Barcelona

Sorry I have been busy, catching up with stuff I didn’t get done before we left.  But I really want to blog about our trip before I forget it all, in my old age!:)  Of all the places we went Barcelona, was probably my favorite.  It might be, because we basically had a tour guide in Hannah, but there were other factors also.  I think it was one of the friendliest cities we visited and it was a clean city.  It was very wi-fi friendly, all the restaurants would gladly share their wi-fi passwords and in some places in the city, such as parks etc, it was free.

La Rambla Street

We arrived during Sant Jordi Day, which is a holiday in Barcelona.  The tradition is men give women roses and women give men books.  And the main celebration was on the street our hotel was on, La Rambla Street. We stayed at the Royal Ramblas. So it was very festive when we arrived.  The street is more of a boulevard with a park area down the center, and it is filled with vendors of all kinds.  Even on a normal day, you can stroll down the lane, and there is flower and food vendors up and down it.

The other nice thing about Barcelona is the transportation system or the Metro, which is fairly easy to understand.  We just bought a 10 trip ticket and used it the 3 days we were there.  We took it from the airport all the way to the plaza close to our hotel. Hannah was there at the airport to greet us, so it did make it easier.

The first day we just explored the area around La Rambla seeing several Cathedral’s and other sites.

The Market

Lots of goodies!

A pastry shop!

An afternoon snack!  Much needed because dinner isn’t til 9:00 at the earliest!

On top of the Gothic Cathedral

The view from on top of the Gothic Cathedral.  Love the rooftops and the bell tower.

Gothic Cathedral

Tapas for dinner!

Barcelona is also a very artsy city with lots of great architecture and art through out the city. We took a hop on hop off tour in Barcelona, so we could see all the sites easily.  We also took the Gaudi Barcelona Tour where we saw Park Guell and the other buildings designed by Gaudi and other architects.

Casa Milà

Casa Batlló

Casa Amatller

I can find swags even in Barcelona!

Love the details!  Flower swags here!

Museum National d’art de Catalunya

Tibidabo Cathedral

Inside Tibidabo

Arc de Triumph

 Fountains in Park de la Ciutadella

Park Guell was beautiful and you could spend a whole day just walking around it, seeing the gardens and architecture.

The entrance to Park Guell.  The building on the left is the Porter’s Lodge, the building on the right was the home of Guadi and his father.

The outside of the Hypostle Room

Mosaic’s in the Garden

 

 

Then of course there is the Sagrada Familia.  Hannah had seen the outside of it but she saved the inside for when we came.  It was on Mark’s list of things to see.  Several years ago 60 minutes did a special on it and ever since then Mark has wanted to see it.  Antoni Gaudi was the architect for it and many other sites in the area.  He knew when he started building it that he would not be alive when it was finished.

Sagrada Familia

The stain glass windows on each side.

 

 

Words and pictures cannot express how beautiful it was,  through our travels we saw a lot of Cathedrals and this one was the most beautiful.

So a few other tidbits about Barcelona:  Most people speak english and Catalunya, which is nothing like spanish.  Most of the menu’s have some english on them.  If it is warm expect to see more of people on the beaches then you probably care too! Try the Sangria, Paella, and the Pastries!

On the next post we rent a car and drive up the coast into the South of France!

Thanks for stopping by!