Barcelona...Gaudi All the Time!

Thursday night, I caught the overnight bus to Barcelona. The ride takes 8 hours, so I left at 1 am and got in at 9 am. I dropped off my stuff and figured out my game plan; which basically entailed walking around the entire city! I ticked off just about every site in the guide book and on my free tourist map. I started at Placa de Catalunya and headed down Las Ramblas towards the marina. Along the way, I saw Sant Josep, or la Boqueria, which is the giant, open-air market and some interesting street performers. At the end of the street is the statue of Columbus and the sea!

Port Vell...windy, but sunny!

It was a little windy on the coast, so I stayed long enough for a few pictures and then headed to Palau Guell. This mansion was designed by Gaudi for his friend and supporter, Mr. Guell. It’s being renovated, so it was free to enter (yay!) but I could only see two floors (boo!). After the mansion, I walked down a fun side street with lots of inexpensive, little shops on my way to Placa de Espanya. From Placa de Espanya, I headed to Montjuic and the hilly part of town. After climbing the steps to the Catalanian National Museum of Art, I climbed some more to the Olympic Stadium. You have to climb so high that the city has installed elevators!
After that, I headed back down towards the Cathedral. It’s free after 5:15 pm, so I headed to a café for a café con leche and to read my book to kill a few hours. I also had a bollo con chocolate (basically, a chocolate-filled pastry)=delicious.

Saturday morning, I met up with some friends at the Picasso museum. We figured we’d start with an indoor activity since it was pouring. We spent a solid 2 ½ hours admiring his early works (which I actually prefer to his cubism pieces). Then, the rain stopped, so we booked it over to Park Guell. It was great timing because the sun came out, and although it was windy, it didn’t rain the rest of the day!

I called this the ¨Flintstones Path¨-It was actually a carriage path

On Gaudi´s famous benches

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the park and then had a very relaxed, late lunch. Afterwards, they headed back to rest because they were going out that night, but I had to see la Sagrada Familia and a couple other buildings before I left that night. So, I walked past Sagrada Familia and took pictures from every angle (it’s stunning in the dark, so I’m sure it’s great in the daylight, too!) Then, I walked over to Passeig de Gracias to see Gaudi’s Casa Batllo and La Pedrera. I really enjoy his gingerbread style-although when he was first building it, I’m sure I would’ve thought it was strange.