Week 17: Barcelona!

I can’t believe it’s been another week. It feels like we just got here, and like we’ve lived here forever, all at the same time.

View from our hotel, with Sagrada Familia in the background

Nothing too exciting happened during the week. Friday, I was off and the kids had a half day at school. We dropped them off at the bus stop and immediately drove up to Würzburg so Matt could pick up his loaner car from the dealership.

Normally, they give out Mini’s but they were all out so they gave Matt one of the nicest cars on the lot. Seriously, this guy has all the luck! It will be another two to three months before his new car gets here so he’ll be living it up until then.

Saturday, we left first thing in the morning for the airport to head to Barcelona. The last time we flew, the airport was a mad house and we barely made it to the gate in time, even though we arrived two hours early. On Saturday, we arrived about two and a half hours early and the airport was a ghost town and we sat around for over two hours after we were through security. Oh well.

We warned the kids about the pick-pockets in Barcelona so they insisted on walking around like this 🤣

We went straight to the hotel from the flight. After our cramped room in Nice, the kids were really concerned about how much space we would have. They were pleasantly surprised that we ended up in a suite where they had their own room and bathroom, and their own beds!

We headed out on a walk and stopped for lunch (McDonald’s of course). After lunch, our first stop was the Barri Gòtic, the Gothic Quarter. The Barri Gòtic is the medieval part of the city with narrow streets, and little shops and cafes. It’s recommended that you just wander around and get lost there so that’s exactly what we did.

We eventually found our way out of the Barri Gòtic and went to the Boqueria Market. It’s a huuugggee food market so we wandered around and bought treats.

After the market we walked to the Cathedral of Barcelona. This is Barcelona’s “old church.” It was completed in 1420, as compared to Sagrada Familia, which still isn’t done.

After all the walking, we decided it was time for a break so we stopped in a cafe. The kids had cokes and Matt and I had Cava Sangria. Cava is the signature drink of Barcelona. It’s a white sparkly wine, so pretty much champagne by another name. The sangria just means it’s mixed with fresh squeezed orange juice so it was pretty much a pitcher of mimosas.

After our break we walked down to Port Vell and checked out the boats and listened to the kids ask about how much longer we would be walking 🤣

Christopher Columbus statue at Port Vell

After the Port, we walked back up towards the hotel, via Las Ramblas. In Spain, it is a custom to “strut” every day, if you can. This is the time of day you put on your best clothes and go and walk with your friends. To see and be seen. Las Ramblas is a grand, wide, one kilometer-long pedestrian avenue where everyone goes to do this in Barcelona. I’m not sure we noticed anyone overly strutting but it was definitely packed with people, restaurants, and cafes.

Stopping for the daily ice cream on Las Ramblas

By this time, we had walked about three miles so we went back to the hotel for a siesta.

For dinner that night, we went to a pizzeria across the street for brick ovens pizzas. The kids decided afterwards to catch up on their video games and Matt and I had a few drinks at the rooftop bar at our hotel.

On Sunday, we finally went to Sagrada Familia. Sagrada Familia is the famous basilica, designed by Barcelona’s favorite architect, Antoni Gaudì. It was began in 1882 and is still under construction. Part of the reason it’s taking so long is the ornateness and the other part, because Gaudì wanted it to be paid for “by the people” so it can only be funded by donations (and entry tickets). It’s kind of cool because now we can say we’ve contributed to its completion. They were hoping it would be done by 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudì’s death but funding problems during Covid-19 have delayed it a bit longer. We shall see.

There is a ton of symbolism carved and sculpted into all sides of the building. I’m not an expert on the subject but I do know it’s supposed to represent all phases of Jesus’s life; the birth, the passion, and the resurrection. I could probably list facts for days but they would all be from Wikipedia, so I direct you there for more!

The inside is designed to look like a forest and it definitely does. The columns look like trees with leaves and blooms carved into the ceiling. The skylights and windows are designed to look like sunlight peaking through the leaves. It definitely looks amazing in person with all the colors.

One of the front doors, which is where you exit the tour, ironically.

After Sagrada Familia, we bought tickets for the tourist bus to save some walking up to Park Guell, which we knew was uphill. We took the bus ride, which was great and had a commentary. But, the bus stop for the park ended up being about six, steep blocks from the park, so that was a let down. Both kids were crying by the time we got there. Parenting win! We bought them ice cream and went on with the visit.

Park Guell was originally designed to be a luxury housing compound, designed by Gaudì. It was eventually a flop (probably because no one wanted to climb up that hill to their house) and eventually the space was turned into a public park.

The views were amazing from the park, and can you tell how steep the climb was?

We took the tourist bus back downtown and stopped at La Pedrera and Casa Batlló, two of the famous houses designed by Gaudì.

After all the heat and walking, we decided it was time for another siesta. It was around 3pm and the city was a ghost town. Spain really does shut down for siesta time and I love it!

For dinner, Matt picked an American Restaurant called Cocovail. Yes, I know you’re supposed to be adventurous and try local foods; someone please explain that to our kids. Matt was happy too because he ordered wings that ended up being the second spiciest thing he’s ever eaten so he was impressed.

Brooklyn’s mood was much improved after her first mozzarella sticks in months.

Ryan got the “American Style” macaroni and cheese and they added extra yellow for extra American-ness

The kids had another video game session and Matt and I had a few more drinks at the rooftop.

Monday was our day to fly back but we did get up and do another mile-long loop through the downtown area.

On the way back to the airport, our taxi driver asked us, ‘Since we were from Germany, why aren’t we in Mallorca?’ It was pretty funny because we thought we were the only people who noticed that Mallorca was mini Germany. He felt better when we told him we had already been there earlier in the summer 😂

There is so much to see in Barcelona, we barely made a dent in it. I think we’re going to need another three days to cross everything off our list. I also did not expect to like it so much. We’ve been to Madrid before and liked it, but don’t feel an urge to go back so we were surprised to feel so differently about this city. A huge part of it too was the amazing service we received at the hotel, which was also in the perfect location for all the walking we did. So, have to give the Renaissance a shout-out as one of our best Marriott stays ever.

Next week we have another quiet week, we are looking forward to getting caught up on our sleep!