Day 37: Barcelona, Spain
I’ve been to Barcelona before, and it's one of my favorite cities to visit (hence all the photos that made their way into this post!). There is something for everyone, art, architecture, history, good food, and, of course, sangrias. Lynda had also been to Barcelona, so we were on our own for the day as we knew exactly what we wanted to do. First though, what about the weather???
The forecast called for partly sunny and 68 degrees for a high. For once, I think they got it right, except they forgot the part about the wind. We had had a very rough day at sea the day before, and I’m pretty sure it was due to high winds. They stuck with us throughout the day, but at least it wasn’t rain! It did make wearing a dress a little inconvenient at times though!
We were on the first shuttle from the ship to the port entrance, and then it was a brisk walk up Las Ramblas, the famous Barcelona street. At that time of the day Las Ramblas wasn’t crowded yet, but by mid-morning it would be teeming with people. We stopped by the open market, La Bouqueria, where we picked up a fruit flavored frozen drink before we continued on to Plaza Cantalunya for our first tour of the day. We were purposely a little early so we would have time for a breakfast croissant at a nearby café before meeting our guide for the free walking tour we had booked.
Free walking tours are great. How they work is, you take the tour, then decide how much it was worth. That’s what you pay your guide. They work hard and are typically quite knowledgeable as they’re trying to get paid as much as possible from you. It’s a win-win.
Francesca was young, knowledgeable, and very animated. I loved her quirky personality. We did a walking tour of the Gothic Quarter that lasted for about 2-1/2 hours. There are a lot of interesting places and stories in the Gothic Quarter, and I highly recommend a tour of some kind if you get the chance. Definitely take some time to see the Barcelona Cathedral. The neo-gothic design details on the outside are just beautiful. The inside is just as interesting, as is the story of its patron saint, Saint Eulalia of Barcelona.
The small church in the courtyard, Sant Felip Neri, was attended by Gaudi every day. He would walk there, and it was one day in 1927 on his way to the church he was hit and killed by a tram. He might have survived the accident, but he was poorly dressed and thought to be a beggar so he wasn’t taken to a hospital and treated for a whole day. The delay in care resulted in his death.
The pot marked holes in the wall of the church are the scars of war. Two bombs were detonated in the courtyard during the Spanish Civil War in 1938, killing over 20 children who lived at the orphanage which was also located there.
Throughout Barcelona you can see different versions of the Spanish flag being hung from balconies and windows. The ones with just the stripes, is the true flag. But there are some with a blue triangle with a yellow star (oftentimes with a yellow ribbon alongside it), these are flags representing the desire by some in Barcelona for the Catalan region (which Barcelona is a part of) to succeed and be independent from Spain. This has been hotly debated for years, and they have even voted on succession. In fact, the language of Catalan, we were told, is NOT a dialect, but a completely different language than Spanish (emphasis on the "not" is their's, not mine).
After the tour, we wanted to get some tapas for lunch before our 2:00 pm Skip the Line tour of Sagrada Familia, so we took the subway and found ourselves a sidewalk café with a view of the iconic church of Barcelona. Our tapas were mushrooms, chorizo sausages, and peppers which was perfect for a light lunch. And did I mention the view?
If you don’t know about Sagrada Familia, it is a must-see for any visitor to Barcelona. Just make sure you get Skip-the-Line tickets in advance as the line to get in can take hours to get through.
Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) is a Roman Catholic church designed by Antoni Gaudi and is considered his masterpiece. It was started in 1882 and is still under construction today! I believe the projected finish date is 2026. It is gothic in style, with incredibly modern elements. In fact, one side of the church, the Nativity side, looks nothing like the opposite side, the Passion side (the death of Jesus). There is so much going on on the outside of the church, the longer you stand there looking, the more things you will see.
The inside of the church is entirely different than any other European church I've been in. Giant stained glass designs representing nature catch the light in such a way that throughout the day, the colors inside the church change. The towering columns look like trees, creating a forest inside the church. Gaudi was much influenced by symbolism and nature, and you can see it everywhere in his works.
Oh, and did I say this was another Bucket List day for me? It was! Last time I was in Barcelona, I didn’t know about the long line to get into Sagrada Familia, so I never saw the inside. It’s been on my list ever since that day. I was so excited to see our itinerary included Barcelona, this was one of the first tours I made sure we booked.
Our ticket included access to one of the towers, so we took an elevator up to the top and walked the narrow winding staircase down. From high up we could see the construction going on as well as great views of the city. We could even see our ship out in the harbor. By the time we got down and back into the church, the light had changed and the result was spectacular.
After Sagrada Familia, we wanted to utilize our Hop-On Hop-Off tickets we had pre-purchased to take us up to another Gaudi creation, Parc Guell. The bus didn’t take us very close, but a 20 minute walk up a steep hill had us at the entrance. Ok, another lesson learned: get Skip-the-Line tickets for this one too. In fact, just get them for all of the Gaudi sites in Barcelona (I still have a couple more to see the next time I’m there.) Anyway, we couldn’t see the most iconic part of the park, but we still had a great walk through most of it and there were quirky Gaudi touches throughout. We also got some amazing views of the city as well.
We caught the Hop-On Hop-Off bus again, and completed the tour, taking us back to Plaza Catalunya. Along the way, we witnessed so much of Barcelona's interesting architecture.
From there we walked back up Las Ramblas to a restaurant in the Gothic Quarter. La Fonda was recommended by our Sagrada Familia tour guide, and he didn’t miss. We were looking for a relaxing dinner of paella and sangrias in Spain, and that’s what we got. We had a spring salad to start with maybe the best dressing I’ve ever had. Balsamic ice cream—who knew that would even work? For dessert, a strawberry crepe. Everything was delicious.
We walked back to the bus, with half an hour to spare. I used that time to try to get on Wi-Fi (no luck), and ran into our friend, Lauren. Remember how I had said she hadn’t been feeling well and she and her father had left the ship? I guess Lauren had developed an infection with a really high temperature that the ship’s doctor was so concerned about, she had Lauren taken to the hospital in Naples by ambulance! There, she got about 10 IVs and some antibiotics. She was finally released, and she and her father flew to Barcelona to rejoin the ship. I’m so glad she’s doing better!
Another sea day tomorrow, which also brings us to the one week mark. I can’t believe this amazing adventure is about to end. Just three more ports to go.
Next up: Gibraltar.
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