Mercat

I have this thing for markets.  Flea markets, farmer's markets, super markets, really any kinda market, you name it... so we wandered down to the big Mercat to explore the hundreds of stalls selling everything from fish to meat to fruits to CANDY.  Unfortantely, we got their right at closing time so many of the vendors had closed up.... luckily though, most of the candy shops were still open!  I don't know what could be better than visiting a market that sells CANDY!  I indulged in some licorice (the real stuff is sooo much better than what you find at the 7/11) and we bought some Turron for later.  It was a good night.

streets of BCN

...slightly more exciting than Jeddah...

Las Ramblas

After thoroughly exploring La Sagrada Familia, our tummies were seriously rumbling.  So, my Colombian Guide in Barcelona Extraordinaire navigated us through the hellish Barcelona metro system to Las Ramblas where we could check out the busy crowd in search of TAPAS!  While my hunger was calling (loudly!), my tongue was what really needed to be quenched.  After weeks in Sober Saudi, I was really looking forward to a fermented beverage.  So... we found the nearest tapas bar!

I decided "when in Spain..." you might as well enjoy the local flavors, so I decided to take a break from my vegetarianism and let my guía do the ordering.  Opting for local favorites, we got Pan con Tomate, Jamón Serrano, una Cana y una Sangría, and... Caracoles.  The tomato-rubbed bread was a perfect snack to silence our stomaches and the ham was to die for.  Seriously, and I usually find pig to be pretty distasteful, but this stuff is amazing... like a strip of salty meat butter... I am salivating just thinking about it.  ....The snails, and this was my very first tasting of the little gastropods, were actually quite delicious, mostly due to the garlic sauce they were cooked in.  I even enjoyed fishing them out of their little shells, but the one distasteful bit was looking at their little horned faces right before ingesting them.... next time maybe we can get them de-anteneaed....

La Sagrada Familia ...adentro....

If only we all had such creativity and vision....

La Sagrada Familia

This Gaudi cathedral, is well, ya, slightly incredible.  With its nature-inspired architecture, La Sagrada Familia, feels like a mixture between Tolkien, Avatar, and the Nightmare before Christmas.  This freakin' massive iglesia has been under construction for the past 150 years.  It will hopefully be completed sometime around 2020.  I can't imagine what it will look like then, already it is quite a sight to behold.