Barcelona Day2

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Sorry, still no way to upload photos. The computer in the hostal doesn´t have a memory card reader and there are few internet shops around, none of which have wireless access for my handheld. Will try again at Renfe train station before we leave Barcelona.

Our first full day in Barcelona. The first stop was La Sagrada Familia. Unfortunately they were working on alot of it. Apparently this wonderful building is always being added to, and would have been much nicer without all the scaffolding. The architectural style is amazing, with pillars like trees and "flourishes" everywhere such as gargoyles, grapes, birds, etc. After a brief walk around the ground floor, I decided to climb the tower/spire stairs instead of taking the elevator. The stairs are free, much more interesting, and several hundred meters long/high! The views along the way were inspiring, both of the building and the surrounding city. On our way to the main train station, Estacio Sants, to pick up our tickets to San Sebastian and buy the rest, we stopped for lunch at Tapa Tapa. They have a huge variety of delicious tapas from 2 to 6 Euros. All the signs and ads here are in Catalan and Spanish. Catalan seems like Spanish with a French twist. To get around Barcelona, we bought metro day passes for 5 Euros. Although busy at times, they run often, late at night, and go everywhere around town. After waiting for our number to be called at the train station (we drew 104 when they were waiting on 27!), we got our tickets to San Sebastian along with buying ones to Avila and then Madrid to Jerez. We couldn´t get tickets from Avila to Segovia or Segovia to Madrid as they are regional/short distance trips and only sell at the station that day. From the train station, we took the metor to Montjuic by way of funicular (inclined railwa)... pretty cool. Montjuic has some cool gardens, sports complexes, a castle we didn´t get to, the National Musuem of Art, and El Poble Espanya. El Poble Espanya (El Pueblo Espanol or Spanish Town) was a neat recreation of some of the older parts of towns around Spain, with shops and craftsmen throughout. A worthwhile excursion. It was getting late by then, so we headed back across town to our hostal and had dinner at a nice little place called Jofama Cafe. Quite good and inexpensive. A few tips here, don´t try to see Barcelona in one day, buy the metro day pass vs. individual trips or even the Bus Touristic, and do not drive in Barcelona unless you enjoy torture. It doesn´t look as bad as Rome, but... close.

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Photos

ChataLizard
Chata and the lizard at Parc Guell in Barcelona

ChataBemch
Chata on the Serpentine Bench in Parc Guell Barcelona

Market
The Mercado (Market) in Barcelona