Day 3/4 - Barcelona by Sea

For those who thought I'd quit after Day 2.... PISS OFF!!!

I've been a little busy but lots of fun over the last two days to share... Day 3 in Mallorca was light as it involved a ton of packing and last minute itinerary changes (more on that later). Regardless, after a very nice day at home - we packed up our bags and kicked off the roadtrop/hotel tour. By hotel tour - I mean Dad and I boarding the S.S. Who Knows What? at midnight to take our overnight "cruise" to Barcelona. This would TECHNICALLY start our "hotel" tour with a simple yet clean cabin waiting for us for our 7 hour overnight voyage.

I wake up to Day 4 with the unnessarily loud speakerphone man telling us we've arrived to our destination. Barcelona!

A short drive from the Port of Barcelona gets us to Rambla de Catalunya (streets are called Ramblas for the most part here) and to our actual first hotel destination - the boutique hotel Murmuri (http://www.murmuri.com/) = a spectacularly modern property which I was loving. A trippy all glass elevator takes me to my room 406 to find the incredible design continued.

The hotel tour is off and running and so far off to a great start.

After a quick breakfast, our first stop is Casa Mila (aka La Pedrera) - a architectural work by Antoni Gaudi. The architecture in Barcelona was one of my top points of interest and this first stop did not dissapoint. 50 or so pictures later - you get to see the two below (entrance, rooftop)... in a word - remarkable.

After Casa Mila - we start on a walk down the entirety of Las Ramblas. Las Ramblas is a long touristy yet fascinating street that goes from the city center roughly to the the sea port. The walk itself is a walk through the cultural "shades" of Catalunya with sections of the long street dedicated to various themes - starting with PETS of all things (literally - you can buy a pet bird on the street) to flowers to art crafts to street performers. Halfway down we come across La Boqueria.

Friends - I've been to dozens of open air markets in my day and nothing I can say will describe this spectacle appropriately. Imagine a football field filled with every fruit, vegetable, fish, meat, poultry, shellfish, herb, spice, cheese and related (e.g. Ostrich Egg perhaps) and you may begin to come close to this absolutely ridiculous market. Endless colorful rows of fresh product of all sorts. With a kitchen (and culinary skills) lacking - we decided to eat at one of the several in-market "eat at the bar" kitchens serving the very same super fresh meats and seafood of the market. To say the least - amazing.

After that - a quick rest and recovery at the hotel before dinner at a fabulous tapas bar called Cerveceria Catalunya just down the street from the hotel.

A after dinner walk brought us across another five star property worth a mention here - La Casa Fuster - a Leading Hotels of the World hotel. A quick walk through highlighted beautiful arched walkways with a large dimly lit lounge clearly mixing the jazz lounge feel with the modern edgy design of the city. Pictures below for your viewing enjoyment.

And that brings day 4 to a close - a very busy day but full of great sights, sounds - and of course - FOOD! Tomorrow is another day.