We had lots of fruit salad and yoghurt left over, so we started the day with breakfast in the apartment.

We planned to do a bit of shopping, so we decided to head over to the El Born and Ribera area. On the way, we walked through Sant Jaume Square again and past the city hall and the Generalitat de Catalunya.

We also walked under Bishops Bridge again.

And past the amazing Cathedral.

We were all a little bit peckish, so we stopped at Cafe d’en Victor first for coffee and churros.

I also took another photo of the Roman Temple.

After refreshments, we headed off shopping, down the side streets, to El Born.

We passed a small chapel, the Capella d’en Marcús. This was built in 1166 and is one of the oldest chapels in Barcelona. It served as a refuge for travellers and also as a hospital. It was built on the ancient Roman road that led to France. The apse of the church was removed in the 18th century.

The trees in some of the streets were huge and went from one side of the road to the other.

After a bit more walking, we came across the Arc de Triomf. This is a memorial arch and was built as the main access gate for the 1888 Barcelona World Fair which was held in the Parc de la Ciutadella. The two pillars of the arch feature bats carved in stone, which were the emblem of King Jaume I, who ruled over a period of prosperity in Barcelona. At the top of the arch, the shields of the 49 Spanish provinces are presided over by the coat of arms of the city of Barcelona.

Along the side of the avenue are the courts of justice and some beautiful lampposts.

There is a monument at the end of the avenue, Monument a Rius i Taulet. This is dedicated to Francisco de Paula Rius y Taulet, who was a Spanish lawyer and politician. He was mayor of Barcelona in four different non-consecutive periods during the Restoration between 1858 and 1889. He promoted and supported the 1888 Universal Exposition. He died in 1890, leaving the government in heavy debt.

As we walked back to the shopping area, we passed the Laboratori de Natura. This is part of the Museum of Natural Sciences and was founded in 1882.

We also passed the Hivernacle, a greenhouse which is part of the Parc de la Ciutadella. It is an example of the iron architecture that took root in Barcelona in the late nineteenth century.

We continued through the side streets of the Ribera area and picked up a few more souvenirs.

We came across the Santa Maria del Mar church. The current church was built between 1329 and 1383, although it is believed that a church stood here as far back as 998 . It is built in the gothic style that was popular at the time and local parishioners helped build it. The total width of the church is 100 medieval feet, which is also equal to the maximum height of the building.

We had been on the search for somewhere to watch some authentic Flamenco dancing, and we came across a lovely place that had Flamenco shows – which we then booked for the following evening.

We saw a large sculpture, which was the entrance to the Moco museum, an innovative art centre. We didn’t go in.

As we headed towards home, we came across the lliures, feministes, i rebels mural. This was created by 8M, a feminist organisation who marched on 8th March, International Women’s Day, and whose motto is to be free, alive, feminist, combative, and rebellious. It features feminist rebels.

There was another mural next to it with dates and years, but I couldn’t find any information on it.

We passed a shop that had lots of different well-known people, squatting to take a dump, as small toys that you could buy.

We almost missed the Sinagoga Shlomo ben Adret, which is believed to be the oldest synagouge in Spain and one of the oldest in Europe, dating back to the 3rd century. Shlomo ben Adret was the officiating rabbi of this synagogue for about 50 years during the late 13th century. The synagouge is not used for daily prayers but is used to celebrate festivities. It was hard to get a photo because of the narrow streets.

We walked back through Placa Reial to get home and drop off our shopping.

Back at the apartment, we had some salad as a late lunch, which was very tasty before setting off for our visit to the Sagrada Familia.