Three Widows' Club

24.2.18: A Day of Architectural Splendeur

Had a good buffet breakfast in the hotel and then took the subway to the Sagrada Familia. The cathederal never ceases to astound especially, the stain glass windows. Even though we'd spent a while having a good look around, by the time we'd found the restaurant that Kate had recommended for lunch there was still an hour to fill. The sun was shining so we lingered over a glass of cava just over the road. Lunch at "Tasca i Vins" was a rushed affair as our next visit was booked for 2pm. http://www.tascaivins.cat/?lang=es
The visit to the Sant Pau hospital was another one of architectural beauty. https://www.tripadvisor.fr/Attraction_Review-g187497-d12814706-Reviews-Hospital_de_Sa
Back on the Ramblas, we stopped for tea in "Escriba". Follow the link to drool over the cakes. https://www.tripadvisor.fr/Restaurant_Review-g187497-d2314979-Reviews-Escriba-Barcelona_Catalonia.html#photos;geo=187497&detail=2314979&aggregationId=101 I went for the cheese cake. That's the one with a white chocolate casing. Delicious. Pity the snooty manager and the cramped table space spoilt the atmosphere.
It was time then to go and collect our baggage from the hotel and head off to the station.
Made it home for 8pm, luckily, not having been stopped at the border given that Martine's ID card had been stolen.
Weather:
14° sun, blue skies

23.2.18: Barcelona here we come!
9h30 and off we (Martine, Nicole and I) set for the first outing of the "3 Widows' Club"; an overnight stay in Barcelona. Took the high speed train from Figueres arriving without mishap an hour later. First problem: Martine had downloaded our 48 hour city travel pass but had not printed off our vouchers. Had to buy tickets to get us to our hotel, "The Condal" where the very helpful recepionist helped us sort it out. http://www.hotelcondal.es/en/
Conveniently situated just off the Ramblas, once we we're installed we headed off to the Boqueria market in search of food. Lots of stalls had appetising fare but it was too chilly to eat there so we went to a nearby restaurant for a tourist lunch of tapas and paella.
Walked up the Ramblas and over to the church of "Santa Maria del Mar", but not feeling inclined to pay an entry fee, we didn't go in and have made do with a virtual tour instead. http://www.santamariadelmarbarcelona.org/home/

Continued on instead to El Born which was a facinating (free) visit. In the 1870's a large covered market was built only to fall into disuse and disrepair. Luckily, the iron building was renovated at the beginning of 21st century in order to house a library but excavations turned up the remains of the medieval city.
Walking back to the hotel we stopped off at "El Fornet" for a hot chocolate. Somehow, without any of us noticing it, Martine's bag disappeared. Next stop was, of course, the Police station.
It was a rapid walk from there to where we were meeting Kate, Martine's friend who works in Barcelona. Had some lovely tasty tapas and a bottle of cava in a trendy place, the name of which, I've forgotten..
The walk home pushed our step total to over 20,000 so feeling tired, it was an early night for us all.
Weather:
13°, sun and blue sky