Our Barcelona trip officially began when we arrived at the airport before 11:00, and after a thirty-minute taxi ride arrived and checked in at the apartment rental place at around Noon. We couldn’t get the keys until 3:00, so we had lunch at Casa Lolea (below) and checked out the surrounding area including a short stop at the Santa Caterina Market. We were both wiped out after walking around for a couple hours waiting for the keys and more walking to the apartment. The apartment is in the Born neighborhood–one of the older parts of Barcelona; the whole area was bustling until late into the evening.

Photos from the Barcelona Trip

Most of Born is filled with narrow streets like these.

We picked a somewhat random spot for lunch at Casa Lolea, but the black truffle risotto called out to us. It did, indeed, bring us joy. It was a good first meal for the Barcelona trip.

A Visit to the Santa Caterina Market

No Barcelona trip should miss the Santa Caterina Market. This is just a sampling of what was available; there was also lots of fresh seafood and veggies, but the cheese got my attention. I also tried some cheap Jamón ibérico from one of the stalls. It was good, but I wonder about the really expensive stuff.

We were trying to figure out what these were, but now I think they are rabbits.

Aged beef. And there’s old meat in the display case too.

This cathedral–Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar–is right outside our bedroom; it was built in the 14th century! One of the comments for the room said that it’s so close you get credit for mass just from staying here.

The gelato is piled high at Farggi.

I will post more photos from the Barcelona trip soon. We plan to go to see a football match tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to the experience.