JillMelancon Travel

20 June 2023

Got up and headed to the meeting point for a walking tour—had a croissant and OJ across the street for breakfast. The tour started in the Gothic Quarter behind the Barcelona Cathedral where you can still see part of the Roman walls.  We walked through some of the little alleyways and saw Placa Sant Felip Nevi where artists hang out…the Placa Reial—which had a lot of palm trees and an early Gaudi sculpture.  Strangely, three of the guys from the Million Dollar Quartet show walked by me here—it felt so odd!  I felt like I should say hello…but they don’t know me!  The cruise feel so long ago!

We then took the metro to La Rambla—the big main road through the city, and a total tourist trap.  Now we were in the art nouveau area of town (or modernist).  There was a group of girls in our tour who were from Sweden (and stereotypically blond and gorgeous), some folks from Michigan, and some from Arizona. 

We walked to Casa Mila, the first of several Gaudi buildings I will see here.  It is named after the family he built it for.  Rumor has it the statues on top inspired the storm troopers in Star Wars. 

A couple of blocks down Passeig de Gracia we saw Casa Batllo or the dragon house.  A couple of cool non-Gaudi houses nearby.

The tour ended here, so I tried to find a place to eat and didn’t have much luck—metroed back to my Airbnb and ordered more Greek food and went to my massage.  A small hole in the wall place…it was locked when I got there.  Got in and we were able to understand each other a little and I got a decent massage—it was cheap and I felt better.  I cancelled my ghost tour for the evening and decided to rest up for all the walking tomorrow.

Ordered McDonald’s for dinner, took a shower, and saw my legs are COVERED in bruises.  I need to stop with these packed trips.  One city with a more relaxed schedule is the way to go now that I am old and feeble J