10/16/10 Poble Español & Xocolate

            I chilled around the apartment for the first part of the morning, and then in the afternoon I met Emily at Poble Espanol.  Poble Español means Spanish town and where we went was a replica of all different types of buildings in the different areas of Spain.  All the different buildings are connected together and artisans have little shops in each building.  The shops had hand crafted goods including leather, pottery, jewelry and everything in between.  We looked around admiring all the goods and the different architectural styles of the buildings.  The weather was really nice too.  It got a little chilly, but my sweater kept me warm.

            From Poble Espanol, we walked down the main road from Plaza Espana.  We weren’t really sure where we were headed, but we ended up near the Christopher Columbus statue at the end of Las Ramblas.  We decided since it was getting colder, we would find a place to have hot chocolate.  Emily pulled out her Barcelona book which recommended a place right off Las Ramblas.  It is the oldest Xocolata shop in the city and we found it on a tiny side street.  It was so busy that there was a line to get inside.  We only had to wait a few minutes outside and then we sat down at our table.  I felt really rushed while we were there though.  In most Spanish restaurants, as soon as you have eaten, you stay there as long as you want and then you have to ask them for the bill.  At this place it was a little different since they were trying to turn over the tables as quickly as possible.  Emily got a chocolate mousse and I got a hot chocolate with whipped cream.  I headed home for dinner after that.