Saludos España

After 3 days of non-stop movement, we had a much needed day at sea.  Where we encountered a much different type of movement, and sea sickness bags popped up everywhere.  Thank goodness I had my patches.  We took the day to sleep in, hit the gym, swim in the pool and nap.  By the time we docked in Barcelona, we were ready to hit the ground running.  And boy did we ever.

We were off the ship and on the Metro shortly after breakfast.  We emerged from the underground and were met by this magnificent sight...

The Sagrada Familia.  Another one off the bucket list.  But alas, it was going to have to wait until later in the day.  We did not know that we needed to buy tickets ahead of time to get in.  We thought we would just wait in line but were greeted with the longest line I have ever seen (it wrapped around the entire perimeter of the church).  The man standing there told us that it was an hour to get to the front of the line, and then the tickets we would get would be for entrance at 11 or 12.  Too much wait time, too little time in Barcelona.  Thankfully we used my Kindle to purchase tickets for 1:30 and skipped the line.  And skipped back to the Metro to check some other sights off of our list before coming back.

We got off at the Plaça Catalunya.  Home to many businesses, shopping centers and restaurants it is known as the city center.  It is also a great place to wander because many of the cities most important streets end (start?) here.  It is a beautiful, sunny square and we all agreed that if we had more time, this would be the place to just sit and watch the world go by.  But time was something we were limited on so we set off towards the Palau de la Música Catalana (another UNESCO site).  A concert hall that hosts over a half a million people a year, it is a typical Catalan building in style and structure.  We, again, did not have time to take the 1 hour tour, so we stepped inside and took a few snapshots and marched on.

The old ticket box.

Just down the street was our next destination, La Seu  (The Barcelona Cathedral), located in the Gothic Quarter.  La Sagrada Familia may be the more famous of the churches, but La Seu is known as the most beautiful.  And many say it is the most beautiful cathedral in all of Spain.  I would say, I have to agree.  This one took our breath away.  MadHatter couldn't stop wandering, and staring.  She was in awe.

The Sarcophagus of Santa Eulalia - patroness of the church and co-patroness of the city  She was burned at the stake for her beliefs in 304.

Just outside the doors is the prettiest cloister I have ever encountered.  It houses a large fountain with fresh drinking water, a lush garden filled with orange and palm trees, and a central pond.  The most unusual feature is the gaggle of white geese, whose origins are unknown, but whose ancestors have lived here for 5 centuries.  One legend is that the geese flocked to this spot, drawn by the virginity of St. Eulalia.

Lunch was waiting just around the corner - Paella (chicken, not seafood, for me) and tapas for the girls.  We didn't have as much time as we would have liked to sit and savor the flavors, because we had to get back uptown in time for our tour of the Sagrada Familia.  Making it just in time to be let in, we walked inside to behold the wonder that is Gaudi's most famous, unfinished work.

Another UNESCO site (I should count how many we have now seen on 4 continents!), the basilica is still incomplete, despite having been started over 130 years ago.  Construction was halted for the Spanish Civil War, and for a time, relied heavily on private donations, which has caused it to be completed in bits and pieces.  In 2010, it hit the mid-point of completion.  Scheduled to be finished in 2026, just in time for the 100 year anniversary of Gaudi's death, it still has some of it's most complicated construction ahead of it.  And after having been inside, and having seen the complicated construction already completed, it just boggles my mind what they have in store.

I still don't know how I feel about the whole thing, except to say it was a wonder to behold.  Parts of it were so over the top (a parachuting Jesus) that they almost bordered on absurd.  And parts were so awe inspiringly beautiful, that we were left speechless (the sun streaming through the stained glass windows).  I can tell you that none of the pictures I took could ever do it justice - and I took many. Though I promise to only post a few.

Looking up could leave you dizzy...

Part of our tour included going up into one of the two towers.  We choose the Nativity tower.

We were told to stow all unnecessary baggage...

The towers are reached by an elevator that takes you straight to the top.  Once there, you cross a narrow bridge that looks out over the city.  You can even step out onto these little naves and feel like you are standing out over the city.  Those of you that know my fear of heights know how hard it was to even get up there, much less let my children stand in a place that so thoroughly freaked me out (but didn't bother them at all).

And once across the bridge, we had to enter a small stairwell that wound us back down to the main floor.  And when I say small stairwell, I mean narrow and steep.  The girls were very good about holding on and watching their steps as we worked our way back to the ground.

We passed a lot of construction going on outside of the open windows.  Another thing that freaked me out - no glass, no enclosures.

And it was interesting to see the interior of the church from a different perspective.

Once outside, we had a bit of time before catching the shuttle bus back to the ship.  We took the time to slowly wander down La Rambla, a tree lined pedestrian mall.  For a former sewage-filled stream bed (back in the 14th century), it sure has changed for the better.

It was a lovely walk and ended with our last landmark of the day - the monument to Christopher Columbus.

It was a great day of site-seeing and it wasn't over yet.  It was the last of our formal nights on board and the one that the girls had chosen to wear matching dresses.

The "triplets" got a lot of compliments and E and I were glad to have such beautiful and entertaining company for dinner.  Exhausted once again, we fell in to be directly after dinner.  We needed as much time to rejuvenate as possible, for tomorrow would bring us to our only stop in France.