My Search for the Luck of the Irish: Barcelona, Spain

Day 12

My first day in Barcelona was spent very leisurely. After sleeping in just a bit, I headed off towards the beach. To get there, I walked down La Rambla. This street is quite wide and has all sorts of space for pedestrians. I am told, that during the main tourist season, the walkway down the center is simply swarming with tourists from all over. Luckily, I have chosen April to travel through Barcelona, and have avoided the tourist season! This tree lined street is often coined as a "mall" of sorts. Along the way there are vendors of all sorts, from souvenirs to fruits to flowers. There are even restaurants, one lucky one was chosen by yours personally to give my money for a decent meal. At the end of this street, you come to a large roundabout with the Columbus Monument in the center. I continued past this and along the dock to the beach. To continue my relaxed day, I simply hung out on the beach for the next few hours reading book 2 of the Hunger Games trilogy. After a while on the beach, I just needed to get away and explore the rest of the city in shade for a bit. Right beside the beach and La Rambla is the Gothic Quarter, so I walked there and got lost in the tiny pathways and avenues there. It was simply magical to walk through those tiny avenues, almost alleyways, and feel the history of the place and the presence of so many centuries worth of generations of people that must have traipsed and become lost there. Here are a few pictures of that first day:

Day 13
The second day of my time in Barcelona of course had to be spent learning about the history of the place. Therefore, I decided to start my day off with a free walking tour. Our tour guide ended up being an Australian of all people. She was very knowledgeable about Barcelona. On we went to tour through the Gothic Quarter, in which I had so recently become lost and enraptured.