BCN Dia Tres

We canceled our dinner reservations for our final full day in the city when both Mom and I woke up just as full as when we had gone to bed. Day number three brought a long walk down La Rambla, a wide shopping strip and pedestrian mall lined with street performers and vendors selling everything from flower bouquets to live chickens. The bird vendors were actually our point of reference for the street the hotel was on- they were easy to see, hear, and smell.
We ventured toward the Mediterranean, stopping to gape at the tram in the sky that takes people all the way up a mountain and back down over the sea. The weather could not have been more pleasant for a seaside stroll, so we meandered along the harbor, attempting to count the parked sailboats and enjoying the variety of sculptural art along the wide walkway (the pic of me with the two large people is just one of the pieces). My tendency to get wet when I’m near a body of water thankfully did not play out, so we then headed away from el mar toward El Born district, a shopping neighborhood comparable to SoHo in its up-and-coming days. The narrow, winding streets are packed with independent boutiques selling clothing, accessories, household items, and the like. If I could live anywhere in Barcelona, it would be here, where the neighborhood has true charm and the chain stores have yet to conquer. Hip young people munch on tapas at the outdoor tables lining the small plazas and creative window displays welcome wandering.
With a belly full of sautéed mixed mushrooms (my mouth waters at the thought!), a nicoise-style salad, sardines, tuna, flan, and freshly-squeezed orange juice (an interesting and delicious dessert option) at Kiosk Universal, we were back in El Born in search of perfect gelato. I don’t often like to eat at the same place twice, but there were some things at Universal that we just could not leave without trying. After some deliberation, we chose a gelato location (it just had to be perfect!) and settled on banana, picante chocolate, and pistachio. Frozen deliciousness.
A short siesta later, we did a bit more shopping before heading toward a different area in search of dinner. We found it in the form of a rustic-chic restaurant serving fairly interesting, fusion dishes. The Galician octopus with liquid potato puree was divine, as was a pumpkin soup with cream and truffle oil. Mom’s salad was loaded with candied fruits and topped with a passion fruit vinaigrette. The dessert menu had us giggling at the awkward English spellings. “Baquet apple” was a baked apple, “panqueque” was a pancake (crepe), and “swpinch” panna cotta was spinach panna cotta (neither of us ordered it, but the table behind us seemed to like it). Mom enjoyed the apple panqueque with deep caramel sauce and I had strawberries with cream and chocolate. For the first time since I arrived in Spain, I read the map wrong and took us the long route home, with some guidance from two cops on motorcycles.