After a high floor view, it’s back to earth for five days

After wandering near and far through the streets (excuse me, the “carrers”) of Barcelona for three days, I looked forward to kicking back for 26 hours in a nicely appointed room purchased with rewards points in the Hilton Diagonal Del Mar.

While you can’t get to know a city like Barcelona without walking it at ground level and using it’s outstanding metro and tram system, it’s also nice to settle back on the executive lounge’s 15th floor sky deck and look down at the endless movement and bustle of a world class city.

I mean, below is the view out the window by the 15th floor elevators.

And it’s not bad waking up to the view from my 21st floor sea view room, either.

But there are a lot more days in this trip than there are hotel rewards points to use, so it was back to a cheaper hotel for five days, albeit one just two blocks from one of the great attractions in Barcelona, Las Ramblas, a boulevard with a wide pedestrian mall between the two one way streets, and a plethora of shops and museums and bars and balconied apartment buildings and what not on either side for block after block.

Below is the more modest view from one of the front balconies of the Abla Hotel on Carrer de l’Hospital, two blocks from Las Ramblas.

After exiting the Liceu metro station early Tuesday afternoon, I was greeted by the imposing and beautiful facade of the Lideu Theater. I wasn’t looking down, what with being worried about being run over by bikes, cars or other people, but I’m told there’s a mural by Joan Miro on the ground right there. I’ll have to go back tomorrow and look for it and Miro’s signature on one of the tiles.

A block up from the theater is La Boqueria, a block square food market that, while not quite the scale of the Pike Place Market in Seattle, is easily its superior in the quality of food and drink offered. The place is to be smelled and tasted as much as seen.

Then again, you can just walk down my home street for the moment and find just about anything you may want there as well, and for lower prices.

OK. That’s all. Tired. Time to stare at MSNBC Livestream for a while. More tomorrow. I miss you all.