We are wrapping up two days in Barcelona and boy is this place beautiful but very busy. We think we have figured out that while seeing these cities is a “must do”, we are not big city people. So same as Vanlencia I am going to cover both days in one post cause it is easier to do!
Barcelona – Day 1
We arrived in Barcelona around Noon on Friday and hit the ground running. We started at the Casa Botllo who was designed by Antoni Gaudi starting in 1904 completed by 1906. The home was a maze of color and shapes along with wood and plaster and unlike anything we have seen. Most of what we saw in the city were creations of Gaudi so more to come in tomorrow’s addition. We then went over to the Almanac Barcelona hotel for a work site visit and really enjoyed the hotel and some wine at their bar. For dinner on Friday night we went to a place called Tablao De Carmen which is a famous Flamenco restaurant and theatre dedicated to Carmen Amaya who is a famous Flamenca dancer that danced at 12 years old for the King of Spain. The passion and energy of the dancers is amazing. Back to our rooftop terrace for a night cap and ready to get back at this city in the AM.
Barcelona – Day 2
We started off early today as we had our appointment at the La Segrada Familia (Sacred Family) which is another of Guadi’s creations, he started on this mammoth of a church back in 1906 and worked until his death in 1926. The construction has continued since then with dozens of architects following Gaudi’s original design and believe it or not it will be done in 2032 estimated. It is the largest cathedral I have ever seen with the exterior being where the story of Jesus’ life is shown in statues and structure but the inside is meant to be a relective experience with stained glass bringing in vibrant colors, massive columns that are made to look like trees and celings that are unlike anything we have seen. It is an architectural wonder as Gaudi was decades ahead of anyone in design, structure and how to incorporate light in all areas. After the Sagrada we went to the site of the Barcelona Olympics from 1992 and saw the stadium and grounds that were still hoping with a women’s soccer semi-final going on today. Lots to see and explore and coming out back near to where we had been last night near the massive art museum that looks like a palace and square. We then hoped a cab and headed to the last of Gaudi’s creations the Park Guell. The Park was established in 1914 and is a public park that sits atop a hill that over looks Barcelona. This park is a maze of paths and areas to hike with gardens and all sorts of architecutural structures that only Gaudi could do. Phil was very patient with me to tolerate the crowds to go check this one out. After a much needed nap we decided to head down to the Maercado La Boqueria which is an open air market that has had vendors selling fruits, meats, cheeses and all other kinds of creations starting back as far is 1217. After exploring all of the yummy stuff where we grabbed some snacks for our train trip tomorrow we went over to a restaurant we had read about called Pez Gordo where we ordered this GIANT platter of seafood for dinner. They gave us rubber gloves to eat so we would not get the oils and fish stuff all over us and we ate it all….well except the squid because after Phil tried to take a bite and exclaimed it was like a rubber eraser that had been stuck in someones ear…well that was all I needed to hear to not partake 🙂 Walking home we grabbed some gelato to share! Back to our rooftop terrace for a night cap and then bed. Early AM train to the Rioja Region for some wine tasting. More to come!
Amazing! Now I understand where the term “gaudy” came from. 😉 Looks like you’re having a wonderful time!
Definitely a huge city, but the architecture is wonderful! I will need explanations of some of the pictures one of these days.