"" Writer's Wanderings: Barcelona - The Green Line

Friday, September 28, 2012

Barcelona - The Green Line


Having finished the blue loop of the Barcelona Bus Turistic in the morning and early afternoon, we took the red line a few stops to where the green line intercepted. By then we were ready for some coffee and an afternoon snack. We found ourselves in Port Olimpic which was built when the 1992 Summer Olympics was held in Barcelona. The area is now bustling with a huge marina, lots of restaurants, a casino, and beach areas.

We found a strip of small cafes and one that had a sign featuring churros and chocolate, another delicacy on our list of to-try while in Barcelona. We ordered one cup of chocolate and a plate of churros along with two coffees. A paddle constantly stirred the chocolate in a large urn on the counter. When our server set the cup under the spigot, the chocolate just oozed out. It is really more like a thick soup than hot chocolate that you drink. It is creamy dark chocolate and you dip the honeyed churros into the chocolate to enjoy them together. When we ran out of churros, we just spooned the chocolate out to finish it. Need I say it was heavenly?

The fresh sea air mixed with the warm sun and began to lull our senses but we plugged in our earphones to the commentary once again on the bus. On the green line, the bus took us through what was once a large industrial area but is now a more modern office building/hotel area. The city’s oldest cemetery to be built outside its walls is located along this line in Poblenou.

We also passed a remarkable park called Parc Diagonal Mar. Diagonal Mar refers to a main artery of Barcelona that cuts diagonally across the city and ends at the sea (mar). The park was designed by an architect, Enric Miralles. The curving tubes are to remind you of the motion of the seas. Our first reaction was to think of our grandson who loves designing roller coasters on his computer.

The green line circuit was finished in about 40 minutes since we didn’t get off anywhere to explore and we returned to the end of La Rambla and walked back to our hotel, passing by the tapas cafes and the florists and stopping on occasion to admire the human statues. There were not so many as we remember in the past. Somehow these entertainers manage to dress and use makeup that makes them look exactly like a statue. It is quite startling when you walk past one and they move.

Our dinner that evening was not the best of choices and certainly did not come up to the standard of our wonderful dinner the previous evening. We found what looked like a nice little place that was a pasta bar. You ordered your pasta and trimmings and they cooked it up right there at the counter for you. The small restaurant had tables with square stools for chairs and looked clean enough. Unfortunately while Bob was paying for our meal, I happened to look down through the glass in the counter which topped a wooden lattice. There, crawling through one of the little squares of wood was a roach.  When we sat down to wait for our plates, I mentioned that if anything on the plate moved we shouldn’t eat it. The food was okay but the appetite had suffered.

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