Day 10: Barcelona

I'm up early today, buzzin with excitement. I've got my camera, my map, my shades and I am ready to hit the sights. First stop is the Gaudi structure in Barcelona that everyone knows about. That thing is so complicated it's still under construction. The level of detail must be a huge pain in the ass. Finding my way there wasn't difficult. You just started walking in that general direction and soon enough you'll spot large tour groups walking somewhere. Mind you this is the part of town that is relatively quiet so if there's a huge group of people walking towards something, it is the La Sagrada Familia. 

 

The building is overwhelming with it's detail. I have never seen anything so impressive in my life. It made me wonder about what inspired such a feat, for a man to go such lengths to create something. But you know what pissed me off? They were charging tourists twenty euros for entry. There is no way I'm paying that amount of money to go inside a building. And it's not even finished yet. Perhaps some other time when money isn't so tight.

Now this is the part of the day when I got really lost. I like to think that I have a relatively good sense of direction. Weird thing was that the locals were pointing me in totally opposite ways I was so confused. Was it my accent? I quickly learnt that trying to speak English in a Spanish accent does not help them understand you better in any way whatsoever. 

Finally after what felt like an hour I was right back on track, finding myself in the middle of La Rambla. No idea how I got to the middle, I meant to arrive at the top and work my way down. Oh well. 

This street is bustling with activity. Calling it touristy would be the understatement of the year, but there's a great holiday atmosphere floating in the air. I made sure that I was more cautious with my belonging after hearing horror stories from other travellers from being pick-pocketed in Barcelona.

Lunch time came round and I was craving for some good food. I decided to check out the Merkat de la Boqueria, said to be the most famous market in Barcelona. I love markets, food inspire me. If I had the kitchen, you can only imagine the stuff I'll be doing to all the ingredients on display. Oh yeah. 

That afternoon I was really feeling the seafood, so I sat myself down at one of the many stores in the market that cook everything fresh right in front of you. It was called Universal or something like that. The setting had a very Japanese tempayaki feel to it. People were on stools lined up across the bar-like tables, eating next to strangers but no one seemed to mind. 

I was sitting next to an old couple, who told me that they were in town visiting their son. Lovely people who helped me out with the menu which I could not make sense of. 

"You have to try the mixed seafood," the kind old man said.

I complied and I'm glad I did. It cost me eighteen euros but in my world, good food is always worth the money. On the plate was some scampi, prawns and an assortment of clams. They kept true to the original taste of the ingredients and did not mess around with it. Fire it up on the grill, throw on some garlic sauce and that's it. Definitely one of the best meal I had on this trip.