Lessons Learned in Barcelona....

In Spain, Easter is quite the party. At my school, I had a two full week vacation! I spent the first part of my vacation relaxing in Logroño and then I headed out for the first leg of my vacation...in Barcelona! I've never been to Barcelona but we only had a couple of days to visit. (After that we headed out to Rome, Florence, Pisa, and Venice.) I'm going to have to go back sometime because it's such a big city and there's so much to see. But, we did see a lot for how long we were there. I also learned some very important lessons.


1. Always, always, always, check times! Check the time in luggage locker when you leave your bags there, check the time the last bus/train leaves out of town, and check the earliest time when you can check into your next hotel!

2. NEVER NEVER NEVER leave your purse unwatched for even thirty seconds, especially when you're in an area, highly frequented by tourists. I got my wallet stolen out of my purse when it was in my hands!3. Visit Parc Guell early in the morning when there aren't 100,000 people there! I've never seen a busier park in my whole life...it would have been nice to have taken a more solitary trip and experienced nature the way Gaudi actually pictured it.

But even though I made some dumb mistakes, I did really enjoy Barcelona. The architectural style is a kind that I have never seen, mainly in part because of Gaudi, but not all. I will leave you with 
my favorite pictures:

Outdoor Good Friday sermon at the Catedral in the Gothic Neighborhood

Christopher Colombus pointing the way to the new world

One side of the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) which has been under construction since 1882 and is not expected to be finished until 2040!

                                                             The other side of Sagrada Familia...completely different!

Parc de la Ciutadella

Arc de Triomf

Casa Batlló- another Gaudi creation built in 1904

Playing with zoom!

Salvador Dali museum

Good Friday procession

La Pedrera - Gaudi again, finished in 1912. Apparently the true beauty is on the inside but who can afford to pay 20 euros to see the inside of each Gaudi building? 

La Boqueria- One of the best markets I've ever visited!

What is this fruit you might ask? That's a good question....

You mean they sell spicy peppers in Spain??

Chocolate... 

Dried fruits and nuts.... 

An egg mountain... 

Not quite sure what this is...

and....pasta? 

Parc Güell 

This is a musical instrument 

Just to give you an example of how many people were there....

Me with the girls!

I wonder what the Sagrada Familia will look like without all the cranes?