Sunday March 27 was a sunny day in Barcelona with a high of 19C! First full day of sun of our trip and a beautiful day for wandering. I think everyone was out enjoying the sun. There apparently has been an unusual amount of cloud and rain in Barcelona the last few weeks. It was also daylight savings day in Europe-- so we are now back to being six hours ahead of Toronto time.
We decided to walk down to the Born neighbourhood where we had stayed when we were in Barcelona in 2015.
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| Graffiti on the metal doors of a bike club nearby |
We walked down the Passeig de Gràcia. The designs in the sidewalk are by Gaudí. There was also a red marker indicating that we were on the "Ruta del Modernisme"--the Modernism Route.
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| Stepping on the Modernism route |
We stopped at the Uno de 50 jewellery store. The brand originated in Madrid in the late nineties and today still uses the same handcrafted production methods as it did when it began.
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| Inside of the store |
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| Another view- Alano got a very nice silver necklace |
We walked by Casa Milà (La Pedrera) during the daylight. A totally amazing building.
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| La Pedrera during the day |
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| Wonderful light standards on Passeig de Gràcia |
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| Close to Plaça de Catalunya |
There was a large pro-Ukraine demonstration in the Plaça de Catalunya. A number of speakers and lots of Ukrainian flags.
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| Pro Ukraine demo |
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| Flowers and flags |
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| Definitely an architectural walk today |
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| There are a number of painted buildings |
We walked by the Mercat de Santa Caterina. It was closed today, but we had been there in 2015.
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| Mercat de Santa Caterina |
We stopped briefly to check out the new museum next to the Picasso Museum in El Born. It is called Moco and is a private museum from Amsterdam that recently opened in Barcelona. It features the work of Warhol, Kusama, Kaws, Basquait, Banksy, Haring, Hirst and others. We didn't go in, as it seemed very trendy and didn't appeal to us, plus we wanted to stay outside on such a beautiful day.
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| The inner courtyard where you could enter without a ticket |
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| Moco store-- the usual T-shirts and bags |
We went to the Happy Socks stores, which was one of the few open on Sunday. Alano got happy and bought some socks.
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| Happy Alano |
We then wandered down the narrow street where we had stayed in 2015. We will definitely return to this area when the stores are open.
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| Banys Vells-- where we stayed in 2015- one of the narrow streets in El Born |
We wandered over to Bormuth-- an old haunt from 2015.
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| Outside of Bormuth- very busy |
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| With the patatas bravas and a serving of eggplant with honey and a glass of vermut |
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| Inside of the Bar |
Then it was onto El Born Cultural Centre. The building was Barcelona's first cast-iron covered market, inaugurated in 1876. It was the city's central food market until 1971. The abandoned market building fell into decay until 2002, when work started to convert it into a library. The library project came to a halt when the remains of 18th century Barcelona were unearthed. In September 2013, the El Born Centre del Cultura i Memòria opened to the public.
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| El Born CCM--- sign "No a La Guerra" outside the building |
The old market building now houses the archaeological remains of part of 18th century Barcelona. There is a permanent exhibition of the history of the area, a temporary exhibition hall and a salon for concerts, lectures and talks. There is also a bookshop and administrative offices of the centre.
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| Archaeological remains with display boards around edge |
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| Looking in the other direction |
We wandered over to the salon where there was a free piano recital. We took a seat and relaxed for about 20 minutes. The pianist was part of the 67th Concurs Internacional de Música.
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| Pianist-- playing sonatas--- it was almost nap time for us |
We then searched for "coffee near me" and found Hidden Coffee, which I had read about. It was only a four minute walk away. The place was buzzing. We had our usual-- two cordados- one with oat milk and one with "real milk".
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| Outside of Hidden Coffee |
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| Inside |
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| Preparing our coffees |
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| Alano with the coffees- served on a lovely wooden plate with some water |
We stopped for a moment at Santa Maria del Mar, a beautiful church built between 1329-1383. It is an outstanding example of Catalan Gothic.
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| Santa Maria del Mar |
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| Inside the church |
Then a stop at La Colmena, a pastisseria that we often went to in 2015. It dates back to 1849 and has lovely treats. It is located in Plaça de l'Angel.
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| Outside one of the oldest cake shops in Barcelona |
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| We got some treats here |
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| Ohla Hotel- with interesting facade |
We headed back up the Passeig de Gràcia. There are wonderful light standards in the Boulevard.
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Very nice place to sit
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We also noticed a small alley leading to a new large restaurant complex called El Nacional. A gorgeous spot. Too early for people to be eating dinner, but we noticed a few of the sections were fully booked.
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| Different sections with a range of Spanish foods |
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| The fish section |
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| Big fish... |
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| Another modernist building on the corner - Casa Lleó |
I took a photo (see below) of the three modernist buildings located on one block. Casa Batlló, designed by Gaudí, is the building furthest to the right in the picture. Casa Amatller is next to the Casa Batlló. It was built by Josep Puig I Cadafalch. Casa Lleó Morera, the building on the far left of the photo was built by Lluis Domènech i Muntaner between 1902-1905 The block is known is Illa de la discòrdia (block of discord), due to the professional rivalry between the three architects who built them.
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| Three amazing buildings on one block- "the block of discord" |
We got back to the apartment where Alano prepared a lovely salmon dinner, with artichokes, potatoes and a salad. We started our new bottle of red wine.
On Monday, we are taking a Culinary Backstreets tour in an area of Barcelona where we have not been to before. We have to get to a meet-up spot by 9:30 a.m.
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