Barcelona
At the beginning of April Matt and I had had enough of the cold Dutch weather and we thought going to Spain would be a good idea to get us out of the winter funk. Boy were we right!
We arrived in Barcelona on a Friday afternoon and were very hungry so decided to stop to get some tapas.
Tapas!
You can’t tell me you aren’t looking at that picture and drooling. They were SO good! We checked into our hotel which was right on the harbor and decided to take a stroll to check out some of the city. Our first stop was the beach. The beach was manmade but either way it was nice to sit in the sun and check out the, um, interesting sites.
Please notice the fully nude guy in the background near the bicycle
We then continued our hike up to Montjuic. Montjuic is a hill overlooking Barcelona that has a large castle, several gardens along the hike, and a great view of the city. We were hot and tired once we got up there, but it was well worth the views (see the picture at the beginning of the post).
We then hiked down to the Catalan Museum of Art to see the “Magic Fountain”. It was essentially a light show on the fountain but it was really neat to watch. Kind of like Barcelona’s version of the Belagio fountain show.
The Magic Fountain mid-show
After getting a good night’s sleep, the next day we ventured out for more site seeing. We went to La Boqueria which is Barcelona’s farmer’s market. The fresh veggies, meats, and fish looked incredible but it was too early in the morning for a meal so we just stared at it all for awhile 
Starting to drool....
Almost there....
Drooling
Next we went on a tour of all of Gaudi’s famous architecture. We started with La Casa Mila and Casa Batllo along the Passage de Gracia. They were incredibly interesting from the outside although we didn’t go in because of the very long lines. But they were great to just admire. He was building these in the early 1900s which makes me appreciate them even more.
Casa Batllo
Casa Mila
Next we went to see Gaudi’s most famous work, La Sagrada Familia. This was probably one of the coolest things we saw in Barcelona and it was worth every minute of the 2 hour wait to see it! La Sagrada Familia is a cathedral that Guadi began building in 1882 and it is still under construction. He designed it to have 18 towers, 12 for the 12 apostles, 4 for the 4 evangelists, one for Mary and one for Jesus. There is a huge amount of symbolism in every nook and cranny of the cathedral (the audio guide was very helpful!). Currently the cathedral development is set to finish in 2026, the 100 year anniversary of Gaudi’s death. All funds from the entrance fee go towards building the church. It was fascinating to see this cathedral in progress, and I don’t think I will ever see another one like it again. If you ever go to Barcelona, this is a must see.
Outside of La Sagrada Familia
Details on the outside of the church
Inside the church; the columns were designed to look like trees as they reached the ceiling
After a bite to eat in Placa del Sol, we went to the park that Gaudi built - the Parc Guell. This was also very cool and quite relaxing after a lot of walking around Barcelona. The park was originally part of a commercially unsuccessful housing site but Gaudi used it to be a bit of an urban getaway. The park is full of Gaudi architectural influences and there were lots of people just hanging out, listening to music, and enjoying the sun. The best way to enjoy the sun was in the ergonomically designed park benches that were perfectly contoured to your back!
Inside Parc Guell
Another view - the park was huge and there were lots of interesting things to see
After touring through the park we wandered to get some churros con chocolate, rested, and had a lovely seafood dinner along the harbor. It was a great way to end our quick trip to Barcelona! As always, feel free to check out all of our pictures here!