Barcelona: The Longest Day

Our first day in Barcelona wasn't really the longest day, but it felt like it! It was here that our "Yea we're in Europe" adrenalin died off and we needed rest. Thankfully, we all realized it, and so we built it some R&R. Making for a fun visit to this city.







Off to our car...



I do think I look a bit tired here. :)



Las Ramblas by night...this street attracted all walks of life and became the best place to people watch. We stayed right on this street, amidst all the activity.



During the day on Las Ramblas, there are various "statues" that will begin to move about if you pay them a Euro. This one caught my eye.



We waited at the bar for the perfect outdoor table...



And after we got seated, it began to rain!



We "corked" our wine with a napkin and took it with us.





It was about 11:45 pm at this point, and albeit delirious, we also realized we were tired. So we began that much needed R&R and slept...and slept...and slept. We woke up at noon the next day!





The one famous church we visited in Barcelona was La Seu. I didn't take a picture of the outside because it was covered in scaffolding for renovation...not too pretty.



We found the light show one night after walking and walking. Only AFTER we gave up did we run across it...and then we thought to ourselves: How on earth did we miss finding this! It's huge!

Barcelona: Museums and Cuisine

Thankfully, I traveled with some adventurous women! This made eating out so much fun. We tried all the local cuisine, which in Barcelona - being a port city- featured things like octopus and squid, cooked the Catalan way...hot! We washed just about everything in Spain down with the best Sangria I have ever had.










I did try the octopus too, but my picture didn't turn out as good!







The one museum we spent the most time in was in Barcelona (even beat our time spent at the Louvre and d'Orsay in Paris) was the Picasso Museum. We learned so much about his life and art as it evolved over time. The museum in Barcelona contains the most interesting collection of his work, even though it doesn't have his most famous pieces. You leave feeling like you know Picasso better.





We sent postcards from the Picasso museum.

Barcelona: Bike Tour

We decided that the best way to learn the layout of the city, since this one is a bit bigger and more spread out than Madrid, was to go on a bike tour.






The Barri Gotic is a tightly built quarter with buildings separated by alleyways. We wove through the streets, and then would randomly run into an open square (similar to Madrid) where all the activity would be.





A bit overcast the day we hit the beach.



Bustling with people, so much fun!



Some may recall that the day all three of us landed in Madrid there was a huge plane crash. All flags were flying at half mast during our trip in memory of the hundreds that died that day.



The Placa del Rei where Christopher Columbus was welcomed home after discovering the Americas.















On the walls of the stadium where bull fighting remains a Sunday afternoon pastime, protestors have thrown red paint.

Barcelona: Gaudi

If you are an architecture fan, you might know of Antoni Gaudi's work. His influence infuses Barcelona, and we spent an entire 1/2 day stopping at different aspects of is work. These pictures are more art/scenery, less people. But I included them all so you can get a feel for the variety of his work.

Our first stop was an apartment building he built/designed in the L'Eixample district.





Gaudi put so much thought into every detail of his work. Most of his inspiration came from nature.





He loved natural lighting.







A lamp post on the street.



The apartment from the outside.



The open air rooftop allowed for one to see the entire city.



The pictures below are from the Temple de la Sagrada Familia. Gaudi was working on this church when he was run over by a tram in Barcelona. Because of his disheveled appearance when he was run over, passers by thought he was a passed out bum and he bled to death internally. Currently, the building is being carried out by those that claim they understood Gaudi's vision, but there are differences, and less detail.











Parq Guell - At one point, Gaudi was commissioned to develop a planned community of houses, for the wealthy of Barcelona. It's development was abandoned however, when the city refused to continue to pay him because the development looked so odd. The area has since been turned into a park heavily influenced by Gaudi and his work.