my dad helping me and me being so scared for him to let go. When he would, I would completely lose control and freak out. The first time that I remember "getting it" when I was with Brad by an area close to Central Rd (that's right, I learned next to a very busy street- ha ha ha! All it took was a little bit of a wrong turn with my handlebars and ... : ). It was the most exciting time to finally feel what it was like to feel comfortable stopping and starting by yourself! All these memories came flooding back when I saw this little boy riding around the plaza.

After dinner, Jen and I went for drinks at this famous bar by their apartment. The drinks really were delicious. It seems that the drink of choice for me on this trip is not Sangria (like Cristina thinks- and makes fun of me for), but Caipirinha. I ended the night headed out for a night on the town- BY MYSELF. It's one thing to go to a bar in your country or in a new city in the U.S. It's a little scary, but it can be done with a little push- but to go to the bars in a completely different country by yourself (at 2:30am) was a little nervewracking. Everything ended up just fine- except my wallet is nearly empty from the 14 euro entry, the 4 euro water, the 5 euro Heineken and the 11 euro cab ride home, but overall it was a good experience to go out alone. The disco was not much fun, but I did manage to speak with a few interesting people and now have the courage to do more of the same in the coming week.

Time to head to the BEACH!
This is the Defense Wall near El Born (I think- or La Riberia or Barri Gotic- I'm not sure of the neighborhood) but it's by the Jaume yellow line stop. When I see this picture, I see myself walking into a shop that is directly behind where I am taking the picture and asked her in Spanish, "Tienes los sellos?" She said, "no" : (












More of the same, but from a different view.













I don't know what it was about this building, but I really thought it was beautiful.
















A random cove in El Born. I am facinated by the arches found throughout Barcelona. It makes everything look so fancy and inviting.















Speaking of inviting, I invited myself to a wedding in La Iglesia - Santa Maria Del Mar.
















A close up for the wedding party (this shot was from about 100 meters back). I love the zoom on my camera.







Stained glass for two of the biggest fans on this blog.

















Stained glass- etc.

















An upclose, detailed view of stained glass for Ivancito.











This stained glass was near the back of the church. It looks completely modern (which I am sure it is), but so out of place with the rest of the windows, though I still think the colors are facinating.














I am guessing this is where the organist can play. During the ceremony the painist was up by the wedding party.
















Parque de la Ciutadella. I am completely in awe of the greenery in this park against the back drop of the sky. It's remarkable. They do such an amazing job keeping this park beautiful and alive. It is one of the VERY FEW green parts to the city. I am glad I spent some time here today.













More of the same- I love this picture.












Kids playing on an oversided tire swing.














A random building (I am not sure what it is) in the park.











More stuff in the park.

















The tree and the view that I had as I napped and read.

















While leaving the greenery of the park, this is the view you get : ) Pretty cool, huh!?
















The open air market off of La Rambla.














CANDY! YUM YUM YUM!













More candy! Look at the colors!

















: ( The back of the market. It's like you could feel the souls of the fish lingering in the air. It was such a different atmosphere than the candy and fruit areas. The saddest part was that quite a few of the crab, lobster, etc. were still moving and still alive : (








: (













I think I just threw up a little bit in my mouth (Shout out to Becky, Kate, and Brooke- do you remember Becky's shirt!?)




Maybe this is the way to go!?

















Look at this fruit- is looks so good and happy! : )












The world's largest vending machine.












The boy riding his bike for the very first time. But you know what happens after the first time you ride by yourself...?










You fall : ( We didn't get to see it happen, but we got to see what came next!














THE BOY TOOK HIS BIKE! We were not sure if they were suppose t be sharing the bike and I couldn't hear what the blonde kid was saying, but by looking at his finger and the redness that overtook his face, I don't think it was, "your turn!"







We needed to go get groceries and Jen suggested we go back home to drop our bags off and go to the market by the apartment. I told her not to worry about it, I would carry them all and it would be fine. Well, it ended up being fine, but I had to squat on the floor of the Metro, because every seat was taken. I couldn't leave the bags on the floor, because when I tried that, shit went all over the car. So, I got to squat for the majority of the metro ride. Oh yea, I forget to mention that each of the bags were beginning to tear as we were walking to the metro- ha ha ha! Luckily, we got here just in time, before one of the bags ripped.







The bar that Jen and I had our drinks at! It's a really cool place and in the most random part of the neighborhood- completely out of the way and tucked inbetween inconspiculous buildings.














Jen's excited about our drinks! This is also right after she told me that there is a bar in Barcelona called the Betty Ford- and I quote, "You know some American opened that shit up!"










Me showing how scared I am to go out to the scary gay bars alone!!!
















Hot Boy Zone-
I think these are the police or something like that! They are hot, because they are in uniform.
















I saw this guy earlier in the day- yummy! Getting this shot was not easy. Again, not wanting to look COMPLETELY desperate, I had my camera by my waist and just turned it up and clicked- I GOT THE PICTURE! He looks a little odd crunching his face like that, but come on- you get the idea, right!?













I got a couple of this guy, but this was the best one seeing the majority of his face. He was delicious!