Ivan and Jen do Europe

Ivan, Lil Dave and I had a tapas lunch on July 4, 2010.  We went to Taller de Tapas.  Lil Dave got banana bravas with a banana sauce and grilled bananas & chicken skewers.  Ivan and I shared sauteed mushrooms, potato bravas, rocket salad with goat’s cheese, roasted almonds and quince jelly, salt cod fritters and oven roasted red peppers, aubergine, onions with anchovies.

The food was delicious.  My favorites were the rocket salad and the salt cod fritters.

We walked to Go Car Tours to rent one of their small cars.  It’s a talking car that has GPS.  It gives you directions and details about the city.  What a cool idea!  Ivan started driving around Barcelona.  Ivan was given a map with different routes.  As long as you stay on the route, the GPS guide will tell you about the city and where to turn.  We went on the blue route first.  There were many sights like the Arc de Triompf, Christopher Columbus statue and the Parc de Montjuic.  We stopped at the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC) which is the art museum.  There we saw a beautiful view of the Magic Fountain.

I started driving.  It was a great day to be driving since it was hot and sunny.  We stopped off at Montjuïc Castle.  Ivan, Lil Dave and I walked in the castle and it gave us an awesome view of the city.

It’s funny driving in the small yellow car.  Everybody looks, takes pictures and waves.  Some people ask where to rent one.  There’s a brochure holder filled with brochures in the back of the car.  It’s very easy to drive, just like a motorbike.

We drove more and saw the Agba Tower (which is similiar to the Gherkin in London) and Sagrada Familia.  The Sagrada Familia is an unfinished temple by Antoni Gaudi.

Ivan started driving again.  We started heading up to Park Guell.  It was a very steep hill.  Our car was struggling to make it up the hill.  Near the top, we had to push the car the rest of the way.

Park Guell is a artsy park with lots of greenery and a garden.

It’s definitely not your typical park.  The Park was created by Antoni Gaudi.  It started showering a bit at the park.  It looked like rain would be coming soon.

Ivan drove us back towards the Go Car Tours office.  It was raining.  At least it wasn’t raining too hard.  We returned the Go Car.

We took the train back to the hotel.  We all needed a rest.  Ivan and I were tired from the sun and driving.  Lil Dave was tired from the sun and the bananas he ate in the car.  We relaxed for awhile in the hotel.

We got the train.  We went to see the Magic Fountain of Montjuic.  Ivan read that it’s better than the Bellagio Fountains.

It’s very cool, with lights and music – but it’s not as impressive as the fountains in Las Vegas.  It’s a round fountain which really limits it.  The fountains at the Bellagio Fountains are spread out and it looks like their dancing to the music.  There was lots of people at the Magic Fountain.  You can stand right near it which is nice.  The cool thing is that the fountain was created in 1929.

The Magic Fountain video:

We walked to Sandwich & Friends.  Unfortunately, the restaurant was closing early since it was a slow night.  We walked to a nearby restaurant called Happy Bar & Grill.  Ivan thought we should eat there.  We shared a tuna salad, bbq chicken and a vegetarian paella.  Lil Dave had a yummy banana paella.  The paella was the only good dish.  The other dishes were quite plain.

We walked back to the hotel to get some sleep.