Today, May 13, was our first "Sea Day" with little or
nothing scheduled. It was, therefore, a relaxing day.
May 14, by contrast, was a full day of sightseeing in Barcelona.
This was the first of four consecutive days of city visits.
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| La Sagrada Familia |
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| Façade sculture |
We took the Metro to reach our first goal. It was La Sagrada
Familia, the unfinished church, originally designed by Antoni Gaudi. He is well
known for his unusual building designs with few, if any, straight lines or
walls. And the church is no exception. Gaudi died in 1926 after beginning the
church in 1883 and spending his last years working full time on it and living
on site. It is expected to be finished in about 2050.
The church has three main façades,
each depicting a point in the life of Christ: birth, passion, and glory. Most
of the building's exterior is covered in construction cranes and work. We chose
not to go inside, which is also reportedly fantastic. By the time we were ready
to move on, the line for admission was most of the way around the block.
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| Gaudi's Casa Mila |
We returned toward our starting point on the Metro, stopping at
an area known as "The Block of Discord" with buildings that all seem
to try to outdo each other for unusual design. It includes a Gaudi building,
Casa Batllo. The rest of the day we walked from place to place. The next stop
was Gaudi's Casa Mila. There is obviously much of his work in Barcelona.
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| Barcelona Cathedral |
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| La Boqueria Market |
The huge main square, Placa de Cataluna, is at the top of the
Ramblas, the main pedestrian walk through the center of the city. It is the
center of Catalan life in Barcelona. We detoured from the Ramblas to visit the
Cathedral. It is typical of large European medieval cathedrals, and quite
beautiful.
Returning to the Ramblas, we then walked through La Boqueria
Market, a huge area of stalls selling mostly food; vegetables, nuts, candies,
meats, fish, etc. Beautiful displays of the food for sale.
Back on the Ramblas, we stopped for lunch at a Tapas Bar. We
sampled several tapas with some good Spanish wine. For dessert we found Churros
con Chocolate at La Pallaresa Granja-Xocolateria (in a small alley). The
churros were very good and the drinking chocolate very thick and rich.
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| Chocolate & Churros |
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| Place de Cataluna |
Our time in Barcelona ended with finishing walking down the
Ramblas and catching the shuttle back to the ship.
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