Day 2 – Barcelona

June 20, 2019 – On day 2, we got up with the intention of walking to the beach…I guess I did not realize how far Gràcia was from the beach.  It would have been OK if we weren’t tired and sore, but we also had to get back in time for siesta and Wayne to get to that darn thing called work…

We did finally make it to the ocean to take a peek, but along the way we saw Arc de Triumph, Parc de la Citudella, Gaudi’s Castile Batllo’ and ate at Frankfurt’s L’Estancia which was a tiny little hole in the wall bar with one Spanish guy doing it all.  He cooked the food on a little grill right at the bar while we watched.  It was all very fresh and cooked to order. We had a cold beer and Wayne had a Catalan Sausage sandwich with grilled onions on tomato bread and I had a yummy chicken cutlet sandwich on great bread.  It was so good!  Why does everything taste so good and fresh when we are traveling?

We decided that Barcelona was just too big for us to see enough in the little time that we had so we opted to buy a Metro pass.  We took a Metro back to our apartment and changed for our tour of La Sagrada Familia.

La Sagrada Familia (Expiatory Church of the Holy Family) is a large unfinished Roman Catholic church in Barcelona.  It was designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), his work on the building is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  In 1882, construction of Sagrada Família began.  His architectural and engineering style combines Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms.  Gaudí devoted the remainder of his life to the project, and he is buried in the crypt on site.  At the time of his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete.  The estimated completion is set for 2026 on the 100-year anniversary of Gaudi’s death.

There is much controversy in regards to the building itself, construction using less-quality materials, effects on residents in the area and its competition with the existing Roman Catholic basilica in Barcelona.  In November 2010, Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the church and proclaimed it a minor basilica. For more info about this Basilica see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia  

At the end of our tour, we went up into one of the towers in an elevator.  Coming down from the towers you climb down nearly 400 stairs in a short, narrow little dark staircase.  Did I say 400 stairs???  In the past 3 days we had two red eye flights and have walked at least 15 miles per day.  Our legs were shaking when we got to the bottom.  I’m glad we only had to go a short distance to the metro station to catch our train.  For me, it was like doing the breast Cancer 3-day all over again, but not in shape….and jetlagged still.

Later that evening while Wayne was working, I went exploring to find groceries to cook for dinner…we have to remember that this is not really vacation and to be able to do this we can’t eat out every meal.  I love to cook and I always wanted to go for a visit to the butcher, the bakery, the produce market…etc.  I had a lot of fun trying to communicate with the locals and some of my Español skills are emerging.

I made a tasty meal; we ate on the terrace overlooking the sights with a cold beer and then we hit the hay early. Another great day!!!

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