After some yogurt and bananas we headed off to explore the city. Our goal was to visit the Sagrada Familia which is a cathedral that has been under construction since 1882. We had tickets for a noon tour and we arrived early. But as we lined up the official ticket checker pointed out that our reservation was for one week from now! And of course we won't be in Barcelona then. Sweet words were not sufficient to change her mind. Given the local festival (Merci) all tickets had been sold out and there was no room for us. But we didn't let this hic up ruin our day, We wandered thru the city enjoying the architecture and found a wonderful Tapas restaurant for our 2pm lunch. We shared an easy to eat octopus and potato tapas followed by salad and gazpacho. NIce local wine. What we loved about this place was that it was clearly a local favourite. At the table next to us an elderly (94 years young) gentleman found his seat. The waiter obviously knew this regular and quietly read him then menu. Later when he prepared to pay his bill the gentleman used a small magnifying glass to pick his coins. We later found out that he was the grandfather of the owner and ate lunch there daily. Other tables were populated with old friends and local business people. It was a comfortable and warm atmosphere.
Following lunch we bought a 2 ticket for the local bus tour line. Today we journeyed the green line. I took us through many neighbourhoods and along the ocean and beaches. It was an easy 2 hours and gave us ideas of places to visit later during our stay.
After the bus tour we continued to explore our neighbourhood. Jet lag was still plaguing us so we decided to visit the huge local market and get small bites for dinner in our apartment. We found wonderful Iberian ham, local cheese, plums, figs, tomatoes and a Spanish baquette. This was enjoyed in a our apartment with local wine and Sirrius Jazz.
Night and sleep came quickly.
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