Easter Monday

Last day that Kelly's in town! Yesterday, Fer and I met up with Kel, Hillary, and Jose Luis in the lovely neighborhood of Gracia before the gals took off for their flight to Sevilla. Wish I were going too!

We got lucky with the food...again! We had a delish meal at Origens, a restaurant serving typical Catalan dishes.

This light fixture was made of colanders. Brilliant!

Ooh..look at the wine that I can't have.

They even sell ecological goods inside the restaurant.

This is a very typical Catalan side served with everything, "pan amb tomaquet", or in English, "bread with tomato". You just rub a very ripe tomato onto bread, and voila! Jose Luis, a Sevillano, has perfected the art of smothering that tomato.

More food that my pregnant self couldn't have. An array of cheeses and sausages served with bread and garlic. It was still pretty.

Food shots! This dish was awesome. Cod with zucchini, garlic, and parsley. I wished I'd had it all to myself.

Coca with escalivada (roasted peppers, onions, and eggplants) and romesco sauce. Yum!

Another no-no dish for me but yet so tasty -- beans with mushrooms and butifarra, or pot sausages of Catalunya.

Fer explained the meaning behind his T-shirt.

Kelly and Hillary make great traveling partners. 

The lunch crew together.

So what are y'all doing this summer? Come to Barcelona, we love having visitors!

Kelly's in Town

I met Kelly in Sevilla  in 2003 and shared many joyous moments with her and the gang. For spring break, she's visiting Spain with her roommate/good friend, Hillary, both from New York. It was a wet day!

The Boqueria was closed on this Easter Sunday. 

We made our way down Las Ramblas on this rainy day.

We reached the end of Las Ramblas, where Sr. Columbus points to the New World.

Below the monument, Hillary, Fer and Kelly stand with the proud lion.

We walked over to do some shopping at Maremagnum, open all year.

The Football Club Barcelona store. Me with the footballers.

We walked back from the shopping center.  The next few shots are blurry. My point is that I love Port Vell at night.

Look at the fishies in the water.

We reached the Plaza Reial. The central fountain was flowing. 

Restaurants and bars line the periphery of the plaza.

Fer, me, Kelly, Hillary, and Kelly's good friend, Jose Luis, enjoyed dinner at Zoo. We reminisced about our unforgettable days in Sevilla.

Mmmm...a pina colada. Non-alcoholic, of course.

The gang had drinks at the Hotel Plaza Reial.

Bollywood: The Show

Photo From Hotel Valley

It's arrived in Barcelona! After seeing Slumdog Millionaire, there was an ad for this new musical in town. We couldn't miss seeing it yesterday.

The extravaganza was held at Teatre Tivoli in downtown Barcelona.

Folks waited anxiously in the foyer of the theatre.

It's a very intimate venue. We got great seats in the sixth row, which was close enough to see the details in the costumes, but far enough to see the whole set.

The story is about a traditional Hindi director who influences his granddaughter in becoming a famous director in the 80s. The actual musical pays homage to well-known 80s songs and choreography from the movies shown on the theatre curtains.

It also included classical and really, really fun Bollywood dances. I love Bollywood! 

The traditional costumes were luxurious. 

Photos from Bollywoodshow.es

We were lucky enough to catch one of the actors from the show. Turns out he's from LA!

Enjoying Palm Sunday

We started the day to see the blessing of the palms by priests at our nearby church. Families with small children came to bless some giant palms on a neighborhood street.

A vendor took advantage and sold some balloons on (what's supposed to be) this blessed day. Hmmph!
It was the first Sunday of the month, which means free admission to some museums! We enjoyed one museum in particular, Museu Frederic Mares.

Frederic Mares was a distinguished Catalan collector who donated his collections to the city in 1944. We think he was a bit obsessive about his large collections. Our favorite one was the toys.

The teeny dramatic theatre.
An even more itty bitty cutout scenery.Check out these bikes. 

We found a roomful of skeleton keys. I wish I could have them all!