Spain! Day 2: Barcelona

It's going to be hard to beat our second day here!! Jay taught himself Catalan mostly by watching a few TV shows, one of which is the soap opera Com si fos ahir (Like It Was Yesterday). A few weeks ago Jay contacted one of the show's producers and told him how much of a fan he was of the show. We were invited to the TV3 studio lot to watch them film a segment, meet some of the cast, and tour the sets. 

Everyone we met was so incredibly nice, especially Silvia Bell, who plays Marta! 

Here is Jay on the set of Bar Flora, where a good portion of the show takes place.

The most exciting part was that we were offered the chance to play extras in a scene in one of the bars! While two of the cast are having a conversation at the counter, Jay and I can be seen in the background playing pool. Our episode is supposed to air sometime next month.

After we were done at the studio we took the metro back to City Center and wandered around for the rest of the day. I got my next Fitbit badge for walking 35k steps in one day! 

One of the buildings we wanted to check out was the National Library of Catalonia, housed in a 15th century building that was previously a hospital.

Here are a few more random pics from around town:

We ate at a tapas place called La Plata that opened in 1945, where we shared Pa Amb Tomàquet (tomato bread), fried anchovies, and a tomato and onion salad.

Next stop was the Museum of Catalonian History to check out the 1930s-1940s exhibits. They had more than I expected and I was excited to see recreated kitchens of the era! My favorite thing.

They also had a nice selection of radio and broadcasting-related history.

A few years ago I bought Jay a reproduction poster from the 1920s that encouraged teaching of the Catalan language. They had an original poster on display!

We stopped by two antique bookshops, but they were both closed (during their posted business hours)... Hopefully they'll be open when we return. We leave for Mallorca tomorrow morning but we'll be back in Barcelona the last few days of the trip.

Go to Spain! Day 3: Palma de Mallorca