Barcelona 2

Everyone is still sleeping so I will get in another post while I can.

We have always heard about SUNNY Barcelona.  It was very humid and warm the night we arrived and still warm the next day but overcast.  Our second day was cooler and more overcast and yesterday there was rain with lightning and thunder last evening.  Our host laughed and said it was gorgeous until we arrived and we brought fall.  I apologize to all the other vacationers whose weather we seem to have affected.  We have not let that stop us from exploring Barcelona, however.  It probably has just made August here a little more comfortable.

We went up to the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia which was the main reason we came to Barcelona.  We are getting pretty good at the metro and took it up to the hill where this amazing church is being built.  We had purchased tickets ahead of time as this is a hugely popular attraction.  There were no English speaking tours left when we checked on tickets so we had to purchase self-guided ones but that was fine.  We went up at our time slot and found that Doug had gotten his dates confused and they were for today, not yesterday.  But the good thing is that we got our outside pictures done and today can do the inside ones.  Just another minor glitch in our planning.  It also started to rain just as we finished picture taking outside so we lucked out on that.

The Basilica of the Sagrada Familia is an Antonio Gaudi creation and is one of the iconic symbols of Barcelona.  The first stone was laid in 1882 and Gaudi died in 1926.  He actually took it over after the foundation was laid and kept that, but completely changed the rest of the building plans.  His plans and designs are continuing to be followed and the structure is still under contraction today.  He incorporated nature a lot in his designs and the intricacy of the work is truly amazing.  I can;t wait to see the inside.



When we realized our date mistake, we jumped on the metro again, took three different lines, and got to the Mont Juic which is an old fortress above the port from the 1600s.  It has some very panoramic views of the port and city.  From the metro you can take a gondola to the fort at the top which we did.  It is a pretty major hike up the hill.

When we left there, we walked a good piece down the hill and caught the gondola that takes you down to the port.  That was a ride.  A little scary, and it was drizzly so with the window open for picture taking it made it pretty windy and cool.  The other guy in front with me taking pictures seemed to appreciate the unobstructed view, though, and no one else complained so I guess it worked.  From there we walked back to where we are staying which is only a couple blocks from the water.

Today, we go back to the Sagrada Familia and tomorrow we go to Gaudi;s Park Guell.