barcelona

must have tried almost all the lower-end rooms in LP and RG. finally settled on lodging for the night at hostel layetana at €21 per single room. in course of search, found out that liverpool was playing barcelona tonight and there was some EU meeting on as well. the brits took quite a bit of shine off barcelona. they were simply everywhere and they were loud. explains the large police presence. when we went to placa reial in the evening, it was filled with spilled beer and glass shards, the aftermath of a raucous mob.
after lunch at el convent (LP, abt €7 a head, avocado with tuna sauce appetiser good, but fried veal chop bland, as was lemon cake, red wine), headed out to gracia. pension norma actually had a room available for the next 4 days, with 2 beds, no shower though. €20 a head a night. (there was another option malda, at €23 a room but it was somewhat dingy.)
la seu – awesome gothic cathedral which accentuates the vertical. multiple columns instead of one large column retains lightness of feel. interior looks charred and blackened. again, too many details to take in.
stumbled onto excellent poster/postcard shop. posters for movies from star wars to reservoir dogs to clockwork orange, all about my mother, nosferatu. shop on the right was for art prints (rothko etc).
surfed for 30 min (€2) while waiting for la fonda to open for dinner at 8.30 pm. large fuss-free place with brisk efficient service. couldn’t stomach menu del dia so had veg/mushroom soup (weakish), mixed paella (quite good) and agua, for once. feeling tired and absolutely not in the mood for conversation.
coming back, went up wrong lift and wondered why no one opened the door. then realised door should be of glass, not wood. managed to get back to first floor before lights went out.