A Touristy Saturday

Saturday morning we taught Senora Elisabeth how to make pancakes. Gina, being from Vermont, brought her pancake mix and maple syrup and Elisabeth asked us if we would make them for her. Since the other two know I like to cook, or figured that meant I can cook, they asked me to do it. So Gina put the mix together and I made them for us. We think she liked them, we're not totally sure.

Saturday I went to the Museu de la Xocolata, the Chocolate Meseum, which is operated by the local confectioners' guild. It tells the story of chocolate from Aztecs to Europeans via the port of Barcelona, where it was first unloaded and processed. There are a series of ornate candy sculptures including spanish themes and movie characters. The museum was alright, I didn't love it, but my friends were going so I tagged along.

My ticket to enter the Museu de la Xocolata

A chocolate Homer Simpson

After the museum we all went out for lunch at Caputxes in Born. During the gourmet tour the guide had mentioned that Born has some really great restaurants and wine shops, and had pointed out the restaurant we ate at. I had the Tomato, Ricotta, and Basil Quiche with salad, it was delicious.

I love the salty olives on the salad!

Right in front of the restaurant is the Church of Santa Maria del Mar, the proud centerpiece of La Ribera. "Del Mar" means "of the sea," and that's where the money came from. Shippers built the church in only 55 years, so it has a harmonious style considered to be pure Catalan Gothic. There are figures of workers carved into the big front doors. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), the Church sided with the conservative forces of Franco against the people. In retaliation, the working class took their anger out on this church, burning all of its wood furnishings and decor (carbon still blackens the ceiling). Today it's stripped down naked to its gothic roots. The tree-like columns inspired Gaudi (their influence on the columns inside his Sagrada Familia church can be seen). Which by the way, I haven't visited Sagrada Familia on this trip yet, but I did in high school on my European trip with Roca. Anyways, sixteenth century sailors left models of their ships at the foot of the alter for Mary's protection, today there remains a classic old Catalan ship at Mary's feet. 

Church of Santa Maria del Mar

Inside the Church

More Stain Glass

A Chandelier

After the Church we made our way to Citadel Park (Parc de la Ciutadella)--Barclona's biggest, greenest park, originally the site of a much-hated military citadel, it was transformed in 1888 for a World's Fair (Universal Exhibition). The Triumphal Arch is at the top of the park, celebrating the removal of the citadel, it was built as the main entrance. Inside there are wide pathways and lots of trees and grass. Since Barcelona is one of Europe's most densely populated cities it doesn't have much real green space, but the park is really quite beautiful, we ran around like kids taking pictures with the large mammoth and peaking our head in and out of shrubs and from behind trees, it was really enjoyable. There is also an ornamental fountain that Antoni Gaudi helped design. 

The Arc de Triomphe

Matt, Sebastian, Jami and I messing around.

The fountain a young Gaudi helped design.

Jami and I by the fountain.

Saturday night I went with a bunch of friends to a bar called Dow Jones. It's a pretty cool bar where the prices of drinks fluctuate like in the stock market. All the rates are on LCDs (Similar to Dow Jones stock exchange) and you can see which drinks are in demand and which are not. When the market crashes, the prices drop, and there's a mad scramble to buy a drink! It was really fun, plus Gina, Andrew and I sat right at the bar rather than in the back like the rest of our friends so it was exciting to see everyone come running when the buzzer went off and the red lights would flash. 

Dow Jones Entrance

Obviously enjoying my 1 € beer

I've been putting my guide books to good use this past week and will continue to do touristy things for another week or two. I have heard that once you really get into the swing of things and start traveling you don't explore Barcelona as much, and I want to see a lot of what the city has to offer.