Hopper flight to Barcelona....

The beauty of Europe is you can book a flight a few days in advance and jet off to another town or country for a quick adventure.  My parents were going to be flying back to the states out of Barcelona so I decided to take my two days off work and join them over there.  I had never been and was excited to check out this city I had heard so much about.  I took a night flight after work over and arrived to my parents hotel where I was greeted with a bottle of red wine and some shortbread cookies.  I know strange combo but they are my recent obsessions....well the cookies are the obsession not the wine.  Don't

First view in Barcelona.

go thinking I have turned into an alcoholic over here.  I was so happy to be hanging with my parents again.  We spent that next couple hours before we went to bed just catching up and planning out the next couple of days.  I only had two days so I had to be quite strategic about my time.  My parents had one more day then I did but it still wasn't a whole lot of time to explore this big city.  My dad was doing so much better with is walking which was great but we still decided that it was best to do the hop on and off bus to get around quickly and get the overview of everything then decided what would be our top spots to go.  Our hotel was a little bit out of town but it was right next to a metro station that dropped us right in the heart of town in about 10 minutes.  We stepped up onto the street in Placa d' Espanya and were in awe of this city.  When you looked to your right you saw a beautiful street lined with lamp post leading down to a gorgeous building.  To your left across the Placa you saw the old bullfighting area which we later found out has been convertied into a mall but still has a museum inside showing all the different stages the building had been through.  Smack dab in the middle of the Placa was a huge

Placa d' Espanya...Bullfighting area

monument giving it the overall feeling of a proper european Placa. We found our stop to catch the bus, waited in the queue, then boarded the top of the double decker bus to ride around town.  We had chosen 2 spots to get off which were a bit farther into the route so we just sat back and took it all in.  As we were riding around I was realizing how big this city truly was and how much there was to see and do.  It made me a bit bummed to think I would only get a brief overview of the depth it had to offer but I suppose a little is better then nothing.  Being in Mallorca it is such a quick flight over (30 minutes in the air) that I am sure I

The port....tons of ships!

can come again.  Our double decker bus tour took us down along the water past the port which was filled with boats.  There were so many just packed in together.  Just down from the port was the former olympic venues.  There were all quite nice and still being used which was great to know.  I always feel bad when a city invests so much in venues and housing for the games and then they just go to waste after.  The olympics helped make the area down by the sea become a more desirable location to live in Barcelona where in the past the city center was more prestiges.  It surprised me that that was the case...you would think

Harmony of modern and old 

seaside would always be more desirable but I guess it's not that way everywhere.  Another thing I noticed while driving around this city was the beauty of the modern along with old.  It was really beautiful to see a gorgeous old building set behind a great modern piece of art work.  The lines and feel of the modern pieces around the city always seemed to follow the feel of the old parts of town.  They have done such a great job of integrating it into the city.  you see so many places that destroy the feel of the city by sticking a huge ugly skyscraper next to a lovely historical building but Barcelona has done it right.  Finding a true harmony of design.  I feel like there might be more of a design scene here too that I would like to do some research into finding out more about it.  One of my favorite pieces of functional art work in the city was these really cool shades that

Great use of old train track!

lined the median.  They were created out of metal and old wooden train tracks.  They lined the whole street and created shade for people who were waiting in the area.  Just another creative bit of Barcelona.  Now I mentioned earlier that we had 2 spots that we wanted to get off at.  One was the Sagrada Familia and the other was Tibidabo.  Both had been recommended by people who had been to Barcelona and had been top places in my research.  When we got to the stop for Tibidabo we got off and looked around.  It appeared as though we had been dropped off in the middle of a residential area no where near the

Tibidabo...as close as we got but still impressive.

top of the hill with the statue and amusement park we were looking for.  We decided just to walk up the closest hill and see if it led us in the right direction.  It was quite nice walking around the area and seeing some beautiful homes.  As we rounded a corner we spotted the statue on the hill so we knew we were going in the right direction but it still looked pretty far away.  Remember Hop-Along-Pop is just off the crutches and doing better but we were not looking for a repeat injury so we walked just a bit farther before calling it good and heading back to the bus.  The directions to get up to it were a bit confusing and we passed a few other people trying to figure it out too.  Come to find out there is a tram at some point you can take but we were fine with the view we got.  The only thing that would have been nice to see from up there was the view of the city, but that just wasn't in the cards for us.  Stop number two was Sagrada Familia.  I didn't really know too much about what this place was I just had been told I needed to see it.  As we were getting off the bus at it a lady looked at me and said with so much emotion "We did this place yesterday and it was absolutely fantastic."  She wasn't exaggerating.  This cathedral

Exterior of Sagrada Familia...Started in 1892

struck me with its amazing beauty and intricacy.  I had seen many photos of it but nothing could have prepared me for the real thing.  It is so massive you have a really hard time getting any sort of photo to do it justice.  The other thing that makes it difficult to get a great photo is the fact that is is still under construction.  It was started in 1892 and is still being constructed with the plans left by the designer.  There are two main sides to it.  The photo I have here is from the older side which I like more then the more modern side.  This side was completed while the designer Antoni Gaudi was still alive.  On this stop we just walked around the outside an took in all the views.  My mom went in the gift shop and bought a book about the history of the place.  After we took a significant amount of photos of this extraordinary building we headed back to the hotel to relax and put our feet up for the night.  Mom pulled out the history book and started reading and after a few moments she said " I think we need to go inside this place!"  I had just been thinking the same thing since I couldn't get it out of my head.  It's one of those places that just draws you in because it is so unique.  Decision made...I booked the tickets on line so we didn't have to

The view from the back to the alter

queue and we were ready.  When we arrived and walked in I was literally speechless and overwhelmed with what I was surrounded by.  Huge columns that branched out at the top like trees, sun streaming in through multi colored stain glass windows, and the most interesting alter I have ever seen.  As we walked thru guided by our handy audio guide (normally I hate those things but here it was great) you could feel everything that Gaudi had intended this place to be.  It felt like a sanctuary.  Even though there were hundreds of people around me there was still a peace about the place and I felt like I could really just slow down for a moment and connect in with myself and God.  Gaudi was greatly inspired by nature so that was reflected in the design.  The columns were like trees and the ceiling panels spread out like the leaves on the tree.  The stain glass windows were designed and placed to provide optimum natural light as were all the glass openings in the ceiling.  You would have never thought that this place was designed in 1892....it seems so modern yet not harsh which I find a lot of modern art to be.  This place was so well thought out and designed.  All the geometry involved in it made my head spin.

Another Gaudi design

 I could have stayed in this place for hours and hours but when you only have two days to take on a big city you gotta keep moving.  We were able to hit a few more key spots around the city.  One being a couple more buildings designed by Gaudi.  I really feel like his thinking was so ahead of his time.  I look at his buildings and wonder if when we was designing them people then thought he was a little nuts.  After seeing all his stuff around Barcelona I really would like to learn more about him.  His life ended in a rather unfortunate way...hit by a tram.  Sounds horrible right?! He is buried in the crypt in Sagrada Familia which is the perfect spot for him.  We were able to take a stroll through the Barri Gothic which is the old town area.  It was just as an old town should be with it's tiny streets, a beautiful old Cathedral and an antique market in the Placa.  Oh Barcelona why do I have to leave you....My time was drawing to a close with a plane to catch in a few hours.  My parents and I sat down together for on last glass of wine before we would be parted for a while and talked about the last 3 weeks.  What an amazing time and so special to get to share it all together.  With big hugs I grabbed my back pack and hopped

This is how to deal with a flight delay

in a cab and headed to the airport.  Check in and security were a breeze.  Bought some duty free wine and settled in to wait for the plane.  Unfortunately there was a delay. I got a bit nervous because I did have to work the next morning and didn't want to get in too late....also worried about it getting canceled.  After I confirmed it was just a delay I did the only thing anyone would do in this situation...opened the wine and watched Duck Dynasty.  Yep...I don't know why but I love them.  Makes me laugh out loud every time I watch.  After about 4 episodes I boarded the plane and made it back to my Mallorca home.  This is that last of my trips for a while (except maybe a hop to London) but I have tons to do and see here.  Can't wait to explore the island more.