23 March 2008: The next two days were pretty much dedicated to seeing Antoni Gaudi’s work, eating tapas, drinking sangria, celebrating Caitlin’s birthday and seeing a little of Barcelona too! We had a good morning sleeping-in on Easter Sunday, after staying up late and catching up with Caitlin’s arriving the night before. After that, we headed off to Gaudi’s Park Guell, which is set up on top of a hill with a view of the city. So, we were lucky that it was a very clear day. It was originally designed as a residential community for the elite, but ended up doing better as a public park. Gaudi was originally a building architect, but tried his hand at landscape architecture in this park which also has a few of his buildings. If you haven’t seen his work, it’s very unique and hard to describe, more free form than the conventional. From afar, certain parts look like an advanced caveman project with lots of structures built from stone that somehow look like drippy stalactite/melted candle wax looking stuff. But as you get closer, you see that there was a method to his madness as the structures are actually based on linear lines. He also likes to incorporate wavy lines and intricate tile mosaic, both of which I find so beautiful. We have some true admiration for his work and love his style!
After the park, we headed back down to town and headed our for a “tapas crawl”, which is what I heard is how Spanish start their evening out, followed by dinner around 10pm. (Although, I knew we weren’t going to end with dinner at 10pm with a 2 year old in tow!) The first place didn’t have a few things that I wanted to try, so we headed off to another place. (Mind you, we were limited to places that were open on Easter, so most likely the more touristy places.) Anyway, by the second place, we were already stuffed, so that was it.
The next day, Caitlin’s birthday, we started by heading off to town for…yes, even more tapas, for lunch this time. After, we took a walk down La Rambla again, so Caitlin could experience the freak show for herself. We also cruised around the Port Vell area and checked out the touristy shopping mall over there (but no, for you shoppers out there, we didn’t score any goods). After that, we strolled over to the other side of town to see yet another one of Gaudi’s projects, the Sagrada Familia, a HUGE cathedral and definitely a great Gaudi grand finale! …with a pitstop for Kai at the playground set right in front of the cathedral. Gaudi actually died in the middle of this project and it’s still a work in progress after over 100 years. It’s THAT huge! Again, words or pictures just can’t describe or show the size or scale of this. But, we would definitely recommend that this is a must-see! We actually saw a couple of his other buildings that are scattered throughout the city in the couple days here. Again, they are so unique, you can’t miss them!
Late in the afternoon, we were getting pretty pooped. So, back “home” we went for dinner and Caitlin’s birthday “cake”. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to pick-up a proper dessert for the occasion, so her “cake” ended up being a thin mint Girl Scout cookie that she brought from the states (along with many more other goodies – it was like she was Santa on Christmas!), on top of a jar lid, with a travel candle on top of that. Hopefully, she enjoyed her birthday nonetheless!
So in case you are interested, here is a list of our top tapas plates: calamare romanesca (fried calamaris, even Kai ate them), pan con tomate (my fav…bread, toasted is better, with really ripe tomatoes smeared on it, with olive oil and salt), albondigas (meatballs, definitely the best in Pamplona!), little chorizo sausages (can’t exactly remember the name, but it’s Kai’s fav), olives (I now eat them habitually at “home”), chicken wings and alcachofas (artichokes). Honorable mention also has to go to the paella, definitely Sean’s favorite! Caitlin seems to have liked it all, except sardines and anchovies. Oh, and she enjoyed but was sad to eat the cuttlefish, something to do with bonding with them in Palau over the summer. Last but not least, all is best washed down with sangria. There’s one made with cava that’s good too! But, as much as I’ve loved the Spanish food…and yes, it seems we’ve been eating a lot of it lately… Today, I was actually craving Mexican. (Casa Lupe to be exact!) But, I guess that, at least decent stuff’s, going to have to wait until we get back to the states.
After the park, we headed back down to town and headed our for a “tapas crawl”, which is what I heard is how Spanish start their evening out, followed by dinner around 10pm. (Although, I knew we weren’t going to end with dinner at 10pm with a 2 year old in tow!) The first place didn’t have a few things that I wanted to try, so we headed off to another place. (Mind you, we were limited to places that were open on Easter, so most likely the more touristy places.) Anyway, by the second place, we were already stuffed, so that was it.
The next day, Caitlin’s birthday, we started by heading off to town for…yes, even more tapas, for lunch this time. After, we took a walk down La Rambla again, so Caitlin could experience the freak show for herself. We also cruised around the Port Vell area and checked out the touristy shopping mall over there (but no, for you shoppers out there, we didn’t score any goods). After that, we strolled over to the other side of town to see yet another one of Gaudi’s projects, the Sagrada Familia, a HUGE cathedral and definitely a great Gaudi grand finale! …with a pitstop for Kai at the playground set right in front of the cathedral. Gaudi actually died in the middle of this project and it’s still a work in progress after over 100 years. It’s THAT huge! Again, words or pictures just can’t describe or show the size or scale of this. But, we would definitely recommend that this is a must-see! We actually saw a couple of his other buildings that are scattered throughout the city in the couple days here. Again, they are so unique, you can’t miss them!
Late in the afternoon, we were getting pretty pooped. So, back “home” we went for dinner and Caitlin’s birthday “cake”. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to pick-up a proper dessert for the occasion, so her “cake” ended up being a thin mint Girl Scout cookie that she brought from the states (along with many more other goodies – it was like she was Santa on Christmas!), on top of a jar lid, with a travel candle on top of that. Hopefully, she enjoyed her birthday nonetheless!
So in case you are interested, here is a list of our top tapas plates: calamare romanesca (fried calamaris, even Kai ate them), pan con tomate (my fav…bread, toasted is better, with really ripe tomatoes smeared on it, with olive oil and salt), albondigas (meatballs, definitely the best in Pamplona!), little chorizo sausages (can’t exactly remember the name, but it’s Kai’s fav), olives (I now eat them habitually at “home”), chicken wings and alcachofas (artichokes). Honorable mention also has to go to the paella, definitely Sean’s favorite! Caitlin seems to have liked it all, except sardines and anchovies. Oh, and she enjoyed but was sad to eat the cuttlefish, something to do with bonding with them in Palau over the summer. Last but not least, all is best washed down with sangria. There’s one made with cava that’s good too! But, as much as I’ve loved the Spanish food…and yes, it seems we’ve been eating a lot of it lately… Today, I was actually craving Mexican. (Casa Lupe to be exact!) But, I guess that, at least decent stuff’s, going to have to wait until we get back to the states.
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