Barcelona: Take Two

Back to beautiful Barcelona.  Elyse and I found roundtrip tickets via Ryanair
for only 20 Euros.  Gotta love cheap European travel.  

Meet Elyse.  By coincidence we live directly above/below each other in the
same apartment complex.  Yes she is great and YES she is 6' 2".  It's a beautiful
thing, being able to look someone eye to eye.

Started off our trip by visiting the Picasso Museum.  Interesting to see the
transition of style from his earlier days to what most recognize as "Picasso".

Bed thirty one.  My place of rest and relaxation for our three night stay.

Visited the Park Guell.  Another famous Gaudi work.

The park was actually situated on a hill, giving us an incredible view of
Barcelona from a few different areas.  The weather this weekend: perfect.

The leaves here (in Spain) have just started to change.  Found this beautiful
fence on our walk beside the Guell Park.

And more finds of fun colors here and there.

Back to La Rambla.  Possibly my favorite street in Spain.  The towering
trees on either side, shops and tapas bars everywhere, leads directly to the
coast.  It's basically a great place to find yourself while in Barcelona.

And yes, back again to the Marcat.  Even busier this time with more things
to look at (which ultimately means more reason to empty my wallet).

The natural fruit juices.  Enjoyed a couple of these again.
Strawberry Coconut.  Mmmmmmm.

Egg Lady.  Not looking so happy.

Favorite gelateria/bakery/coffee shop in the area.

Love love their light fixtures.

Dark chocolate ice cream crepe sprinkled with powdered sugar. Yes.

Tomate Melmelada: Tomato Jam.  Delicious on toast.

Was I possibly raised in a family where soccer was not considered a "sport"?
Yes.  Have I ever had a genuine interest in the game or participating? Not really.
Was this one of the best things I've done/witnessed in Spain thus far? Absolutely.

Grabbed some nose-bleed tickets for the Barca vs. Villarreal.  INCREDIBLE.
I don't know a lot about the sport, and I can't say that I could tell you which
"plays" were great and which were horrible.  Still enjoyed it.  Still was in complete
awe at the positions the players would twist their bodies into. They made it look
so easy as they maneuvered the ball at lightening speed between their team mates
and opponents.  Annnd on another positive note, Barca won!  3-1 Final Score.

Before church on Sunday.  Had some time to burn so enjoyed the park nearby.
This precious little guy kept walking up to me.   So friendly.  He is two.
His name is Taja (sp?).  

Dessert tour 2010 item number 248.  Bombon and fruit. 

The tour continues with flower-scooped gelato:
 white-chocolate raspberry and coffee.

Back to Madrid with two long time pals.