Barcelona- last full day of vacation

Well, I was able to find a delicious dinner on Monday night.  I was going to head out for a classic Spanish tapas and sangria dinner by myself, but had seen a cool little stir fry place while wandering around and decided take out sounded way better.  I'd order and eat in the room watching TV.  This sounded like a great plan in theory, until I got to the hotel and realized the only English language channels were BBC News and Bloomberry.  Not the relaxing evening of TV watching I had planned!  Oh well.  My dinner was excellent!

I went to a place called Walk to Wok; you pick out what noodles or rice you want, they add basic veggies, and then you pay extra to add proteins/nuts/more veggies, etc...  Then you choose one of six sauces to be mixed into it.  They stirfry all of this right in front of your face, and it just takes minutes to get.  I got a huge container of noodles and chicken and veggies plus a Sprite for 10 euros.  Not bad!  It was such a cool concept, and the place was packed at 9:00 pm with people wanting dinner.  This was the kind of place that Nick would love.

Anyways, I was able to see Nick that evening too, which was nice.  He came back to the hotel before I had gone to sleep.  We had breakfast together the next morning, and then we headed out on the subway to Plaza Espana.  Me to (finally!) go swimming, and he was off to MWC.

I climbed Montjuic for the second time in 24 hours.  This time I had brought my phone with though, so I took a bunch of pictures of the fountains, statues and buildings that I saw along the way.  Also took pictures of the escalators since I knew people would have a hard time believing they were there!

I got to the pool and paid 12 euro entrance fee.  I followed the signs to Piscenes (or something like that, it was not 'piscina' as I had learned in Spanish class 20 years prior).  I determined the correct locker room and went in to change.  Unfortunately I did not have a locker so I had to carry everything out on deck and hope no one stole it.  I was trying to find the indoor pool, and of course all of the signs only pointed to the outdoor Olympic pool.  I was wandering around in just my suit and thankfully found an older gentlemen who did not speak much English but he did help me figure out how to get to the indoor pool from the crazy maze we were in.  Phew!

I had been so excited to swim at the 1992 Olympic pool, but the outdoor one was closed unfortunately.  So many of my former teammates had swam at those Olympics, it was pretty sweet to be there.  I was happy just seeing the pool even though it was too cold to swim in it.  I headed to the indoor pool and cranked out 3400 SCM, lots of IM work.  Of course there were no backstroke flags!  Thankfully I did not hit my head on the wall.  This pool was 50 meters as well, but when it was set to 25 meters there were no black lines on the bottom to guide you.  That was strange.  And the bottom was subway tile, which was stark but pretty.  I felt pretty good in the water so I can't complain- I wasn't going that fast but I was overjoyed I got to swim!

After I finished my swim and changed, I wandered around Montjuic and went into the Olympic Stadium and looked at a couple of other things.  It was pretty cool to see.  Then I headed back to the hotel; I had plans to meet up with Roberto at 1:00 so we could see Segrada Familia.

I met Roberto and we had lunch at the bar near the hostel; I ate half of the hamburger I think, it was a huge portion!  After that, we went to our hotel to see if we should buy our tickets in advance or risk waiting in a huge line at Segrada Familia.  The concierge said we should buy the tickets online so she helped us with that.  23 euros for this little outing, but I figured it was worth it.  Who gets to see a church like this during it's construction phase?  I can also view it as a contribution to the completion of the church construction.

With tickets in hand, off we went to the subway.  Of course, Roberto just walks up to whomever and asks how we should get there.  It was nice to not have to study a map for 30 minutes and pray that I went the right direction when heading out.  He could just easily ask anyone anything in Spanish the moment we felt confused; his Spanish was an excellent replacement for Nick's GPS  :)

We popped out of the subway and Sagrada Familia is RIGHT THERE when you emerge.  The size of it is staggering.  We had 45 minutes or so until our tickets were valid, but Roberto asked someone if we could go in early since it wasn't that crowded and off we went.  He was conversing in Spanish with the people that worked there, and when we wandered off he started talking in Spanish to me.  It was funny, his English is very good but I suppose when you've just learned a new language it would be weird to switch back and forth like that.

First view of the church, wow!

Details, details

What the church will look like upon completion- the lighter parts are not built yet

Interior stairwell

This is a nave, I'm standing not quite in the middle of the church, looking to the left

Stained glass

Columns

Looking at the front of the church from the center

Looking up, up, up

This is a church underneath the church!

Details outside

Roberto!

Mo!

Another model showing the work that needs to be completed

Details are abundant, even up high!

These columns were designed to assist with rain run-off, and to improve acoustics inside the church

Entrance to the church, via a side door

Anyways, we received our audio guides and listened to it outside at first, and then moved into the church to learn more.  We then went out the other side of the church to look at that somewhat finished exterior, and then headed back inside to ride up in the elevator for more views.  The ride up was in a tight round elevator that barely held 7 or 8 people I think.  We exited and walked along VERY narrow pathways; we were up very high, and were able to look out at the city down below.  This gave an even greater appreciation for the size of the church.  We could also see where they were constructing the the new spires, among them the tallest one.  They still have so much more work to do, but they expect it to be done within 5 years I think.  I have no idea how that could happen, it would be pretty amazing if they finish.  Anyways, we made our way down a super narrow winding staircase all the way to the ground floor.  I was glad we didn't have to walk up that way!   We turned in our audioguides and looked around a bit more and then noticed a door under the church that some people were coming out of.  I said we should check it out, and I'm glad we did!  There was so much information about Gaudi and the church down there; there was a lot of neat stuff to look at.  We also learned that Gaudi was 74 when he died and that he was hit by a street car.  That is how he passed.  Pretty sad, but he received quite a grand funeral procession.   He had such a huge inmpact on the architecture of Barcelona.  I was impressed that it was recognized during his life, sometimes your work is not appreciated until you are long gone.

We finished touring the basement of the church and then decided to wander La Rambla.  We walked through the cool fruit/meat/fish market to take some pictures, and then we passed by a bakery that had Cronuts in the window.  I had heard of these croissant/donut combos and the ones in the window looked amazing.  We stopped in and I happily dropped 2.5 euros on a chocolate cronut.  OMG, that thing was good!!!!  Totally worth the money, it was just perfect.  I know they are a trendy item right now, but I do hope I can find somewhere to buy those around here for a special treat!

Abundance at the market

Fresh fruits, veggies and juices. Yum!

The largest bell peppers I've ever seen!

Tripe and calf heads.  Not sure what you do with these but we weren't going to eat them!

After getting sugared up from the cronut, we continued on, in search of perfume me and a hair cut for Roberto.  We walked all the way to the seaport; along the way we saw the huge column statue monument for Christopher Columbus.  We also saw a lot of seagulls flying around.  We walked into a mall and Roberto recommended a store for the perfume; I was shocked at the prices.  I found the perfume for way less than at Sephora and other department stores and duty free.  I bought the biggest bottle since I was getting such a great deal!   So glad Roberto pointed out that store, I never would have gone in otherwise.   We left the mall to find a barber shop somewhere else, and I thought we had been transported to the movie set of 'The Birds'.  Oh my, there were seagulls swooping around everywhere!  I serioulsy had one little freak out where one got pretty close to me, but I was mostly worried about getting pooped on.  Roberto said it would be good luck if it happened, but then we both agreed that whoever said that was trying to feel better about getting shit on by a bird!  We escaped from the seaside poop free thank goodness!

We were able to find an Asian hair salon and Roberto got a haircut for 8 euros.  Not bad!  As I sat there waiting for him, I found it so bizarre to see Asians speaking fluent Spanish.  It's just not what you would expect.  We then wandered back to the hotel up a different street since I had walked La Rambla about 20 times by that point.  We walked by a bibleoteca and I was able to practice some of my extremely limited spanish vocabulary with Roberto.  "I want to swim in the pool", "library and books", and something about food and eating.  He was so kind to say I knew way more than he expected I would!  I should have tried to practice more but just wasn't feeling confident enough to give it a go.  Oh well, he basically told me that I didn't need to learn a language since most other countries learn English.  That saves me some trouble, lol!

We made it back to the hotel, and that is where Roberto and I parted ways but of course there is Facebook so we can stay in touch.  It was so fun to hang out with him and learn about Venezuela and his other travels.  Meeting other travelers was part of what I wanted to accomplish on this trip and I'm so happy I got to have that experience.  I can only imagine how many people my brother befriended while traveling the world for a year!

I went up to the room and got to relax for a bit before Nick came back.  We were going to head out to an event but decided to just grab dinner together.  I knew we should go to the stir fry place since Nick would love it.  So I ate there two nights in a row!  But I got something totally different.  And of course Nick loved Walk to Wok!  Wish something like that would open around here- I'd definitely go!

We enjoyed our meal in the bustling restaurant and then headed back to the hotel so I could pack and Nick could work.  My part of the trip was coming to an end, while Nick had 24 more extra hours after I left.

Nick and I both agreed that this was the best trip we've ever taken.  It far surpassed our honeymoon.  We were able to experience so many different things and places, learn so much, and really appreciate what we were able to do.  In Prague, we explored an amazingly well-preserved and beautiful city, and ate a wonderful meal for our anniversary dinner.  We also went to the ballet!  In Berlin, we got to see a rebuilt city that was bursting with history.  It was fun to take in a show at a club, it seemed very fitting for Berlin.   And in Barcelona, we knew that we wouldn't be spending much time together but somehow managed to enjoy breakfast very morning and three fantastic dinners.  Nick also was cool with me heading off to explore the city with a total stranger!  I of course wished that Nick could have joined me but he is so wonderful to let me have some companionship so I could enjoy the city more.  If I had been alone I'm sure he would have been worried constantly that I was lost and that I would never make it back to the hotel.  If you had seen me try to navigate in Prague you would all have the same concerns!

All in all, we are super appreciative that my parents were able to watch the kiddos so we could have this amazing adventure together.  It was a perfect vacation and I couldn't have asked for anything more!!!!