Tapas and Rambling La Rambla

It's nearly 2am here and I would like to be in bed, sleeping at 2 am. So here's the 2 minute version of today: played tourist and went to Sagrada Familia, the super amazing Goudi church (pics will be available tomorrow, will just send you a link to all of them), saw a wonderful open-air market (ala Pike Place Market in Seattle but much bigger (no fun fish-throwing guys, however), ventured this way and that to get a good feel of the city. I like it, but it is definitely the kind of place that you don't want to experience alone. Gasping in amazement at the Goudi architecture loses something when no one is around to hear the gasp.

Taka, the guy I met this morning, and I went out to find tapas tonight. It may have taken a few wrong turns, but the girl at the hostel gave us the best recommendation for a good place to eat. We chose the sampler menu--9 different Catalan dishes, wine and dessert. (Yep, you know me, I took pictures of everything. New cool food: cuddle fish. Not sure if that's how it's spelled.) This is just what he and I have been looking for! And it was awesome to have a fun person to share the meal with. It was a good experience (in the painful sort of way) to take the long-long way home (kept getting lost, feet tired, oh, knee is all better) so we were out past 1 am finding the hostel...it was a great way to see Barcelona so late, but there were so many people out, it was impossible to tell it was that late. And the night air is warm so no worries on being that kind of uncomfortable. Oh my, we even saw a group of prostitutes/transvestites who were on the job. Other than that, there wasn't much sketchy about being out late.

Oops, I blew past the 2 am deadline, but I know if I don't write anything now, chances are slim I'll capture the story tomorrow. More pics and a movie from tonight will be coming tomorrow...time to go attempt to digest the wonderful Catalan plants and animals consumed at tonight's dinner. Thank goodness I feel like I've satisfied getting to know the food here; being forever on the search for that "perfectly authentic" cuisine is a frustrating and never-ending chore.

Meet Taka...

This is the look of happiness (and tiredness) at finishing a tasty, satisfying meal at nearly midnight.