The weather report said it was supposed to pour rain all day, 100% chance and all that. So when we got up and it was still dry, we hit the streets to take a look at a neighborhood our agent suggested we look at (the place has a killer terrace and sea views):
Poble Nou. We tried to stay along the waterfront but kept getting drawn into
Barceloneta or distracted by impressive buildings. For some reason, the utility companies seem to have the biggest baddest buildings in Barcelona. This one has is a Gehry-esque mirror construction with cantilevers that seem a half block wide -- the natural gas building.
Hurray, our first view of the Mediterranean. Not so impressive, here, but not terribly crowded at this time like I'd been told. I didn't see the illegal watermelon sellers... not yet.
We came across this fun information and BiCi bike station made of chickenwire and construction scaffolding:
Right next to the Museum of Design -- I really should go there, Catalan design is cool.
Next to the AgBar tower ("the gherkin" as some more polite people call it). Agua Barcelona, the water company. We can see it from our roof top, lit up in electric blue until midnight; it looks miles away, and I guess it really is.
Near by we got shouted at for entering the frame of a production company shooting what looked like a car commercial next to cool industrial and ancient structures.
We didn't like the Carrer de la Marina area much -- no life, residents' posters declaiming loud tourists, and picture menus of "Pizza and Paella", always a good combination... to avoid. So we continued on and on and on until we found the Rambla de Poble Nou, a beautiful pedestrianized rambla heading toward the Med with lots of cafes. I got the Cava in the smallest wine chiller I've seen and we had some beer and snacks. It really was a perfect day. And I figured how to make my phone take a selfie by opening and closing my hand, woo hoo.
Some of the modernista architecture really is exquisite.
Hey, Ginger, how 'bout this for a pizza oven? Freud would have something to say.
We continued on to the sea and walked along the Med a while, dipping our toes into the warm water. The beach was crowded, all tourists it seemed, as confirmed when we stopped for a drink in a beach bar (overheard: "can we get a packet a' crisps wi' this?" in a South London accent).
On the way back along the waterfront by Barceloneta there were dozens of tents set up. Instead of the tourist T-Shirts we expected, there was artisan food (olive oil, breads, sausages) and ... finally! craft beer! We had a couple and asked the guy if he was the brewer (yes), and I asked what that was called in Spanish. He said there wasn't really a word, so maybe Cervesarero would be it.
There was a woman right next door to the cervesarero selling cava. We knew were were out of money, but really didn't want to pass up some refreshing sparkling wine from nearby Penedes. Fortunately, two full-sized glasses set us back a paltry €4 total, so we still had a couple euros left. How can it cost so little and be so good?
A bit further on, olive trees on the esplanade next to the sea front restaurants... where we stole some rosemary twigs for our dinner that night. I love the way they look, their roots and stems gnarly with age. I must have one when we eventually move here... so we need a roof terrace that will accommodate one.
We finally got home and my phone told me we'd walked 16 Km -- that's 10 miles! We ended up going to bed early, since we were exhausted and -- truth be told -- because we didn't have any money to go out and hit the vermouth place again.
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