The dinning room is nice and our breakfast is great. There is a choice of several meats, breads, fruit, cereals, juices, and coffee. The coffee is not quite as strong as it was in Italy last year, but it still leaves a lot to be desired, especially since it is not brought to me in bed with the right amount of vanilla cream and sugar (Yes, I have a wonderful husband). We fuel ourselves for the walking to come.
Violeta meets us and guides onto the bus that takes us to Placa de Catalunya, the beginning of the Les Rambles, one of the oldest streets in Barcelona and one of the most interesting with its flower stalls, souvenir stands (both tacky and unique), water color and sketch artists, and one of the most amazing open air markets I have ever seen. Les Rambles runs for approximately 2 1/2 miles and ends at the Christopher Columbus statue at the edge of the Barcelona Harbor.
Beginning our stroll down Les Rambles
Entrance to the open air market, La Boqueria, one of 10 in the city
A leg of the famous black foot Iberian pig, usually fed on acorns
A colorful candy stand
One of the fresh fish stands 
An example of the many fresh fruit stands in the market 
One of the many flower stalls on Les Rambles
Casa Burno Quadros, one of the most recognized buildings on Les Rambles
We return to La Placa de Catalunya where we look for a place to eat. We end up at the Hard Rock Cafe, not the most Spanish of restaurants, but a good place to rest the feet and legs for our afternoon adventure at the Picasso Museum.
After our morning of free time, we meet Violeta and our guide for the afternoon, Francisco, at the bus. Now, Francisco is quite handsome, and in our southern, nosey way, we start to think about getting Violeta and Francisco together, only to learn he is married with 3 children.
The bus drops us off and we walk, our pace is too fast for a stroll, through a neighborhood area that is a trendy area for artists. We arrive at the Picasso Museum and begin our education on Picasso.
Here's your lesson: I must preface this by saying that in college I took Music Appreciation. Our class was on the top floor of Lee Hall and overlooked the MSU quadrangle where the ROTC practiced in the afternoon. I spent many a class period watching the marching formations while listening to classical music and wishing I was somewhere else. I tell you all this to say that we had a wonderful Art Appreciation lesson on Picasso and his 4 periods of painting. I understand Picasso more, not that I like his work that much, but I do appreciate it and his transition to cubist painting. Picasso's father was an artist who encouraged his son and who taught at the school for art in Barcelona. Picasso had a lasting friendship with three other artists and they regularly met at a quaint restaurant that became known as the 4 Cats. As a matter of fact, Picasso painted a picture of the 4 Cats that became the menu cover for the restaurant. It is my favorite of all his work, and I bought a print for my son-in-law's office. I hope he appreciates as much as I like it. If not, I guess it is mine. Anyway, Picasso worked his way through studying the various movements in the art world until he honed the technique of cubism for which he is most popularly known, even though he did create some recognisable works in his early years. Picasso's personal secretary for his entire life founded this museum showing Picasso's early works and some of his later works are slowly being bought for the collection. Many of Picasso's later works are in collections around the world since he would not let any of the art go to Spain during the reign of Franco.
After our morning of free time, we meet Violeta and our guide for the afternoon, Francisco, at the bus. Now, Francisco is quite handsome, and in our southern, nosey way, we start to think about getting Violeta and Francisco together, only to learn he is married with 3 children.
The bus drops us off and we walk, our pace is too fast for a stroll, through a neighborhood area that is a trendy area for artists. We arrive at the Picasso Museum and begin our education on Picasso.
Here's your lesson: I must preface this by saying that in college I took Music Appreciation. Our class was on the top floor of Lee Hall and overlooked the MSU quadrangle where the ROTC practiced in the afternoon. I spent many a class period watching the marching formations while listening to classical music and wishing I was somewhere else. I tell you all this to say that we had a wonderful Art Appreciation lesson on Picasso and his 4 periods of painting. I understand Picasso more, not that I like his work that much, but I do appreciate it and his transition to cubist painting. Picasso's father was an artist who encouraged his son and who taught at the school for art in Barcelona. Picasso had a lasting friendship with three other artists and they regularly met at a quaint restaurant that became known as the 4 Cats. As a matter of fact, Picasso painted a picture of the 4 Cats that became the menu cover for the restaurant. It is my favorite of all his work, and I bought a print for my son-in-law's office. I hope he appreciates as much as I like it. If not, I guess it is mine. Anyway, Picasso worked his way through studying the various movements in the art world until he honed the technique of cubism for which he is most popularly known, even though he did create some recognisable works in his early years. Picasso's personal secretary for his entire life founded this museum showing Picasso's early works and some of his later works are slowly being bought for the collection. Many of Picasso's later works are in collections around the world since he would not let any of the art go to Spain during the reign of Franco.
It took us a good hour to go through the museum, hitting the high spots and then visited the bookstore to get our keepsakes. While on my trip to Spain, I am forgetting Lance's mantra of the year, "D. K., there is a recession going on." I may never get back to Spain so I have to have my little remembrances.
We continue our tour of Barcelona by traveling to the area of the Olympic Venue for the 1992 Olympic Games, Montjuic,which was once the main stone quarry for the buildings of Barcelona. We get a glimpse of the swimming and diving venue and the Olympic Outdoor Stadium. We stop at the top of Montjuic, where we get a panoramic view of Barcelona and take advantage of picture opts.
A peek from the bus window of the Olympic Stadium
A view of the Barcelona Harbor from Montjuic
We then head to one of the most unusual areas, Ueill Park. The park was designed by Gaudi and contains the last home in which Gaudi lived before he willingly became homeless and spent the end of his life at La Sagrada Familia.
FYI: Gaudi was hit by a car and died in the streets of Barcelona. He looked like a homeless person, and it was not until later that those in charge realized he was the great architect of Barcelona. By the end of is life, Gaudi had given everything he had to go toward the completion of La Sagrada Familia.
Uiell Park exemplifies Gaudi's style based on nature. There is nothing with a straight line, and there are the most beautiful mosaics all over the park. The park is filled with people of all ages enjoying the Saturday afternoon weather.
This is one of the most interesting areas of the park, La Gran Placa. Notice the ledge. It is a tile mosaic that makes a bench on the inside for people to sit. It is also the top for a market area underneath, known as La Sala de les Cent Cloumnes.
Haiden and I sitting on the bench
A mosaic on the ceiling of the market area under the bench area above
The steps leading out of the market area. There is a large mosaic lizard fountain. These are all our group except for the guy in the front in the dark gray shirt. Notice Drew in the very front!Again our meal is not the best. Some kind of sticky rice with a meat patty and fries. The chocolate cake on the other hand is great. It is Mary Ruth's birthday, so her cake is served decorated with a candle and a paper parrot. We sing happy birthday and wish her many more trips.
Several of us decide to stroll back to the hotel and walk along Les Rambles one more time, helping Paula to bargain for a watercolor. We make a final stop at the Cafe Zurich, one of the hot spots of Barcelona, and have a cappuccino and watch all the people. The area reminds me of Times Square. There are hundreds of people out enjoying the evening and each other, oblivious to the fact that it is 11:00 p.m. For many the night is still young.
Enjoying our cappuccino at the Cafe Zurich. Debbie, DK, Irene, Betty, Susan, and Paula 
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