At last, we made it to Barcelona. We took a train from Valencia and got here Thursday. Since we only have a few days here, we decided to ride the red open-top tour bus again to see all the good sites fast. We checked into our hotel at 4 and by 9:00 we had pretty much already seen every corner of the city.
The next day we got back on the bus so we could hop off at the good sites. First we went to Barcelona Cathedral (there are lots of cathedrals here). Of course, it was so pretty inside and out. Even after several cathedrals, we´re always amazed at how giant they are inside. You can´t help but say WOW when you look up.
Next we went to Spain´s most popular tourist site, and learned that it is not overrated. La Sagrada Familia is a giant church that Anthony Gaudi started building over 100 years ago and it´s still under construction...and will be until 2040. It has the weird Gaudi style all over it. He was waaaaaay ahead of his time with his style.
After that we went to Park Guell, which has more Gaudi art in it. It´s huge. There are artsy buildings, tile work, bridges, walkways, etc, all designed by him. There was a great view of Barcelona because the park is up on a hill. We stopped and had our regular Babybell cheese and cracker lunch.
Next we strolled down La Rambla, which is a famous tree-lined walkway right in the middle of the city that leads to the port and a giant statue of Christopher Columbus. There was some great people watching, street performers, shops, flower stands, and food.
Today we woke up at 7:30 to partake of our hotel´s free continental breakfast. We showed up later yesterday and it was too crowded and the milk was warm, so we decided to wake up and be there first today. We ate and ate, and then went back to bed for 3 hours. Then we sat on the beach for 6 hours. Our hotel is 6 blocks from the beach, so we strolled down there with our ice chest and umbrella (all Spaniards own a beach umbrella)...but we were the only ones with an ice chest because Spaniards, like most Europeans, don´t believe in ice.
On another note, this entire country smells, and Barcelona is the worst of them all. Next is Valencia, then Madrid. We can´t figure out why it smells so bad...but then again, downtown Phoenix might smell just as bad. We just don´t walk around it. We´ve learned how to breathe out of our mouths here...except at the beach and at the tomato fight of course.
PS. Panda is quite the cartographer!!! I never knew how great she is with maps. If she wasn´t here I´d be wandering the country aimlessly...but she has us situated with maps within an hour in each new city. Quite helpful.
Tomorrow we´re headed back to Madrid and we have every second of our last few days here all planned out.
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