Monday, May 12, 2008

Walking Barcelona

Last night, for the first time on this trip, I really had trouble sleeping. Barcelona is a very urban and noisy city. One of the advantages of living in an apartment instead of a hotel is that we can really experience the feeling of living in a neighborhood. The disadvantage, however, is that we experience the feeling of living in a neighborhood! The people of Barcelona party very late into the night (or really, early into the morning). So I heard noise right outside my window for quite some time. Bill slept soundly next to me in the tiny bed, but I got a bit homesick.



Yesterday was a very busy day. I had on my pedometer, and Bill and I walked 16,000 steps. After attending Mass at the Catedral de Barcelona, we walked through the Eixample, past the Block of Discord, and finally on to Sangrada De Familia. The sheer beauty of Sangrada Familia took me by surprise. In fact, if I was to name three things that you MUST see while in Europe, it would definitely be one of them. It is a cathedral that was designed by the artist Gaudi, and construction began in 1882 or 1883. It is far from done. Apparently people sort of voluntarily work on it as they have time. It is likely not going to be ready for another 100 years. The church is dedicated to the Holy Family (Sagrada Familia) and the facade is magnificent.
On our way home, we stopped at a tapas bar and had tapas and vino tinto (red wine) at about 5 p.m. They filled us up and we weren´t hungry the remainder of the evening. Our plan was to go out later and walk by the Mediterranean. However, we were both so tired from our long walk that we stayed in.

The weather today is overcast and chilly. We are on the Ramblas where we stopped for some breakfast. I had a tortilla espanole (a potato omelette). Bill ordered a regular breakfast with bacon and egg (or thought he did) and got a croissant! Such are the dangers of ordering food when you don´t know the language. This will continue to be one of the challenges of our adventure.
Perhaps in order for me to sleep better tonight, we should stop at the store pictured here to access some sleep enhancers!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I'm just reading your blog after several days away from a computer with access it. 1.) I'm very impressed that Wilma left a comment. She's the coolest 90 year old I know. 2.) I believe you must have stopped in Cartagena because you were low on gas!