Barcelona

We left Madrid by train, moving at up to 300 km/hour, so the 7 hour bus trip we expected was reduced to less than 2 hours. We are on our way to Valencia along the Mediterranean Coast, famous for oranges of course, and the third largest city in Spain.
The market here, with everything from fruits and fish to pig’s heads and wine tastings, is the largest in Spain. A river ran through the city until the 1950s when a devastating flood helped make the decision to divert the river around the city. The massive river bed that remained has been made into parks and football fields with a huge aquarium and science centre. But the old city where we are staying has beautiful palaces and cathedrals with stunning architecture. And the cathedral here holds the Holy Grail. Well, maybe. Several other cathedrals apparently make the same claim. But I’m going with this one.

Now on to Barcelona. By train through mountains and coastline, we reached this massive city late in the day, then took our bags on the metro, up and down stairs, and then more walking, to reach our hotel right in the heart of the city. We are close to Las Ramblas, the big pedestrian mall that is heaving with people 24 hours a day. After a short walk to figure out where we are, we went for dinner with a flamenco show (singing and guitar only, and very different from the flamenco in Seville). We were still finishing dinner at midnight. Lots of people are just going out to dinner at that time, I don’t know how they do it!
The next day, a hop on hop off bus tour took us to the Park Guell, a new age park with cartoon like buildings and ceramics designed by the famous Anthony Gaudi, then walked back to his most famous work and icon of Barcelona, the Sagrada Familia cathedral. He worked on this massive building for 40 years, until he died in 1926 when hit by a tram. The cathedral remains unfinished, and construction continues to this day using his plans. I was here 25 years ago and saw it, but not the inside which had been closed for construction. The first sight of it is breathtaking. The most striking part is the stained glass windows of modern design that allow the sun to shine through and change shades as the sun’s rays shift. I went up in one of the towers by elevator, then down by winding staircase, stopping to perch outside inside some of the carvings, which is amazing but a little terrifying.
I purchased a ticket in advance, with a time frame to enter, or would have been waiting in line in the blazing sun for hours. Thousands of people visit each day.
I continued on the bus to the Timboro area, where there is a castle high on hills that you can see from the center of the city. To get to the top I had to get on a tram through homes that look like castles, then a funicular. At the top is an amusement park, and views of the city all the way to the seven city beaches and the ocean.
That evening was a night out to say goodbyes, most of the group had booked a two week trip and are on their way to other travels or home the next day.
When in Barcelona, you must do the beach apparently – so off we went walking to Barceloneta beach. Once there, there is one guy setting up chairs and umbrellas for you, another guy getting drinks for you, a woman doing massages, a guy doing henna tattoos, etc. And the water was amazing. People here are in all states of dress and undress, anything goes.
After a couple of hours there, I left to check out what is supposed to be the best shopping in Europe. The people here are so well dressed, in bright colours and prints with matching shoes and bags. Dresses or long pants are worn, shorts will mark you as a tourist. The older people dress just as cool or maybe cooler than the younger ones.
That evening the five of us who are doing a three week trip met the new people who are coming on to
northern Spain. We had a private bus to take us north into the Pyrenees mountains along the border
with France. I am so looking forward to being in the middle of nowhere after the big city life for two
weeks!