Our first full day in Barcelona the weather was beautiful. I walked around with my coat on which was a mistake even though most of the locals had on parkas. Being that it was Sunday the majority of businesses were closed. We took the metro to the area where Las Ramblas is but we need to eat first. We found a restaurant called. La Mamasita. I had a hamburger with grinned up goat cheese on top and some kind of ketchup sauce on the side and really skinny ‘Chips’ it was delicious. Lunch takes a few hours in Spain. Then we went to a very touristy place called Las Ramblas. It is filled with real people posing at statues to make money, kiosk, gift shops are filled with bartering and at the end is a statue of Christopher Columbus.

In the picture below the man wouldn’t let me take a picture unless I gave him some Euros. He wanted me to go up beside him so the “floating head” could give me a kiss and at the same time provide entertainment for the gathered audience.  It was really awkward when I

went up beside because I had no clue what was going on and then Allison gladly went up for the sake of a picture.  From the end of Las Ramblas the beach was only 5 minutes away! So naturally we walked along the Mediterranean Sea which is beautiful. People made sand sculptures to earn money as well.

On the way back to Colin’s, he and Chris need to get food to ‘take away’ or to-go since they were going to a Barcelona football game. They chose McDonald’s with McBeers, I’m happy to say I have no idea what it taste like. Sam, Allison and I chose to get more substantial food. When we got back to Colin’s one of his house mates took us to Starbucks (only coffee place open at 8PM on Sunday) and then we went to another restaurant. It was almost 9PM when we got to La Botiga and were the only people in there for about 20 minutes before locals came in. We ate out twice since we couldn’t go to a super market. I had a delicious risotto type dish with a homemade dinner roll and we shared a pitcher of sangria.

NOTE: Water doesn’t seem to be free anywhere in Spain. At restaurants you can purchase water in a glass bottle or water bottle, usually and it cost more than a glass of wine or a pint of beer. I learned quickly to keep a bottle of water with me in my bag anywhere I went.

Location: Barcelona