Hostal Goya
The accommodation we are staying in is great. It is very central, only a block away from Placa Catalunya, which is at the top of the Rambla where the main market is (Mercat de la Boqueria), and the same distance from the Aerobus terminal. So we were able to just jump on a bus at the airport and arrived here in about 20 mins.
The rooms are small but quite adequate, very clean and the hosts are very friendly and full of tips and sightseeing advice. We have una habitacion interior (interior room) so no road noise. The hostal itself is old, so wooden floors but not too noisy so far.
Barri Gotic
Barri means neighbourhood and Gotic is Gothic, this is the oldest part of Barcelona. Today we went roaming in the 'old quarter'. Very narrow streets but still some vehicle traffic, and lots of horns when a car stopped, preventing anyone else from moving. A lot of the area looks quite rundown with graffiti and erosion of the stoneware, but quite romantic and interesting. We'll come back with a better map so we can find the Roman walls.
Lots of people out enjoying the sun and the weekend walking.
We had our first tapas experience - delicious tastes - and I tried the cava, which is the local sparkling wine. The Cava Rosa (a sparkling rose) was very good!
We went for a walk down the Rambla to the harbour to look for Aunt Marie. She was leaving here today on a cruise. We found her ship: The Norwegian Epic, absolutely HUGE, but unfortunately didn't manage to catch Marie.
Day 2 was Gaudi day and we walked from Hostal Goya to the Sagrada Familia. Construction started on this as a Temple to the Glory of God in 1883 and will probably be finished around 2040. Parts of it are undergoing restoration while some of the new bits are yet to be designed, let alone added. Lots of the "Glory to God" stuff is actually on the outside of the church, and is very striking. The inside of the church is impressive. The columns supporting the roof are made like trees, some imitating the very ordinary Plane tree which is readily seen in urban Auckland. Gaudi was not the original architect, and when he was run over by a tram in 1926 he had done just the design sketches and concepts for much of the construction. Other architects but mainly Subirachs did much of the post Gaudi work. Fantastic place anyway, both inside and out. 
Sagrada Familia has the sort of fantastic designs and quite bizarre sorts of things that Andrew loved, and the place reminded me vividly of him. Not sure whether his travels took him to it, will have to check his book when we get home.
We also went into another building Gaudi designed as a residence and several apartments called the Pedera. Again quite fantastic concepts, a rooftop terrace built around the very much disguised chimneys and ventilation shafts. An attic supported by elliptical portal frames, and a very ornate internal courtyard. Later in the afternoon we braved the Metro - the buses were on strike - and went up to Park Guell, another of the Gaudi sites. A real hike up the hill from the station, but a series of escalators eased the pain of the climb. The park was quite arid, but had great views of the city, and lots of people enjoying the sun and lounging on the extensive curved mosaic seating.
We had started the day with a traditional breakfast, coffee and a ham roll in a little cafe opposite the Sagrada. Lunch was at a tapas bar off the Rambla, Cafe 24. Food was lovely, Ann even enjoyed the fried anchovies - progress at last. There were lots of others, ham and truffle, calamari (me only), Russian salad plus a cava or beer. Then for the evening it was Cafe de L'Acadamie in Placa St Just and the food was just lovely. (dined in courtyard with musicians in background.) Made a decision that after spending 160 Euros on eating and drinking for the day, should probably throttle back a bit. However.....
Today happened to be my birthday and we did start fairly low key with breakfast at the market. We had decided that lunch today was Cal Pep which happens to be Ross and Michelle's favourite, but is also Lonely Planet's No 1 Tapas recommendation. We duly arrived around 1 45 and queued for half an hour expecting to get a seat at the bar. When it got to us, the Maitre'd offered us a table, well why not, you are only 63 once. We left around 4 after an absolutely amazing 80 Euro lunch with locals on one table, Malaysians on another and a noisy group of Philippinos on the other. Two very funny waiters, absolutely terrific food (fried artichoke hearts, melt in the mouth ham, (Jamon - like proscuito), accidently ordered clams, dessert donated by the locals, tortilla (omelette), tuna carpaccio, anchovy appetiser, plus more. It was a riot of a time, lots and lots of laughs, a very memorable birthday. We have yet to do dinner, but we have adopted the local practice and will be dining at around 9.00 pm.
The market – La Boqueria – was really good. It is dominantly meat, fish and vegetables and all really delicious-looking too. So many different types of mushrooms, for example. Strange meat – like goats’ heads, lots of offal, tripe etc, but great looking sausages and beautiful fish. Some fascinating shellfish too. A bit frustrating going there with no opportunity to stock up and cook, but we did buy strawberries and figs for breakfast. Delicious!
But Barcelona wasn’t all about the food. We also had a great time exploring Montjuic – a hill overlooking the city and the site of the Olympic Games in 1999. The stadium is there and open for viewing and the other sites stretch out from it. All a little tired looking now, but it is interesting to see how far the Games have come in the past 10 years, as the site is quite compact and understated, compared with what we have seen in the past couple of Games. Also on the hill is a castle, an imposing structure with great views of the city. (If you look at the view, the Sagrada Familia sticks up in the middle - able to be seen from almost any city viewpoint) In the 1960s the castle was a political prison and had many executions - a chilling reminder of the political tensions of the recent past.
