Monday, November 21, 2011

monday at montjuic

we started the day with a walk up to catalunya square to catch our hop on hop bus...we have taken these busses all over europe...some cities are better than others...barcelona ranks in the "okay" category.  the red line took us up to the national palace of montjuic...this is the view from the front door...
 the gardens are in winter mode...no fountains...but green and beautiful...
 we then made our way to the park of montjuic and hopped on the funicular...


 at the top we visited the a castell (fortess)...great views...

 the tunnel into the fortress...
 view of the port below...

 we stopped for lunch...gin loves a good sandwich...we found these earlier in the morning in a tiny shop just off las ramblas...was hard to wait until lunch time to eat them...

 another view of the ship yards...
 another foot shot...couldn't resist... mosaic-like inlays...
 back on the funicular...my feet found their way into the shot...
 we rode the red line to the port and hopped off to walk a little...

 we picked up the red line and it took us back to the top of las ramblas.  we shopped at el corte ingles,a massive department store (the harrod's of barcelona)...found some special treats for jayme and dustin (niece & nephew). 

earlier in the day we did a little searching for barcelona's best paella...we have eaten this famous spanish dish twice and have not been impressed...the all knowing internet suggested a seedy little spot just outside of our neighborhood...so after shopping we hit the tiny streets in search of redemptive paella...my "seedy little spot" radar was a little off and we found ourselves off the beaten path...as we were walking down a dark street lined with people (men in groups and women standing alone) lurking in doorways, ginny said, "i feel that if we stop walking, somebody might make us an offer, so let's keep walking".  we rounded the corner and after a quick stop for directions we found ourselves at....
 behold redemptive paella...
 we did our best but it was far too much...i wished for a tribe of pihlaja-johnsons...there was definitely enough for the masses...
 a walk home in the rain...tummies full...

kir&gin 
ps...ginny misses the dogs.

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