Barcelona, 7/5/13

After sleeping 13 or so hours last night, we were raring to go this morning. Today was the day we were to tour all around Barcelona on the hop-on-hop-off double decker bus. It was excellent! If you are ever in Barcelona, do this tour - especially if you only have one day. You can get a good overview of all the major sights.

In addition to the bus tour, I bought entrance tickets for the Sagrada Familia, the famous Catholic church Antoni Gaudi designed and spent 40 years of his life obsessing over. (Thank you, Heidi, for giving me the idea to get tickets online!! You wouldn't believe the line for them!!)

 On the way to the Sagrada Familia, we saw a couple of buildings in the city that Gaudi designed. These buildings are all over Barcelona. Pretty abstract.

We did the audio tour. I love watching people who are doing an audio tour. It's like they're in a different world. Anyway, the Sagrada Familia is an amazing piece of architecture. There are two facades of the basilica - one depicting the Nativity of Christ,

the other depicting the Passion of Christ.

The interior sanctuary is fantastic, with light coming through stained glass windows showering everything with color. It was impossible not to be moved by its magnificence.

We also had the opportunity to tour one of the towers on the Passion side of the temple. The views were amazing. We even saw some of the construction. The building has been under construction for 131 years. They say it will be completed in 10 years.

After finishing the audio tour and the tower, we went into the museum. The models of the basilica Gaudi used are amazing.

If you EVER have the opportunity, you must see the Sagrada Familia!

Our second "hop-off" was Gaudi's Parc Guell - a park that was originally meant to be an exclusive garden community. Of course, we were all getting a bit grouchy and had to have lunch first (I had a yummy pesto pasta with tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.) Although the crowds were crazy big, we were able to see a great deal of the park. There is so much to it - the mosaics, the caverns, the homes, the gardens. A good word for the place is whimsical.

A street performer near Park Guell. Notice the sidewalk tiles. These were everywhere around the city.

After Parc Guell, we got on the bus for a while. Sitting on the top of a double decker bus is fun as long as the sun is not too strong and the bus is moving continuously. Today, the sun was too strong and it seemed like the bus stopped at every light.

We got off at MNAC (Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña) which is also the Palau Nacional (National Palace.) Clare was desperate to do the Cheetah Girl's strut in front of the palace. It was definitely a funny scene, especially when she forced Daniel to join her.

After a long ride back (we saw the Olympic village and soccer stadium on the way) to a cathedral close to La Rambla (near our hotel), we wandered through the narrow streets until we found Farggi for some gelato (I had Sorbet de Mango - sooo delicious.)

La Rambla

Then it was back to the hotel for some much needed rest. I had tapas planned for this evening. Unfortunately, the tapas bar I wanted to go to was closed (??) and I was at a loss as to where we should go (why didn't I have a backup??) Plus, we had to walk through a plaza with several prostitutes while going to and from this closed restaurant. It was a bit scary. We ended up going somewhere the man at the front desk of our hotel recommended. I was not impressed. Oh well. At least there was good sangria and funny conversations. (I love bonding with my kids on these vacations.) Maybe we'll have something so amazing at another point of our trip that I'll forget this bad experience. Clare and I did get a chance to go to a confectionary called La Cure Gourmande - brought back some amazing caramels.

Tomorrow we will be embarking on our ship. We're all looking forward to it. Barcelona has been nice, but it's felt very rushed and crowded. It did remind me and Tom a little of New Orleans (on a much larger scale.) If I come back, perhaps I'll stay a little outside the center of town. The crowds can be a bit overwhelming. Maybe we'll come back when they finish the Sagrada Familia?