Day 3 Barcelona

Sylvia's Fish and Ratatouille

Bill's Octopus and Lentils

It's Raining! No matter, it's still fairly warm. Got up this morning and did my daily duty of going out and bringing back croissants, but not before I had a double espresso to jolt the old system into moving about. Today we walked over to the el Born, a bohemian-chic neighborhood comprised of narrow winding streets and alleys full of bars, restaurants and tiny shops. The first place we stumbled into was the Church of Santa Maria del Mar where there was an all violin orchestra performing. We sat in a pew and listened for a bit, then attempted to visit the Picasso museum. Unbelievably the line was 45 minutes long and people were actually standing in the rain waiting for tickets. It was at that point that I decided that I was no longer a Picasso fan - never was actually. Instead we headed over to the Santa Caterina Market and were pleased to see it was a neighborhood kind of market. It had most of the same stuff as La Boqueria Market without the swarm of tourists. Leaving the market it started to rain a bit harder, and since it was after two o'clock lunch was in order. Apparently everyone else had the same idea, however we managed to find a small "Normal" restaurant up a quiet alley called Origens. Sylvia had pumpkin saffron soup and a whole fish dish, and I had an octopus and lentil salad (I'm on a diet).  I entertained myself by drinking several beers (part of my diet) and watched Sylvia wrestle with a whole fish - she also had dessert and I didn't :). Afterwards we walked a bit more, then went back to the apartment to dry off just before the rain stopped. So far el Born is my favorite neighborhood and I would prefer to stay in that vicinity if ever in Barcelona again.

We went back out in the evening to see if we could get into one of the higher recommended tapas bars. Supposedly they're long waiting lines after 9. We checked them out around 8 and the both were packed. Eventually we settled on Restaurant Taller de Tapas. We ordered salt cod and parsley fritters, bellota jamon croquettes, grilled prawns, grilled sausage with white beans, and tomato bread - no dessert, but a bottle of wine.  Overall it was very good. The Spanish wines are very inexpensive and it's rare to find one that costs more than $25, plus they're all very drinkable, but then that just might be me.