FUN-travel: Barcelona, Spain – Day 2
September 19, 2012 by Susan Clarke
Trip Day 52 – Friday, August 31 – Barcelona, Spain
Cathedral of Barcelona
What I LIKE
Sagrada Familia
- Wake up to sunshine!
- breezy & very cool
- breakfast not included (save $36 Euro)
- Starbuck’s around the corner
- 9:00 – head out on walk
- 1st stop – Casa de les Punxes
- 2nd stop – Segrada Familia – Gaudi’s cathedral started in 1883 – line wraps halfway around entire block – glad I saw it in 2000! (need to buy tickets ahead of time)
- 3rd stop – Placa de Catalunya – filled with fountains, statues & pigeons
- continue walk to Arc de Triomf
- 4th stop – Cathedral of Barcelona – 14th century colossal Gothic church ringed by distinctive chapels
- continue walk through La Ribera – streets where wealthy shippers & merchants lived are lined with grand mansions
- 5th stop – 1:00 – Picasso museum (good time to go as line is quite short) – best collection in the country & best of his early works anywhere
- 6th stop – Las Ramblas stroll – colorful, gritty tourist-filled pedestrian thoroughfare
- 3:30 – lunch @ Sagarra – tapas of Greek salad, fried calamari, bowl of lentils with vegetables & beer of course!
- nice afternoon breeze – high of maybe 80
Arc de Triomf
- 4:45 – head back up to hotel
- big day of waking so need siesta
- 8:15 – dinner Brown restaurant on Passeig de Gràcia (we couldn’t get in last night – rain caused everyone to stop & eat) – quarto formaggio pizza, caprese salad, nice red wine – pizza so-so
What I DIDN”T LIKE
- worst coffee ever at Starbuck’s on Passeig de Gràcia
- try to get return flight home on 1st with no luck
FF (FUN-fact) – Placa de Catalunya is the center of the world for 7 million Catalan people. It is the hub for transportation and where they demonstrate, celebrate, and enjoy outdoor concerts and festivals.