"Danke. I mean . . . Gracias" . . . "Bitta, I mean, uh thank you . . . no, wait - Gracias!" Apparently, when you're in a foreign country where people do not speak your " native language " your mind automatically pulls from the second language you're most comfortable with and apparently for us, that has shifted from the little Spanish we learned in High School to the little bit of German we've learned over the last 10 months. No lie, any time we tried to order in Spanish or buy something, German came out. "Two . . . uh, zwei . . .I MEAN dos!" Even when I would "prep" before ordering and go over what I wanted to say IN SPANISH in my mind, I would open my mouth to speak and out came German.
Our morning started out with a nice self-guided walking tour through "The Ramblas" thanks to our good friend, Rick Steves. BUT FIRST . . . Dunkin Donuts. Something I have MISSED oh so much since leaving the States.
Iced coffee . . . num num num!
After doing some walking, we slipped into Placa Reial to enjoy some people watching by the fountain.
Brandan and Andrea in front of the Columbus Monument
After our walk it was time to head towards Sagrada Familia
BUT FIRST, Tapas. Tapas are small portions of food . . . Seafood, meat-filled pastries, fried potatoes . . . Basically, small portions of deep-fried deliciousness. Since dinner isn't typically served until late in the day, people in Barcelona enjoy munching on Tapas as a sort of appetizer to their larger meal enjoyed much later.
My personal favorite, "primientos de Padron" - lightly fried & seasoned peppers.
The view from our café table.
Time to pick up our audio tour and head inside with this stud.
As you'll notice in most of the pictures, the construction is still a work in progress. In fact, the estimated date of competition isn't until 2026 - just in time for the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death. Listening to the audio guide we learned that Gaudi understood that the competition of Sagrada Familia was something he was never going to live to see, so he very intentionally choose which pieces of the church he would oversee while he was alive, leaving detailed directions for those to come after him. In fact, the "front entrance" isn't going to actually be the "front entrance" when the church is complete. This is only a side entrance. The front entrance will be even more elaborate and ornate. Can you imagine?!
I could have looked at these windows all day long.
Climbing to the top.
The winding stairs on the way up/down reminded me of a snail.
Added another art piece to my "travel" wall from a local artist posted outside Sagrada Familia. So excited to get it framed and hanging on the wall with the others.
On to Park Güell - Gaudi's famous park, just outside of the city. We hopped on a bus for a short 20 minute ride, since it would have been quite a far walk from Sagrada. ( AND we needed to make sure we were at the park by our designated time on our tickets. )
I spy with my little eyes . . .
The Marketplace (Hall of 100 Columns) . . . even though there are really only 86 columns.
Cutest ginger bread house ever. To go with the cutest boy ever ;)
Easily one of the most unique parks I've ever been to.
We rounded out our day with Rick Steves' Barri Gotic Walk.
Placa Nova
Cathedral de Barcelona
Monument to the Martyrs of Independence
Carrer del Bisbe Bridge - connects the Catalan government building with the Catalan president's ceremonial residence.
Laca de Sant Jaume
Ending our walk at Placa del Rei - the Royal Palace, the Chapel of Saint Agatha & the Viceroy"s Palace
After a fun day weekend it was all we could go to make it through dinner before rushing back to the hotel to pack up and crash for the night. 4:00 AM came early Monday morning with the arrival of our Taxi to drive us to the airport for our early morning flight back to Germany.
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