Our first full day in Barcelona. Our hotel was a couple of blocks off Las Ramblas which is a mile long street stretching from Placa Catalunya to the harbor at the Monumento a Colom (Columbus monument). Ol' Chris Columbus returned here after his trip across the pond to meet with Isabella and Ferdinand. This photo was taken as we explored La Boqueria, a huge indoor/outdoor market devoted mostly to fresh foods of all kinds. Even in the early morning it is bustling with activity, and can be a bit of a cultural shock for Americans used to sanitized versions of old style food markets. There was live food everywhere - notably, an overflowing box of live crawfish, which the proprietor was struggling to keep together. We bought some fruit and nuts for snack food during the day. Then we had a nice breakfast at a coffee shop and made our way to the Sagrada on the metro.