{"id":748,"date":"2009-10-12T22:09:57","date_gmt":"2009-10-13T04:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/?p=748"},"modified":"2009-10-08T22:10:28","modified_gmt":"2009-10-09T04:10:28","slug":"belated-tr-spain-barcelona-part-1-17-20-aug-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/2009\/10\/belated-tr-spain-barcelona-part-1-17-20-aug-2009\/","title":{"rendered":"Belated TR: Spain- Barcelona Part 1 (17-20 Aug 2009)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From Toledo, we traveled several hours across the country&#8230;<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9090bull.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>traveling through village after village, ruin after ruin&#8230;.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9092ruins.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>through Spain&#8217;s arid interior, over the mountains, and down to the coast, to Barcelona.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9095mont.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9097mont.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Barcelona is one of Europe&#8217;s greatest cities.  There is an indescribable energy that has taken hold of this magnificent city and all of its grandeur.  The city is constantly bustling with life on every corner on every alley at all times of the day.  With it&#8217;s vibrant colors and gleeful spirit, Barcelona is a fantastic place to visit.  <\/p>\n<p>The heart of Barcelona is La Ramblas.  This pedestrian promenade is packed with people during all times of the day, except at the break of dawn.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9387rambla-1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>My dad, with the Ramblas behind him.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9384dad-1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Our hotel, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hotelcontinental.com\/\">Hotel Continental<\/a>, was right on the Ramblas, providing excellent views, especially of the street performers.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9306rambla.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9304rambla.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>One of the many &#8220;statues&#8221; on La Ramblas.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9114ramblas.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>La Ramblas is the only place where I&#8217;ve seen pet-store after pet-store, sold right on the street.  At night, the owners pack all of these animals up into a tight enclosed box.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9109pets.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9112pets.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9115pets.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9118pets.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Hi Alvin!<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9117pets.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Market on La Ramblas.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9120market.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9122market.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>The Ramblas ends when it reaches the sea at Port Vell, at an area now known as Rambla del Mar.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9124marina.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9130marina.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>The other end of the Ramlas houses the Plaza de Catalunya.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9103plaza.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9107plaza.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9108plaza.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Need a bike?  These <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bicing.com\/home\/home.php\">bike stands<\/a> are everywhere throughout the city.  Just buy a rental card, stick it in the slot, and out comes a bike.  You can buy multipacks if you plan on renting several times.  What a fantastic concept.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9199bikes.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>I found the Born Market on Via Laietana, in La Ribera district, to be colorful, inviting, rich to my senses, filled to the brim with interesting sites, and friendly people.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9344market.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9346market.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9348rabbit-1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9350cheese-1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9353meat-1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i173.photobucket.com\/albums\/w74\/mtnbikerskierchick\/Spain%202009\/Barcelona\/IMG_9354fruit-1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>More Barcelona photos to come!  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From Toledo, we traveled several hours across the country&#8230; traveling through village after village, ruin after ruin&#8230;. through Spain&#8217;s arid<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=748"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":749,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748\/revisions\/749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}