Skip to main content

A Day in Barcelona

Today we encountered the biggest disappointment of the trip thus far1. Bar Michigan was closed.


I know, right?! And they didn't even post their hours anywhere outside the building. Not even a sign that said "We are on vacation until August 29." (except translate that to Catalonian.)  Anyone know the Spanish equivalent of Yelp that I can check for rumors on their fate? Perhaps only the locals will know.

To compensate, I instead procured a bottle of the cheapest finest Cava from the local supermercado and immediately returned to our hotel to blog about this tragedy. Sweet, sweet, bubbles of life......




In other news, we enjoyed another free tour earlier today. This time, from RunnerBean Tours. We seriously love these free city tours. They usually last 2 to 3.5 hours and they really open your eyes to the historical, artistic and cultural highlights of a city.

Example #1. After Christopher Columbus returned from the new west he was welcomed back by the king and queen on these steps right here!


The good people of Barcelona also decided to build a big monument for the guy. (Trust me, his back side is his better side.)


Although not all was well and good in their history. The Romans founded Barcelona and originally called it Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino. (Say that two times fast.) At that time, the Romans believed in many gods. And, therefore, if you were Catholic and believed in only one God, you were stuffed inside a barrel full of knives and broken glass and then rolled down the street. Even if you were a little girl that was only 13 years old. Ouch.




At the very least she later had a whole big cathedral built in her honor.



video

Unexpectedly2, we also walked past the Headquarters of the Spanish Inquisition.



If you also include the largest rose window in the city...



... and the highest point in the original city of Barcelona,



...it almost makes up for the fact that Bar Michigan was closed.

---
1. Ellen may not agree with this assessment.

2. NOBODY expects to see the Spanish Inquisition HQ.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Chickens Are Scarier Than Crows, Didn't You Know?

The garden is in!  If our Scarechicken does its job, we will soon have a nice crop of heirloom tomatoes, onions, hot peppers, green beans, basil, parsley and thyme! Huge thanks to my parents for their help getting the area ready. It was a jungle!

Boeke Prospective City Analysis Matrix AND House Walk Through!

Several people have asked us how we picked Fort Collins as a place to live so I thought I would share the story with all of you. Or rather, the Matrix. Because that is how we decided. We called it the Prospective City Analysis and this is what it looked like (click to enlarge): Once we were mostly done filling in the Matrix (we had a hard time finding some city data), we sat on it for awhile and "tried out" the front runners in our heads. That would be why we told some of you that we were going to live in Durango...or Prescott...or Seattle...or Manitou Springs (a late entry after the Matrix was completed). But each time, something didn't feel quite right to us so we would move on to the next place on our radar, hoping something would stick.  And Fort Collins did. It didn't wither under the intense scrutiny that I put it under and when we got here to do our final "walk through", it felt right.  And that feeling hasn't gone away. I love that I can ge

DIY Wort Chiller

We here at Curious Souls H.Q. are always looking for ways to save a buck or two. So, when shopping around online for a wort chiller for home brewing, we found the following prices: $65 @ Midwest (plus shipping) $70 @ Northern (plus shipping) $39 @ Amazon (plus shipping) So, off to the hardware store... 3/8" (internal diameter) Vinyl Tubing (10 feet) = $4.15 Sink to hose adapter (varies based on your type of sink) = $4.79 3/8" X 20' Copper Tubing = $24.13 Vinyl Hose Coupler = $2.49 Hose clamps (x2)  = $1.70 Band-aids (x2 or x3 or x4) = $1.00 For a total of $38.26 (pre-tax, no shipping), we decided to roll our own. Here's how it went down... ( vid link ) And, of course, there is the joy of having made something all by yourself! Priceless & fun!