Barcelona

Highlights:
1. Seeing Esteban. He was a great tour guide, and we just love spending time with him no matter where we are.

Los hermanitos.

2. Font Mágica at Montjuic. Great show. Better than the one in Vegas. Seriously.

Gordita and TC posing in front of the fountain.

3. Barri Gotic. The narrow, winding streets were enchanting. We got lost intentionally, and enjoyed every minute of it. The balconies with flower beds hanging from the railing, the narrow streets that trucks drive up and down, the charm and history in every detail mixed with the modern. While wandering we saw a bride and groom emerge from a church. What a romantic place to be married! Also while wandering we witnessed two little boys arguing in Catalan and chasing each other down one of those narrow streets.

Esteban in a narrow street. Charming, no?


How does this truck fit in this street with pedestrians and all? It takes talent my friends, raw talent.


The arguing children in a narrow street.


4. The Metro system. Seriously well organized, fast, clean, frequent, and cheap, all that one could ask for in a public transportation system.



Esteban walking along one of the many clean and well organized corridors connecting one metro line to another. He is blissfully unaware that we are snapping a photo of his gait.


5. The plazas. There are plazas near seemingly every important statue, monument or building. Each plaza is lovely and a nice place to rest. There are benches, fountains, trees and aggressive pigeons in nearly every plaza.

TC in a plaza.



Gordita and TC walking through a plaza.



Gordita and TC in front of a fountain in a plaza.



Gordita with a statue in a plaza.



Palm trees in a plaza. Can you imagine living in one of these apartments that overlooks this stunning plaza?


Aggressive pigeons in a plaza.


6. Gaudi's unique architecture. He designed all kinds of buildings in Barcelona, namely the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. What impressed us about this cathedral are the spires and towers. There are so many of them and none of them have flying buttresses or other visible supports. This building has been under construction for over 100 years now.


Spires and scaffolding.


7. The number of motorcycles. Astounding!

Motorcycles.


Motorcycles parked in front of an old Roman building.


More motorcycles in front of Hard Rock Cafe.


Overall: Barcelona was my second favorite stop on this trip. It oozes charm and enchantment. Barcelona was exactly what we pictured an old European city to be. The people were the friendliest, and it seemed to be the least touristy. We feel like we might have actually gotten a taste for what the every day Barcelonian lives. Esteban was the best tour guide we could have asked for (despite what he might think), and saved us a bunch of money, not on car insurance, but by giving us several lifts, even though it was far out of his way (and early in the morning).