Barcelona, Spain

Bienvenidos mi amigos!

Yeah, it's okay.  They didn't understand me in Spain either.

We started our vacation with a lovely text message from British Airways..."Dear Ms. Chaney, your flight has been cancelled.  We apologize for the inconvenience."  What???  We were supposed to fly out that night!

Luckily American Airlines (who also cancelled my flight but neglected to inform me) was able to rebook us on an earlier flight.  We had to scramble because of course we hadn't packed yet.

It all worked out in the end and the next day, we were in Barcelona.  Crisis averted!  We stayed at the Alexandria, Doubletree Hotel right in the shopping district.  That's right, the Rolex store was right next to our hotel and Cartier was across the street.  Too bad I wasn't in the market for a watch.

The first day was crazy.  After a short nap, we grabbed a coffee and just started walking, stopping and resting along the way.

A guy on a bench sipping coffee and people watching.

We walked down to Placa de Catalunya, which is famous for the fountains.  It's a big plaza and there are two twin fountains that are beautiful.

However, it should really be called "Pigeon Plaza".  There were more pigeons than people!

The requisite selfie in Placa de Catalunya.  Speaking of selfies...everybody had a self-stick.  OMG!  You couldn't move two feet without someone poking you with one of those things.  And if you didn't have one?  No problem!  There was a guy on every corner selling them.

The theory is that if you drink from this fountain (Font de Canaletes) you'll come back to Barcelona.  There was a dog drinking from there earlier.  Seems a little unsanitary.  I'll just save my money and come back that way.

Gorgeous...and the fountain looks nice too!

Then we walked down La Rambla through the Gothic area.  It was a very cool street with lots of shops and cafes.

We walked all the way down to the Port of Barcelona.  Some folks there had some serious cash.  We saw lots of really nice yachts.

This was just random.  Along the port wall (the beachfront), there was this statue of a shrimp.  Crazy Spaniards!

Then on the map we saw there was an Arc.  It's the Arc de triomf.  There was this long promenade to the Arc that was really beautiful.  It was built as a gateway to the 1888 World's Fair.

Day 1 ends at the Catedral of Barcelona.  The construction of this cathedral was completed in the 15th century.  We didn't get go in this evening but it was lit up and beautiful.  Another day and we'll try again.

Day 2 was the Hop on/Hop off city tour.  I love these tours.  For $25 (-ish) you get driven around the city where all the cool stuff is pointed out to you.  If you see something you like, get off and check it out, then catch the next bus...or, if you're lazy like me, make a note and go back later.

We did get off to check out the Montjuic cable car.

This cable car which is a million feet in the air (okay, maybe not quite a million feet but it's really high!) takes you from the Mirimar Hotel to this platform out in the Port.  The views were amazing!  So that's the tiny little car we were riding in.

 

And that tall structure linked to those thin little cables way far away is where we're headed.  I'm just glad it wasn't too windy at that point.

 

John's pretty happy about that, too!

Meanwhile, the views are fantastic.  A view of Barcelona from the cable car.

The Port of Barcelona from up above.  That beautiful water would be the Mediterranean Sea.

Waiting for the bus to come back and pick us up so we don't have to walk down the mountain.

 

The next stop was Camp Nou.  I'm not sure if you've heard but apparently there's a very popular sport here called futbol and Barcelona has a team.

Soccer is kind of weird in that the team wears their sponsor's corporate logo on their shirts.  FC Barcelona is sponsored by Qatar Airways so that's what their jerseys have on the front.

So there's this guy, Antoni Gaudi.  It would seem that he designed several of the buildings in this city.  This one is called Casa Batllo.  The roof is supposed to look like a slayed dragon.  The building has stained glass and the façade is very curvy.  While it used to be a house, now it's more like an event facility.  You can rent out the rooms to host your favorite events.

This one is called Casa Mila.  The façade of the building is also curvy like the waves of the ocean.  Now it's a UNESCO World Heritage site.  You can pay to go in and check it out.

On the top of the building are chimneys (yup!  That's a chimney) and they are sculpted to look like warriors.  He designed another building that's still in the works.  You may have heard of it...Sagrada Familia.  More on that later.

And then there was this.  I have no idea what's going on here.  It's called Torre Agbar.  Designed by Jean Nouvel, it's supposed to make you think of a geyser rising in the air.  John called it the "love missile".  I am so sorry!  Insert your own joke here...

The food here is excellent.  We've had tapas, tapas and more tapas.  A bit of refreshment.  I'll let you guess which drink belongs to John.

This is croquettes (the fried thing).  It's stuffed with ham and béchamel sauce.  The other plate is chorizo.  Not quite the same stuff you get at home but it's good.

This last thing was a Spanish omelet with toast.  The bread is a baguette with tomatoes and olive oil.  Oh, kids!  Now we're talking.

And so ends Day 2.  Lots of bus riding, a flurry of architectural landmarks and lots of good tapas.  What more could you want?

Day 3 begins with a Café Americano and graham crackers.  I've juiced up my fitbit and we're off!

First stop is the Museo Picasso.  The museum actually takes up five stone mansions that are down this winding little side street.  We bought tickets in advance so that we wouldn't have to wait in line but then couldn't find where to go so we could jump ahead.  Luckily, there was a docent there to tell us we were doing it wrong.

No photos inside the museum.  This is a courtyard between two of the mansions.  I asked John for one (a courtyard) and he said...no.  Anyway, I always assumed that Picasso only did the cubist thing, which I'm not really fond of.  BUT, when he was fourteen, he actually painted portraits that resembled people.  He was quite good.

After the museum, we did the "church tour".  This one is Basilica Santa Maria del Mar (Saint Maria by the sea) built in the 1300's.  It was rather austere but I think that was the style.  It looks a bit like Notre Dame.

The inside is nice. I had to light a candle for my dad and my Gem.

So every time we leave the U.S., we have this quest to find a Dr. Pepper.  Every single time, we've been able to find one in some obscure grocery store (or super marcat, if you're in Barcelona).  They aren't in every store, like at home.  This particular one was actually "bottled" in the UK.  Go figure!

Next was the Catedral de Barcelona.  We got there in time to go inside and they were doing some kind of service.  I could smell the incense that made me pass out once when I was a kid.

The inside is beautiful, though crowded.  Most of it was off limits.

I don't really know what this is.  I saw it and thought it looked kind of cool.

Last one...This is Basilica Santa Maria del Pi (Saint Mary of the Pine Tree). 

This one looks a lot like the other one.  Not surprising since it was built around the same time.  This is the front.  Lots of stained glass and the requisite rose window.  All three of the churches we saw had the rose window.

After a quick bite, it was off to Palau Guell, a Palace designed by everyone's favorite whimsical architect, Antoni Gaudi.  This is the rooftop (you couldn't get a photo of the whole structure).  All of these things are chimneys.  Every room in this place had a fireplace (no central heat back then).  Twenty chimneys in all.

I will say that the inside is very cool.  On the second level, was a general purpose room where Mass could be held or guests could be entertained.  The third floor held bedrooms, all of which had a little closet like room with a window looking over the general purpose room so that you could attend Mass without being seen...in your jammies!  It was built between 1885 and 1890.  The dome over the main room (the general purpose room - though I'm sure it's called something more proper), had holes (aka skylights) to let in natural light. You can see the dots on the dome in the photo, which doesn't do it justice.

 

Heading back to the hotel along La Rambla, we saw this market and had to go in. La Boqueiria.  It was John's idea.  I know what you're thinking...look at all those people.  John hates people.  But we joined the fray and walked around.  It was similar to a market we went to in Taipei.

They had all kinds of fruit including mangos and papayas.  They had one I hadn't even heard off that was red.  All the cut up fruit came with a little fork so you could eat it right there.

Then they had cases and cases of empanadas that looked delicious.  I would like to eat there but there were sooooo many people.  Nothing like getting jostled around when you're trying to eat.  One woman said, "Excuse me," and then barreled right into me.  Sheesh!

15,000 steps later, we get back to the hotel for a much needed rest.

That evening we attended a Flamenco concert.  We were up in the nosebleeds so we couldn't see very well (and no photos inside anyway) but it was very cool.

 

Our last full day in Barcelona was spent at one of the most magnificent churches I've ever seen.  Sagrada Familia.

I could probably do a whole blog on just the church but I'll just hit the highlights.  Construction began in 1882 and was taken over by Antoni Gaudi in 1883 when Gaudi was 31 years old.  He worked on this church the rest of his life.  (He died at age 74 when he was hit by a train).

You can pretty much see this church from various spots in the city.  It's identifiable because of the cranes.  (Pardon the selfie).  There are three facades:  One is the nativity, the second is the Passion and the third is the Glory.

There are to be eighteen spires:  One for each of the twelve apostles, one for the four evangelicals (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John), one for the Virgin Mary and then the tallest one for Jesus.  Eight of them have been completed to date.

This façade is the Nativity scene and was completed first, between 1894 and 1930.  The amount of detail is unbelievable.  There's a lot going on here.  First there's the birth of Jesus.  

Then there are separate scenes all over the front depicting the Immaculate Conception, Jesus in the temple, the visit between Elizabeth and Mary.  Look at it!  It's truly overwhelming.  (The guy in the hat is our guide, Josep.  He was a wealth of knowledge!)

 

The Passion façade is very austere.  This particular scene is where Jesus falls the second time and Veronica wipes his face with the veil.  Picasso's cubism was in fashion at the time and you can see that several of the figures are very cube-like.  The other controversial part of the scene is that Jesus is naked on the cross.  The Archbishop didn't like that but the artist disagreed.

This is the apse.  All the columns are load bearing (as opposed to the walls).

This is the inside wall for the entrance that we came in (with all the decorations).  The stained glass was amazing.  All the lower windows were flooded with color.

Another of the stained glass windows.  So, the work they still have to do is complete the remaining eight towers and finish the expansion of the church.  In order to complete the expansion of the church, they have to buy the property directly across the street (one entire city block) by convincing the owners to sell.  Then they have to demolish the buildings on the property, build the tunnel over the street and then complete the church.  Estimated completion date?  2026.  Considering they haven't even purchased the property, I'm thinking they aren't going to hit that date.  Meanwhile, the church is absolutely beautiful. 

After the church, a small snack before heading back to the hotel for a bit of a nap.  Strawberry gelato.

Last dinner in Barcelona...starts with Sangria.  Yum!

We found something new.  These are "pinchos" which are crusts of bread with something on them.  The one on the left has crab and on the right is spicy pork with cheese au gratin.  The crab was more like crab salad - kind of mayonaisse-y.  The pork one was delicious.

We couldn't come to Spain without trying Paella, or "Rice with shit in it" as John calls it.  I usually see it with seafood.  This one is chicken (like chicken wings) with veggies.  It wasn't bad but it's mostly rice.

One last look at Gaudi.  There are these cool street lamps on one of the main streets here that were designed by Gaudi.  They have these benches at the bottom and I just thought they were so cool.  In the background you can see Casa Mila with the crazy chimneys that look like warriors.

Barcelona has been surprisingly wonderful.  I really want to come back in 2026 to see how far they've come with the church.  Tomorrow we're off to Madrid via train.  I'm looking forward to it.

Below is a movie that I took of La Sagrada Familia.  You can hear our guide telling us about part of the Basilica.  Enjoy.