WALKING BARCELONA

I'm determined to have thinner thighs than most men, so I'm doing a lot of walking in Barcelona.  Until today, I haven't used the bus or Metro system at all.  Yesterday, I think I broke my walking record, both in distance and time.  I walked to the Sagrada Familia from my hotel and spent about 90 minutes there, most of which was on my feet.  Then I decided I wanted to see the sea, so I just walked in that general direction.

I saw this rather unusual sculpture in a park along the way.  These are the thighs I'm after!

After about an hour of walking, I finally sighted some water.  It was just a small port, but I was so tired by then that I gave up on finding the big stuff.

There was a band playing in a grassy park across from this marina, so I rested a bit before wandering back toward the hotel.  There were some impressive buildings in this area.

I think Gaudi designed this one, but if he didn't, he certainly was an influence on the architect who did.

Back to my return walk to the hotel last night....I stopped for an early dinner and then set out again.  I walked through this park where there were some lively bocci ball matches underway.

Today, I was planning on taking a train to a monastery in the mountains about 50 kilometers from Barcelona, but some very drunk and noisy boys kept me awake for several hours last night and I couldn't drag myself out of bed to catch the train I needed to arrive at my reserved time.  So I slept in and later in the morning got myself moving to see a traveling exhibit of Pissaro's paintings--67 of them.  It was an eye feast for a lover of impressionistic art.  It seems a shame that the artist who was at the cutting edge of this art movement was so overshadowed by his student Monet.  This one was  included in the exhibit. 

After enjoying this fantastic exhibit, I headed eastward to try to find the famous Mercato Boqueria.  I had seen Marina's pictures of it, and when I returned to the hotel, I read an email from my Aussie friend Diana, who also urged me to see it.  They were right--it was impressive-- and you could buy any type of foodstuffs from soup to nuts.   It reminded me of the food markets in Thailand, except here I recognized all the fruits and vegetables!

There were also some prepared foods, so I tried my first empanada.  It was just okay.

After walking for 5 hours, I was pretty tired, so I figured out how to use the Metro and saved some shoe leather.  I hope the drunk boys don't congregate outside my window in the wee hours of the night again.  I need to get some sleep!