Click on images below to enlarge:
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| Las Ramblas
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| Las Ramblas, the most famous pedestrian street in Barcelona. Don't just
notice the trees and the wide sidewalk; also notice the
buildings' facades. This is part of the old town.
| A 360-degree panoramic movie from the same location. The street it
looks down 20 seconds in is the one my apartment building is on.
| A movie of the bird market section of the street, with three bird
vendors. I took this as a low resolution because I mainly wanted to
record the sounds of the chirping.
| A bird shop, close-up.
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| The first of the many human statues I'd see on Las Ramblas. These
people go all out.
| Another human statue.
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| Four statues in one shot.
| The flower section of Las Ramblas.
| These buildings aren't famous; I just thought (and still think) they
look pretty.
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| Brunch at Escribā (Escriba)
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| I went to Escribā for
breakfast. This modernista building was was built in 1820. Now it's a
pastry shop, one with a long history (but not that long!), one that's
often regarded as one of the top in Barcelona.
| The pastry display case and the sunken cafe.
| Some of the pretty pastries on display.
| My croissant and another item. The croissant was good quality: flaky,
soft, but not too buttery. The other item was roasted pine nuts wrapped
a spongy, honey filling--also good. I later learned it's a type of
panellet, a pastry made made for All Saints Day in Catalan. I'd give
this place a 4?.
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| El Raval
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| A street in El Raval, another district in the old city.
| Placa del Canonge Colom. As I'd come to observe, there are many little
plazas like this scattered among the old city.
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| Lunch at Maoz
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| I had lunch at Maoz,
a vegetarian chain fast-food joint specializing in falafel, mainly
because I didn't want to put thought into it.
| My falafel was good and freshly made. It gets a 3.
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| Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA)
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| The glass-fronted Museu
d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona overlooks a skateboarder-filled
plaza.
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Martha Rosler's The Bowery in Two Inadequate Descriptive Systems
(description)
made me think of a game clue. This collection of her pieces is a series
of a photographs juxtaposed with lists of words (in her case, synonyms
for inebriation).
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| Centre de Cultura Contemporānia de Barcelona (CCCB)
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| The entrance to Centre
de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona.
| One exhibit, about Chinese cities,
had models of cities. I think is Beijing, but I'm not sure.
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| Dinner at Taller de Tapas
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Taller de
Tapas, a mini-chain that's known for serving respectable tapas and a
staff that speaks English well.
It gets a 2+.
| I sat at the bar.
| Croquetas de jamon de bellota: ham croquettes. Fried cylinders with a
gooey center that supposedly contained ham but it wasn't obvious. They
felt greasy.
| Verduras del tiempo a la plancha con queso de cabra de la Nuri: grilled
seasonal vegetables with Nuri's goat's cheese. The goat cheese was mild
and in a different foom than the usual crumbled cheese.
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| Suquet de dorada: traditional Catalan sea bream, tomato, and garlic
stew. Sea bream turned out to be a bony fish. I liked this stew; it's
much like one Di Yin makes.
| I ordered bread to dip in the stew broth. It wasn't really needed.
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I ordered a glass of white wine: Parató. It was sharp; clearly a house
wine.
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