Feeling better rested after an early night in, we started our second day in Barcelona with a morning food tour. I had found a company called Devour which offers food tours in various cities around Europe, and booked us in for their Tastes & Traditions of Barcelona tour.
We met our guide at Santa Caterina Market and were joined by about 10 other travellers, including a couple families. It was nice to see some parents travelling with young kids, as this is what I aspire to do in the coming years!
We started the food tour in the market, where we tasted assorted cheeses and cured meat. Unfortunately, I had to skip the meat and had a special selection of pasteurized cheese set aside for me, and also had to miss out on the cava. However, I was able to fully participate in the remainder of the tour, which took us to the neighbourhoods of El Born and Barceloneta where we tried some pastries, a mashed potato ball tapa called a bomba, and finished off with a meal of seafood paella at Can Ramonet.
A stroll on Barceloneta Beach
After being sufficiently fed, we said goodbye to our tour group and went on a short walk through Barceloneta. This seaside neighbourhood is best known for its expansive beach bordering the Mediterranean Sea, which interestingly was manmade. Although the weather was nice and sunny, it was not quite warm enough for swimming so we just stuck on the boardwalk.
Appreciating art at the Picasso Museum
Our next stop was the Picasso Museum. Although pre-booked tickets are recommended, I managed to snag a couple tickets for us without issues while we were finishing up on the food tour.
The museum is set in five adjoining medieval palaces and features an extensive collection of over 4000 Picasso pieces. Opened in 1963, it was the first museum dedicated to Picasso’s work and the only one created during his lifetime.
Arc de Triomf and Ciutadella Park
We spent a couple hours at the museum and then decided to take another walk outside. We found Barcelona’s version of the Arc de Triomphe, which was built by architect Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas as the main access gate for the 1888 Barcelona World Fair.
Nearby was Ciutadella Park, the largest green space in Barcelona with several attractions including the zoo and Catalan Parliament.
We only took a quick zip through since my calves were hurting, so we headed back to our hotel afterward for a break. On the way, we stopped at Pasteleria Hoffman to try one of their cakes that we had seen from the window during our food tour.
We didn’t do much for the rest of the day. We went for a swim in the hotel pool, returned to Bar Lobo for some tapas for dinner, and spent the evening watching television in bed. The following day would be our final one in Barcelona before heading off to our next destination in Basque Country.
I've Bean Travelling 
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