Barcelona's La Rambla

We checked into the very nice and reasonable Camping Barcelona Sunday afternoon . The campground is about 20-25 miles from the Barcelona centrum and free buses shuttle you in and out 4 times a day. Smaller shuttles run more or less hourly between the campground and the city of Matoros (120,000), a mile or so away, which has a train station and all the stores you'd need for everyday purposes. 17 euros a day, including electricity and other amenities. Such a vast and wonderful difference from our previous Barcelona visit!

Rain was forecast and delivered most of Monday, so we stayed at the campground, reading, planning, cleaning, etc. But Tuesday we ventured back into the great city, one of Europe's best, and began at the beginning, the obligatory stroll from the Placa de Catalan to the harbor and the Columbus monument along what is to me Europe's best boulevard, La Rambla. We got nearly half way before being distracted, but that's another post.

You'll see more of La Rambla in our 2010 posts; here just a
few sights on and off the boulevard; El Indio, a fabric store
on a side street, on the Ruta del Modernisme; for us,
Barcelona is largely about architecture, Modernisme as
it is called here, Jugenstil in Germany or Austria, Art
Nouveau more generally; El Indio was our first stop (and
we'll skip the farmacia, the Casa Beethoven, etc.)

My favorite market in Europe is La Rambla's Boqueria,
where you can get Kobe rib-eye for 150 euros/kilo (2.2 lbs)
or Nebraska USA for 39.90

But this is Spain, where Pigs Rule

And the really good stuff will run upwards of 200 euros/kilo

In the colorful Peppers & Stuff stall

Another beautiful old store

The China building

At the Liceu they're celebrating Wagner's
200th birthday; also a year-long Wagner
film festival

The Miro mosaic on La Rambla

I've been trying to get into Miro--Barcelona would be the
place for it--but just can't

So at this point we dove into the Barri Gotic, the old city, in
search of a restaurant, Merce Vins, I'd read about on Yelp;
at length we found it and were glad we did--a three course
delight (gazpacho; salt cod, pear for me; steak for Vicki and
the above cake and dessert wine), including bread and 1/3
bottle of wine, all for 12 euros each; then we figured out
that the Palace of Catalan Music, our favorite Art Nuvo
here, was just a couple hundred feet away; and so we'll
finish the rest of the Rambla another day