Day 1, take 2

Top of La Rambla

La Boqueria

Eating in the market

Hamming it up

Plaza just off of La Rambla

Gaudi's Casa Batllo

In Batllo

Batllo rooftop

Asador Aranda

Grilled lamb

Chatting with a local with a longboard at metro stop

In fear of reliving our first attempt to get to Spain I will not recount those events and rather start the blog with our long awaited arrival to Barcelona.  The first group to arrive met with Mr. Collier and were taken to a great place to get introduced the the tapa culture, El Taller de Tapas.  I love the word taller because when used to describe the arts it is a place where people can work on what they love, more than the workshop that the dictionary would tell you it means.  When all but one of us had arrived we went to La Boqueria and the boys were given money and told to go through this amazing food market (look it up on the internet) and find something good to eat.  Before we headed out I bought them enough of arguably the best ham in the world, Joselito, to sample.  We then toured the strange street Las Ramblas, full of vendors, performers, locals and tourists and went through the gothic quarter.  We picked up our last student and headed to see two of Gaudi's homes, Batllo and Pedrera.  The group split in two and chose which house they wanted to tour.  After a bit of free time we headed out to a fancy restaurant that specializes in roasted lamb and had a great meal.  We took the metro home and are ready to get a good rest before we hit the streets again tomorrow morning.  Overall, the boys are being well fed, housed and exposed to some of the great architecture of Barcelona.  Our hotel also happens to have a rooftop pool with 360 degree views of the city.