6/15/17: Barcelona day 2

We've decided to see Barcelona in two parts, the Old City and the New City, and today was devoted to the old. While we had explored part of the old city yesterday by doing the Rambla Ramble, we hadn't yet seen the Gothic Quarter. 

We began, then, with a walk that took us through the Roman portion of Barcelona, back when it was called Barcino and walled off from the rest of Spain. A church from the twelfth century held a flowered courtyard with a fountain. The fountain held an egg that it spat out of the fountain bowl into the air--a traditional sight in fountains all over Barcelona during the summer.

 




Our next stop was at the edge of the old wall where two Roman towers and a portion of the original wall still remain. The square held a kind of flea market, and just behind the wall you can see the towering spire of the cathedral of Barcelona, where dancers dance the Sardona at night. 

 

 

Down an alleyway we would only have found with the help of Rick Steves we discovered several Roman columns on display. These columns (72 of them) would have framed the square where the flea market was held today. 

 

Lunch was at a famous restaurant, Les Quatre Gats (the four cats), where Picasso used to hang out with his Avante Garde artist friends. He even designed the menu cover for the restaurant, something for which we saw sketches at our post lunch stop: the Picasso museum.

 

After a wonderful dinner at La Boqueria, an open air market where we got a 3-for-the-price-of-1 deal on real fruit juice because it was the end of the day. We were also introduced to a wonderful new dried fruit, Pina Morada, which is pineapple that has been dyed with blueberry juice. It tastes like concord grapes! We ended the day with a concert of Spanish music at the Palace of Music. The palace is incredibly ornate and the photo doesn't do it justice. A nice couple from L.A. chatted with us about places to see in Spain. They've been leading student tour groups for 26 years!

 

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