This morning we caught a taxi to the airport to go to Barcelona. We packed most of our things last night and we even tried to re-wrap my luggage with the plastic wrap from our last flight. It looked pretty dodgy but it did manage to keep the lock secure. It looked pretty funny on the baggage carousel but everything was in tact and we headed to the bus terminal.
We caught the bus into town, got off at the end of the line and walked for about 10 minutes to meet our Airbnb host in Plaça de Sant Jaume. This area is the Gothic quarter and the buildings all look like castles (more photos to come later). The apartment was very close to the square so it was a very short walk and then we carried our bags up two flights of stairs to our home for the next couple of days.
After settling in we headed out to get some food in the local area. We found a little empanada shop and got a couple each. Bec got one with chorizo, red peppers and onion and another one with beef, egg, beer and red peppers. I got a Caprese one with basil, tomato and cheese and anther one with jamon and cheese.
We also tried a dessert called Alfajor which is two thin layers of cake with Dulce de Leche in between and then coated in chocolate. It looked kind of like a wagon wheel.
After that we stopped at a tiny little tea shop called “Salterio”, the atmosphere was really cool! We ordered some Rooibos and some liquorice tea, chilled there for a bit and then went a couple of doors over to the apartment.
The plan now was to explore the area a little and head to La Rambla, a popular stretch of shops and entertainment. Along the way we got a better look at our local gothic quarter, the buildings are really nice, it’s as if we are staying in a medieval city surrounded by castles! There were also nice little squares hidden away around the corners with lots of fancy restaurants and monuments.
We got to La Rambla and walked up and down the main stretch. It looks like there was a good festival happening because there were a bunch of stalls setup with chefs preparing very fancy looking plates of food.
From here we headed back the way we came up the other end of La Rambla to the fresh food market, here were really nice looking meats, cheeses, fruit, juices, vegetables and sweets. We bought some fruit and chocolate for snacks and got a chocolate covered skewer of strawberries!
After a quick snack at the market we headed back towards our apartment to a restaurant just down the road. The restaurant looks kind of like the tea place, it’s as if you’re underground in a cave!
We ordered some sangria, a charcuterie platter and chicken satay to start with, followed by a big piece of toast (they had a whole menu for these) with jamon, brie, dates and raisins. We paced ourselves well this time and left room for dessert which we ordered a chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream and a slice of lemon meringue pie. All the food was pretty good and the atmosphere was really nice! The other restaurants just didn’t seem as nice compared to eating in a cave.