WALKING AROUND BARCELONA

One afternoon before Sandi departed we went back to The Four Cats Restaurant. which we had first seen on our Picasso Walking tour.  We had looked for it a few times but weren't intent on finding it.  This day we were.  It was not easy.  We couldn't get service on the phone in the area we were so we kept asking people and they kept giving us directions and eventually we found it.  By this time we were really needing a cup of coffee.  If you remember this was a place where Picasso hung out and designed the menu cover.  

It was lovely inside.  Worth going back to for lunch or dinner for sure.  

There is a lovely large dining room behind the area where we were seated.

The manager came by and stated to talk to us and he aked if we wanted him to take our picture.  "Of course".  

A little background on the area known as the Eixample.Throughout Europe in the Industrial Age cities( like Paris, Vienna, and Copenhagen) were doubling in population.  Barcelona was restricted by the Madrid Government to stay within the Medieval walls.  The over crowding caused crowded tenements where disease was rampant.  The air was choked with coal soot, and the quality of life was miserable.  

In 1854, the Spanish Queen Isabella II allowed Barcelona to tear down the medieval wall and expand northward.  Because very little existed outside the Old City, urban planners had a blank slate.  

Civil Engineer Ildefons Cerda proposed a carefully plotted, remarkably modern and efficient grid of steets that would surround the convoluted tangle of Barcelona's  Old City.  Uptown Barcelona became a unique variation on the common grid-plan ciry. The building corners were snipped off which allowed light and spacious octagonal "squares" at every intersection.  It also means you have to walk extra steps to get to the crossing areas.  

Each block-square would have its own hospital, park, market, schools, and day-care centers.  Restrictions on the height, width, and depth of buildings ensured that sunlight would reach every unit.

What you see in these pictures is the snipped off corners.  

Not quite as fancy as Lisbon but still very nice.  Sidewalkes in the Eixample.

One rather sunny day we headed to the waterfront to explore a little bit in that area.  A little more than a decade ago, this area was a gloomy , depressed warehouse zone.  The area was refurbished for the 1992 Olympics,  A busy highway was routed underground to create a fine walkway sprinkled with palm trees and eye-pleasing public art.  

A wonderful string of restaurants right along the water.  

This area leads you right to the edge of the El Born area so we drifted in that direction to walk around.

This round tower was used to defend the eastern part of the Roman wall of Barcelona.  It was part of the second enclosing wall of the city that was built in the 4th century AD.  

Now this is the face I'm looking for.  I wonder if you can see if you get that head covering.  

We stopped by the chocolate store that's going to be leaving this area because of the rent hikes and picked up some chocolates.  I do have to say the chocolates don't even come close to Belgium Chocolate,  

One of the great things Bacelona did to eliminate the problem with bikes being stolen was to put these rental bikes throughout the city.  The city buys the bikes and for a few euro's you can buy a yearly pass and pick up a bike where ever  you wish and drop it off where ever you want.  

A few years a go when I was in Paris with Sandi and another friend I was introduced to Diptyque.  I bought some perfume there and absolutely loved it.  Unfortunately the bottle got broken and I haven't been able to replace it.  The other day while wandering down the Gracia I found the store.  I'm so excited.  We were busy trying out the scents and I just could not identify which one I had purchased the last time.  I emailed my friend, Suzi and I think she put me onto the right one. l I'm going to try it out next time I get down in that area.  

Before ending I thought you should see a few more people  I didn't make friends with.

Just didn't look friendly enough for me.  I mean he scared little kids!

I just didn't have time to hang around and meet this one.  Next time, Maybe!  La Ramblas is fun.  These goofy human statues are all along the Ramblas.  These performers must audition and register with the city government  to avoid overcrowding, only 15 can work along the Ramblas at any one time.  

Last but not least.  We found a few theaters in BArcelona that show American Films in English. Being a movie lover it was fun.  We went to see The Imitation Game.  

One month already gone in Barcelona.  Time is going by so quickly!