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May 5th 2007

Published: August 8th 2007

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KateyD Leroy

La Sagrada Familia

Stain glass windows inside- amazing.

Well, we arrived in Barcelona after a scenic drive from Valencia, including a stop off for breakfast at a roadhouse where a bus-load of oldies (read 60+) hopped off and cracked open beers with their breakfast at 8am. Must be a cultural thing?

We battled the Barcelona city traffic in our hire car to eventually find a 24 hour parking lot to keep our car in for a few days and spent the afternoon strolling around La Rambla, the antiques markets down on the harbour and ventured up the ** Column for 360 degree views of Barcelona. Very impressive but a little daunting watching the traffic hooning around the round-about we were in the middle of!

On day 2 we decided that we had earned a bit of a sleep in, having gotten up before dawn the day before (and after all, we were on holidays!) and we hit the ground running, taking in La Segrada Familia (see pics). It was amazing- from both the outside and the inside and the architecture is just phenomenal. For those of you not in the know, (like Leigh before we got there!) the first stone of La Sagrada Familia was laid in

La Sagrada Familia Entrance

The front entrance of LSF- take time to have a close look, the detail is so intricate, the photo just doesn't do it justice.

1881 and now, in 2007, it's still not complete, but the famous artist Antoni Gaudi spent many years of his life designing the temple. There's lots more behind it, but we're not here to give you a history lesson, so google it or check out www.sagradafamilia.org. Anyway, we picked up an audioguide (!) and took a journey through time for a few hours. We spent a ridiculous amount of time lining up for the lift to the base of one of the spires (which then presented a few hundred spiral stairs up) and looked down on the works in progress, and admired the Barcelona skyline (again- see pics!). Amazing. Anyone who visits Barcelona CANNOT go without visiting this magnificent site.

We discovered a fab place called 'Maoz' which dished up vegetarian delights- felafal burgers/wraps etc plus an all-you-can-fit-in-your-dish salad bar. We dined here numerous times during our stay! Helped us stave off scurvy and also indugled because it wasn't ham and cheese!! After lunch, we hit the Museo Xocolat (Chocolate Museum) and learned about the history and trade of coco beans, checked out all the chocolate sculptures and even had a window in to the Barcelona Chocolate School!
Leigh

Inside La Sagrada Familia

The inside roof.

had to wipe the drool of his chin numerous times. Pretty cool but not a must-do.

Later that evening, we experienced what we refer to as the highlight of our trip to Spain- a Flamenco Show. (see pics!). It was FANTASTIC. The intensity, the passion, the heat of the dancers was just mind-blowing. The dancers were so engrossed in the dance and the singing, the men had furrowed brows, bursting blood vessles and sweat tricking down their faces. The women had tears in their eyes, hot hands and hot feet. We really felt part of their performance.

Absynth.

Our last day in Barcelona saw us stroll around the Barcelona Harbour (Port Vella) on a hot morning, trying to find the tower for the teleferic. We saw some of the most luxurious 'cruisers' known to man, moored. We also saw a few pommie chicks sunbaking on concrete at 9am!!

We took the Teleferic (cable car) over the green waters of Port Vella (ignoring the groaning sounds of the cables we were suspended on!) across to the bottom of La Rambla and up to the base of Mont Juic. This was our introduction to the fantastic public transport

Atop of La Sagrada Familia

The famous spires of La Sagrada Familia- we were inside one of them!!

systems in Europe. The only day for the last 6 years that the funiculars to take us to the top of Mont Juic don't work, is the day we want to use them. Typical! A few buses later, we managed to get to the Castle on top of the mountain, and were also introduced to the employees of the European public transport system!! Nice. NOT. We took a stroll around Castell de Mont Juic and it was a marvellously sunny day, with more great views over Barcelona. After our scope of the castle, we headed over to the famed Magica Font (Magic Fountain) only to discover that the water shows were only on Friday/Saturday/Sunday nights. We were there on a Tuesday afternoon. D'oh!

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