Las Ramblas, La Boqueria, Camp Nou, and other Barcelona Wanders

We began today's wanders with a walk down Las Ramblas. We stopped at La Boqueria market -- an awesome market that puts Pike Place to shame. Such color! Such variety! There were stalls everywhere just full of new and interesting fruit, sweets, and other wares. We picked up bread, cheese, and chorizo for lunch for about 5 euros. That's right -- 5 euros. One of my top travel tips for y'all is to find the local market and make use of it every time you travel. You can save yourself a load of money and sample great regional breads and cheeses, too. It was so cheap and tasty!

We then made our way out to Camp Nou, the home stadium of FC Barcelona. I covered that visit pretty well on my sports blog, Sportsology. You can find more information about our Camp Nou tour here (http://sportsology.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/camp-nou/). Needless to say, it's hard for me not to root for Barca after that. Not only are they the best team in the world (winning 6 European cups in one season definitely qualifies this statement), but they also safeguard Catalan identity in a big way. I will wear my FC Barcelona scarf with pride, and scoff at all of you who call them the "Yankees" of soccer.

While at Camp Nou, it started raining pretty hard. The nice thing about Barcelona rain is that it's warm -- unlike rain in my Seattle hometown this time of year. Or any time of year. So we took the Metro over to Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's unfinished church. Wow. It's unlike anything I've ever seen. Really. I'll post pictures once I get back to the states to show you. It's almost modernist in its style. The interior is just awe-inspiring -- large vaulted ceilings with built-in lights. There are stained glass windows everywhere.

Gaudi took over the project in 1884. He used the church to explore his own spirituality. After his death in 1926, there was a debate over how to best finish the church. Some wanted to leave it unfinished, while others decided to keep going and try to stay true to Gaudi's spirit. The original plans were mostly destroyed during the Spanish Civil War -- a period of history I'd really like to find out more about. They've been working on the church for more than 100 years. Wow.

We spent the rest of the rainy day in the Maritime Museum. It was pretty cool. It had a neat exhibit about all the languages of the Mediterranean. A portion of it showcased the sounds of places such as markets and temples. The language geek in me found it awesome. There was also an exhibit about sharks and overfishing, and one about travel and seafaring. Cool stuff.

Dinner tonight consisted of tasty traditional Catalan food. Smiley and I split a tuna and potato pie. And I had chicken covered with emmentaler cheese. The chicken was perfectly grilled and wonderfully tasty. Yum!

A word about Barcelona residents -- they are some of the nicest people! I know that Spanish is not the main language here (as mentioned before, Catalan is a very different language), but most people speak a little Spanish. They are quite patient when I explain "hablo un pequito espanyol" (can't make a tilde with my keyboard...sorry Spanish speakers). I hit my head on a low-lying ceiling (Spaniards are also rather short), and the folks in the cafe were so nice about it. They asked me several times if I'm okay. I'm fine -- no concussion, just a rather large bump. Soy alta chica! What can I do?

Hopefully the weather will be nicer tomorrow for our planned wanders -- the Gothic quarter, Park Guell, and possibly a couple of museums! I may try to find a Spanish team World Cup scarf while I'm at it as well.

Adios for now!