Tag Archives: Barcelona

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Barcelona Wrap-Up!

We had a fabulous time in Barcelona and managed to pack quite a lot of sights into five days. We spent the last day moving to the hotel Room Mate Anna which is one in the Room Mate chain. We will definitely check out others in cities we visit.

Last images of the Gaudi designed house near our hotel.

We enjoyed a leisurely Sunday lunch with locals in a small cafe – so much fun seeing large family gatherings and hearing all the chatter that goes on! We added a little culture to our last evening in town and bought tickets online to see Opera y Flamenco at the famed Palau de la Musica Catalana. Our tour of Gaudi and Modernism took us by the theater earlier in the week and Andrei told us how beautiful the interior is. It truly is an art-deco masterpiece. The music and dancing was spectacular and with our front row seats we could see all the foot movements! Photography and videography was not allowed, so I found a link on youtube.

stained glass reverse cupola allowing natural light in theater

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Barcelona

 

It’s been about 45 years! (How can that be?) since my friend and I hitch-hiked through France to Barcelona. My main memories from that trip are La Rambla and sangria! I remember the lovely shady pedestrian avenue with cafes and benches – and in particular, the bird cages with peoples’ birds tweeting and twirping and enjoying being outdoors. Today La Rambla is paved and there are no benches and no canaries! It is still fun to stroll, stop, and sit at a cafe and sip on a sangria and watch the people pass by, but I miss the old Rambla!

We took another of our beloved Free Walking Tours this morning, and Mitch, our guide – a Canadian from Saskatchewan – took us through the Gothic Quarter and we ended up at the waterfront. We started at the beautiful Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia and, once again, he shared much of the history of Barcelona from the time of the Romans until the Spanish Civil War. We visited many interesting buildings and squares and heard some great stories – some true and some more folklore than fact!

We had an absolutely delicious tapas evening meal at Bodega Biarritz and then another stroll through plazas and pedestrian streets.