Traveling with the Grobmyers: Barcelona, Spain

 Thursday morning was our first full day in Barcelona.  We were moving a little slow that morning.  Still trying to adjust to the 7 hour time difference.  We went to the Lounge for breakfast. 

The croissant was so fresh and flaky.  The peach jam was delicious on it.  Their bacon was a little different from what we are use to. 

I had to take a picture of our "twin" beds.

We had tickets for the Barcelona Hop On Hop Off bus for the day.  The stop for the bus was just down the street from our hotel.

Here are some scenes from our bus ride.  Joe rode upstairs and I stayed down below out of the sun.

 

These purple trees were blooming all over the city and we saw them in Rome as well.  They are called Jacaranda trees.  They are originally from South America.  They bloom in May with peek blooms in June. 

One of Anthony Gaudi buildings in the Gothic district.  More about him in a little bit. 

We didn't realize we would see Denny Chimes in Spain.

The Columbus Statue in the center of town.  He's not pointing towards America though.

On Friday we went and toured the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia.  The Basilica was built by Gaudi.  It is the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world.  It has been a 150 year ongoing construction project.  The last tower was just started.  On June 11 the Pope came to bless the last tower.  They were also having a "celebration" in honor of the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death.  Construction began March 19, 1882.  It has been funded by private donations.  We saw signs along what was to be the parade route for the Pope.  We also saw that people were renting out their tiny balconies for 750 Euros during the parade. 

We had tickets to go up in one of the towers.  If we had to do it all over again I would not have done it.  You ride the elevator up and then you have to climb down in a narrow spiral staircase from the very top.  I did not think I was going to make it.  About halfway down I thought I would just stay and live there forever.  My legs were like very well cooked noodles by the time I got to the ground floor.  Somehow climbing down after the elevator ride up was lost in translation. 

The Olympic torch in the background

The stairs

We enjoyed our time in Barcelona. The architecture there is really amazing.  It is a very old city.  But it seems that everyone lives on top of each other.  Tall buildings everywhere.  Another thing that was everywhere was motor cycles of one form or another.  They weaved in and out of traffic like crazy.  They drive between lanes, jockey to get ahead of cars every chance they get.  They are parked everywhere too.  That would take a little getting use to.