Live from Barcelona

So last I left you we were leaving the scenic town of Collioure for Barcelona.  It was an uneventful bus ride into the city and most kids took a little siesta in the Spanish tradition :)

We arrived at our hotel in the city center and checked in, along with another HUGE group of students who we have been trailing since Paris.  Makes us glad we are traveling in our own private group!

After a few minutes to change and freshen up, we headed out on the metro of Barcelona toward the Olympic Village and the beach.  The kids were not at all phased by the metro having done it in Paris and enjoyed being outside in the fresh air as we walked toward the beach area.  Barcelona has very wide avenues, and lots of art throughout, so it has a very different feel to it.  We stopped to take a group picture in front of one very colorful statue.

We headed down into the main boardwalk area to eat at Marina Mancho's.  Lotte explained to us how tapas, which would be our dinner, came to be.  In the "old days" servers would cover the glasses of wine with little plates and then put snacks on them to keep the flies away.  Now tapas has evolved into a regional specialty that has become much more extravagant.  We sat at a huge table made from a tree and the waiters brought out one course at a time.  It was served family style, and so the idea is that you eat lots of little servings and that gives you time to talk but still fills you up.

This was definitely one of the more adventurous meals for our group. The first course was a salad with artichokes, onions and olives in an olive oil type dressing.  Some tried, some did not :)  Second course was Manchego cheese, a specialty from this area, served in wedges.  It's a bit like swiss but harder and with more bite.  Next up was probably the most popular course - fried potatoes (think home fries) with a slightly spicy cheese and garlic sauce on top.  The kids preferred just the plain potatoes but almost everyone ate some of that.  For the next course we had the Tortilla Española, which we had tried at the Bon Voyage dinner.  This is an omelet with potatoes and of course the kids enjoyed this version much better!  Next they brought out heaping plates of fried onion strings, which tasted just like at home.  Last of the main courses to come out was little skewers of grilled chicken and zucchini.  These were also fairly popular.  Last but not least, they brought out a layered chocolate cake that had cherries and cream in it, also pretty popular.

After dinner we strolled down to the beach, as the sun was just setting.  Thought it was windy and cold now with the sun down, the kids trekked out on the rocks and in the sand and enjoyed seeing the beachfront area all lit up.  We took a leisurely stroll back toward the metro and headed back to the hotel.

Tomorrow we have a guided sightseeing tour by bus, then a walking tour and of course more time to shop (I don't know how these kids have any money left, they love to shop!).  We will be seeing the Sagrada Familia cathedral, which many are very much looking forward to.

Here are a few more pictures from the second half of the day.

Heading to dinner, art along one of the wide boulevards

Learning about tapas in front of the restaurant

Salad

Fried potatoes with cheese sauce

Tortilla Española

Fried onions

Grilled chicken and zucchini

Dessert

Beach area at sunset

Beach!

All lit up

An interesting statue outside the restaurant, it looks like the fish has a flaming tail from the sunset

Cold but on the beach!

Beachfront

Riding the metro back to the hotel (note the subway sign is in Catalan, the official language here)

 And a few more from Collioure - some of these are from a student's camera.  I have to say she has surpassed even me, she has filled up an 8 GB card already, so I lent her a 4 GB card and she is on her way to filling that one too, she has almost 2,000 photos so far!

Trying churros

Typical scene - brightly painted buildings

Along the beach

Panoramic view

Typical street