After a great flight (just an hour and 35 minutes – we had a
huge tail wind) we arrived in Barcelona. Our driver was waiting for us and whisked us to our
hotel, the Hotel 1898. It’s a wonderful place right on La Rambla, the main
street, yet very quiet. After
checking in we set out on a walk. La Rambla was packed with people taking an
afternoon stroll. Surprisingly, we
saw not a single street mime, nor did we today. We stopped at La Boqueria
Market, of course, to take in the sights, sounds and smells. This was the first
time we’ve been there at the end of summer, and, if anything, there seemed to
be more produce than we’ve seen in the past.
After a nice walk we went back to the hotel which has a
great rooftop terrace with pool. We had been sent a bottle of champagne by the
hotel so we took it up to the terrace with us and they served it with
strawberries. What a nice way to start our visit here and our cruise on Monday!
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| Champagne and strawberries on the terrace |
We decided to have dinner at the tapas restaurant we like in
the Gothic Quarter. It was packed and we found we didn’t enjoy it as much as we
had the previous times we’d been there.
It was very rushed. Added
to that we were missing our cruise buds ( Gail & Tom and Cyndi & Ed).
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| La Rambla at 9 PM |
Sunday we awoke to another gorgeous day. After a delicious breakfast at the
hotel buffet (we think the best we’ve ever seen), we set out to the Sagrada
Familia Cathedral. When we were in
Barcelona two years ago, the Pope was here consecrating the place so now it’s a
basilica not a church, despite the fact that it’s still under construction.
Our walk took us through the Placa de Catalunya and up the
Passeig de Gracia. Along the way we passed some of Gaudi’s houses and his apartment building. They are always so interesting to see
with their fantastical features.
Barcelona is a such a
lovely city to walk through. Many of the streets are tree-lined and many of the
buildings have interesting ironwork balconies and intricate doorways.
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| Gaudi's Casa Batilo or House of Bones |
The Sagrada Familia was mobbed. The line for tickets wrapped
around the building. We decided to
pass, but we know now that next time we can get tickets online to avoid the
crowd. We could see that work has
progressed in the last couple of years. It’s been under construction since 1882
and perhaps one day it will be completed.
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| Sagrada Familia Basilica |
After stopping for a drink at a café and seeing a standard
schnauzer who looked a lot like our Emma, we decided to head back to La Rambla. Along the way we stopped for lunch at
an outdoor restaurant. Watching the passing people was our entertainment as we
ate. We’re always amazed at the
footwear. We saw everything from 4
inch heels to flipflops. As for
hair color, we saw lavendar, green, blue and hot pink. What more can you ask for?
We decided we hadn’t walked enough once we got back to the
hotel so we did one more foray, this time to the lower end of La Rambla, the
Columbus Column and then back. A
little over 8 miles today! I think
we’ll need some new trainers when we get home.
We finished our day with a couple of drinks at the rooftop
terrace and a nice dinner.
Tomorrow the cruise begins.
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