Our day tour of Barcelona booked with Barcelona Day Tours and led by the fountain of knowledge named Marta took us to Montserrat, Park Güell and ended with a drive around famous places around Barcelona. We opt not to go to Sagrada Familia since we were going there on our own the next day.
We passed by Parc Joan Miró and saw this monument he completed just one year before he died at the age of 90. Joan Miró was a Barcelona born surrealist painter and sculptor.
These pictures were taken while I was in the tour bus.
Dona i Ocell’ Sculpture by Joan Miro
This used to be the last bullring in Barcelona. Now it’s a shopping complex. Too bad we didn’t have time to go shopping there.
Arenas de Barcelona
monument in Plaça d’Espanya (Plaza de España)
Montjuïc Telecommunications Tower
Olympic Stadium of Barcelona
The summer olympics were last held in Barcelona in 1992. We went to the well maintained and used stadium for a quick look. It’s also a popular venue for big concerts.
Next Marta brought us Montjuïc where we had a bird’s eye view of Port Vell and the cruise ports.
Port Vell
My cousin Sidney and his family took a Princess cruise a couple of days later.
From the hill we could see La Sagrada Familia.
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Arc de Triomf
The bus then dropped us at Las Ramblas and Marta continued the tour on foot.
Las Ramblas
I will post about La Boqueria market separately.
Mercat de La Boqueria
Santa Maria del Mar
This narrow alley led to the Gothic Quarter which is the center of the old city of Barcelona.
This is dedicated to Senator Sotto. At least Spain is open minded and progressive enough to have stores like this.
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After several disastrous churros in Madrid and Barcelona we begged Marta to take us to an authentic place. She brought us to this small hole in the wall without any tables or chairs.
Xurreria
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patisset €1.20 & potato chips
The churros were made upon order. There was no hot chocolate though.
Who needs hot chocolate when the churro was light, not greasy and so crisp. Just a little sprinkling of sugar and it was perfect. All my bad churros experience in Spain was instantly erased. A bag of 5 pieces of churros cost only €1. If you really, really need hot chocolate go to La Granja five doors down and order a cup or two. I read from this blog that they allowed you to take the churros in their
xurros (churros) €1 for 5 pcs.
Initially we didn’t know what to expect with the chocolate covered churros so I bought 100 grams worth and shared it with my cousins and Rochelle. In a flash all my churros was gone and moans and groans could be heard echoing through the store’s walls. We all bought more until we depleted the store’s stock.
It was sheer genius to dip churros in chocolate. It was decadent and tasted better than dipping churros in hot chocolate. Amazingly the covered churros remained crisp and not oily. Although the batch we kept for breakfast the next morning became soft and greasy but Rochelle still ate it all. Anyone going to Barcelona has to go to Xurreria for these awesome churros.
xurros de xocolata €1.20 per 100 grams
These were all the women in our group all smiles after eating churros. Thanks Marta!!!
Next stop nearby was a popular store to buy espadrilles. Marta recommended La Manual Alpargatera as the best place to buy espadrilles.
Wow I’ve never seen espadrille booties. Cute!
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Choose your color and size and the guy manning this wall of espadrilles will give you your shoes. Make sure you choose a size with a very snug fit because espadrilles will get loose with use.
The basic espadrille style on the lowest row cost only €10 each.
Almost everyone bought a pair or two except me. Both stores are closed on Sundays as discovered by my cousin La who went back for more churros.
Xurerria
Carrer dels Banys Nous, 8 08002 Barcelona
La Manual Alpargatera
C/. Avinyó, 7 – 08002 Barcelona
telephone: 93 3010172
website (not working)
Working hours: 9:30 am -1:30pm & 4:30 – 8:00 pm
Shoot First Eat Later 