Day two in Barcelona was insane. We didn't go clubbing or partying (we're beyond that phase of our lives), but insane as in 'Let's run around the whole town, chasing our tails', insane.
I crossed off one of my bucket list places: La Sagrada Familia.
We hit up a beach with swim suits this time around (you know what I mean if you read 'Venice, Italy: Day One').
And, we ate the best burgers that we have ever had. Ever.
Oh, and there's some weird stuff in between all of that!
Needless to say, we had some fun!
Trash trucks, crying babies, illegal beer vendors, screaming couples, and the slamming of car doors.
OVER and OVER again.
When I finally got out of bed at 05:30, after experiencing my first sleep in Barcelona, I was ready to go back to sleep.
So tired.
Barcelona doesn't rest, even in the wee hours of the morning. And because of that, our family didn't either!
We joked around about it at breakfast. It definitely didn't make us bitter to the city, but I'm just glad I wasn't the only one that barely got any shuteye.
After eating breakfast and grabbing some much needed coffee, we headed to my #1 must see in Spain, which is also on my European bucket List: La Sagrada Familia.
Oh, Sagrada Familia. How you make me angry.
We arrived exactly at 0900, knowing that this time would be when the doors open for the day. I also knew that we could have purchased advanced tickets for our visit, but I figured there were only so many sold online, and that there would be a number of ticket sales on site.
NOPE.
At 0900, being the 20th-ish person in line, the soonest we could get in was 13:45.
Errrrr.
I purchased the 13:45 tickets anyway, and then we had to flip flop our plans. We hopped on the metro and headed to Parc Guell.
Parc Guell by metro was one of the dumbest things we've ever done within any of our travels. I knew (with the help of a phone app) that a bus could have gotten us there from Sagrada Familia, but metro has fewer stops and is quicker by a half hour.
We should have rode the bus.
We took the L5 from S.Familia to El Coll | La Teixonera station and knew that we'd have a little bit of walking to do to reach Parc Guell.
A whole lot of walking is what we did, instead!
El Coll | La Teixonera station is deep, deep, deeply underground. I cannot stress that enough!
We've rode underground public transit in almost every country we have visited (except Czech Republic) and I have NEVER been to a station this far underground.
When we hopped off the metro, we noticed a long-ish line for the elevator. My husband and I looked at each other, shrugged, and darted towards the stairwell.
We should've know then.
I had not seen a closed off stairwell behind doors in a metro station until El Coll | La Teixonera station. That should've been our first clue.
We made it up 4 flights of stairs, and I began to wonder where the heck the outside world was. Generally, it only takes a few minutes to 'see the light' when walking up metro stairs in any city.
20 minutes later, I noted a sign that stated we had ONLY 160 more steps to go. JOY!
Lord only knows how many we had already gone up...
When we finally reached the top, two station workers opened the door for us, shook their heads, laughed, and said something along the lines of "All of those stairs are bad for your health". They must have watched our adventure via the security cameras. Ha.
We exited the station, downed bottles of water, and caught our breath. All of that walking (more like climbing) and we still had about a 15 minute walk to Parc Guell.
Getting to the main area of Parc Guell was an adventure in it's own, but we finally made it!
It was around 11:00 when we hit the non-existent queue for Laie Park Guell; the famous Gaudi pavillion of the park.
Another no-go. The soonest available time to get in was 12:30.
Ughhhhhh.
We could have bought the tickets, but knew that the next availability would interfere with getting back to Sagrada Familia in time.
**It's super frustrating when there is not a single soul in line, yet you can't get into the place on a walk-in status.
We wandered around the free range parts of the park (which are actually neato), snapped some pictures of what we could see of Gaudi's works, then jumped on the bus (instead of the metro, from which we came), and went back to La Sagrada Familia.
*NOTE: The bus drops visitors off right in front of the main area in the park, whereas the nearest metro station is a bit of a walk through a neighborhood and through the nature trails in the less popular area of the park.
It was about 12:30 when we arrived back in the area of Sagrada Familia. The bus dropped us off near Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, which is one of the most beautiful buildings in Barcelona, in my opinion. The hospital is no longer a hospital (as of 2009), but is being converted into a cultural center. I had read about tours and saw some photos of the inside, and wanted to tour it if time permitted, but at this time in our day time wasn't on our side. I snapped a few pics of the front facade, and from there we headed to find lunch in the area.
We found a place to eat, but after finishing our lunch, we still had a half an hour to kill. We walked to Sagrada Familia and sat at the playground across the street.
It's always really neat when you see children from all over the world interacting with each other. My kids ran around the playground with Spanish kids, Chinese kids, and a few kids from the UK. They may not all speak each other's language, but they still manage to play and have fun while doing so. We had the same experience while in London at the Diana Memorial Playground.
The time had come to go into Sagrada Familia. I was super excited. I only had to wait nearly five hours to get in!
We flashed our timed tickets, got into line, and the guards passively checked our bags.
And then we were through.
I took so many photos of this place. This basilica, inside and out, seriously ate quite a few gigs of my SD, but I won't be posting them all (just a few of my favorites).
It was time to switch lenses and get those extra wide shots via fisheye. I am still getting used to this lens (I don't use it as often as I should). I almost didn't bring it, but very grateful that I did. This basilica is VERY tall, and it is near impossible to get wide shots, from floor to ceiling without an extra wide lens.
I crossed off one of my bucket list places: La Sagrada Familia.
We hit up a beach with swim suits this time around (you know what I mean if you read 'Venice, Italy: Day One').
And, we ate the best burgers that we have ever had. Ever.
Oh, and there's some weird stuff in between all of that!
Needless to say, we had some fun!
Trash trucks, crying babies, illegal beer vendors, screaming couples, and the slamming of car doors.
OVER and OVER again.
When I finally got out of bed at 05:30, after experiencing my first sleep in Barcelona, I was ready to go back to sleep.
So tired.
Barcelona doesn't rest, even in the wee hours of the morning. And because of that, our family didn't either!
We joked around about it at breakfast. It definitely didn't make us bitter to the city, but I'm just glad I wasn't the only one that barely got any shuteye.
After eating breakfast and grabbing some much needed coffee, we headed to my #1 must see in Spain, which is also on my European bucket List: La Sagrada Familia.
Oh, Sagrada Familia. How you make me angry.
We arrived exactly at 0900, knowing that this time would be when the doors open for the day. I also knew that we could have purchased advanced tickets for our visit, but I figured there were only so many sold online, and that there would be a number of ticket sales on site.
NOPE.
At 0900, being the 20th-ish person in line, the soonest we could get in was 13:45.
Errrrr.
I purchased the 13:45 tickets anyway, and then we had to flip flop our plans. We hopped on the metro and headed to Parc Guell.
Parc Guell by metro was one of the dumbest things we've ever done within any of our travels. I knew (with the help of a phone app) that a bus could have gotten us there from Sagrada Familia, but metro has fewer stops and is quicker by a half hour.
We should have rode the bus.
We took the L5 from S.Familia to El Coll | La Teixonera station and knew that we'd have a little bit of walking to do to reach Parc Guell.
A whole lot of walking is what we did, instead!
El Coll | La Teixonera station is deep, deep, deeply underground. I cannot stress that enough!
We've rode underground public transit in almost every country we have visited (except Czech Republic) and I have NEVER been to a station this far underground.
When we hopped off the metro, we noticed a long-ish line for the elevator. My husband and I looked at each other, shrugged, and darted towards the stairwell.
We should've know then.
I had not seen a closed off stairwell behind doors in a metro station until El Coll | La Teixonera station. That should've been our first clue.
We made it up 4 flights of stairs, and I began to wonder where the heck the outside world was. Generally, it only takes a few minutes to 'see the light' when walking up metro stairs in any city.
20 minutes later, I noted a sign that stated we had ONLY 160 more steps to go. JOY!
Lord only knows how many we had already gone up...
When we finally reached the top, two station workers opened the door for us, shook their heads, laughed, and said something along the lines of "All of those stairs are bad for your health". They must have watched our adventure via the security cameras. Ha.
We exited the station, downed bottles of water, and caught our breath. All of that walking (more like climbing) and we still had about a 15 minute walk to Parc Guell.
Getting to the main area of Parc Guell was an adventure in it's own, but we finally made it!
It was around 11:00 when we hit the non-existent queue for Laie Park Guell; the famous Gaudi pavillion of the park.
Another no-go. The soonest available time to get in was 12:30.
Ughhhhhh.
We could have bought the tickets, but knew that the next availability would interfere with getting back to Sagrada Familia in time.
**It's super frustrating when there is not a single soul in line, yet you can't get into the place on a walk-in status.
We wandered around the free range parts of the park (which are actually neato), snapped some pictures of what we could see of Gaudi's works, then jumped on the bus (instead of the metro, from which we came), and went back to La Sagrada Familia.
*NOTE: The bus drops visitors off right in front of the main area in the park, whereas the nearest metro station is a bit of a walk through a neighborhood and through the nature trails in the less popular area of the park.
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| Views of Barcelona from Parc Guell |
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| While fanning myself (it was HOT on this morning), my husband snapped a photo. |
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Casa Museu GaudÃ- The Gaudi's residence, now museum. |
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Tibidabo- a local amusement park that sits atop a mountain. |
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| The kids splashing water on themselves to cool off. |
It's always really neat when you see children from all over the world interacting with each other. My kids ran around the playground with Spanish kids, Chinese kids, and a few kids from the UK. They may not all speak each other's language, but they still manage to play and have fun while doing so. We had the same experience while in London at the Diana Memorial Playground.
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| My daughter and her new friend in Barcelona. |
Sitting on my ass at the playground also allowed me to capture my first selfie of the day!
The time had come to go into Sagrada Familia. I was super excited. I only had to wait nearly five hours to get in!
We flashed our timed tickets, got into line, and the guards passively checked our bags.
And then we were through.
I took so many photos of this place. This basilica, inside and out, seriously ate quite a few gigs of my SD, but I won't be posting them all (just a few of my favorites).
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| This photo was actually taken in the morning while I was in line to buy tickets. |
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| Rear facade of La Sagrada Familia Basilica |
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| This basilica actually reminds me of a Jim Henson Muppet. Am I crazy? It looks like a Gothic stone monster! |
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| A perfect day to carry my heaviest lens: 300mm |
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| A bad photoshop of what the basilica looks like without cranes. This basilica is STILL under construction and is not set to be finished until 2026! Construction began in 1882, and they continue to work on it daily (cranes were moving around and hard at work on the day we visited). When finished, La Sagrada Familia will be the tallest church in the world, knocking out Ulm Minster cathedral in Germany to take the top spot. *I am actually planning a trip to Ulm soon! Woot. Can't wait! |
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| The front entry to the inside of the basilica |
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| On the side of the main entrance, warm colors shine through glass panes. This is also the side that the sun rises on. |
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| Opposite of the front entrance side (sunset side), there are cool colored stained glass windows. I thought it was neat that each side of the nave had it's own color scheme. In most cathedrals/chapels/basilicas, both sides of a nave are typically identical. |
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| Two of my girls (with their sweaty hair) checking out the wood carved map of the basilica. |
It was time to switch lenses and get those extra wide shots via fisheye. I am still getting used to this lens (I don't use it as often as I should). I almost didn't bring it, but very grateful that I did. This basilica is VERY tall, and it is near impossible to get wide shots, from floor to ceiling without an extra wide lens.
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| Shot with my 50mm 1.4 |
We spent a good hour or so inside of the basilica; about as much time as our bodies could handle. It was my absolute favorite church/basilica that I have seen in Europe thus far, and I could've spent all day inside, however most of these architectural wonders are not air conditioned. Throw in tons of tourists on a 90+ degree day and this basilica felt like a colorful oven!
The time we did spend inside was glorious. La Sagrada Familia is a brilliant piece of art by itself: A magical place that leaves you feeling as if you shrunk and dove into a kaleidoscope!
I must note that out of everything we saw/did in Barcelona, this was my absolute favorite place, and well worth the wait. DO NOT skip this basilica if you come to Barcelona.
We didn't visit the towers because I didn't need to. We had already seen views of the city at Parc Guell AND climbed a ton of steps at the metro station, nor did we see the crypt and Gaudi's Tomb. But the main cathedral was amazing enough.
After being wowed by Sagrada Familia, we headed back to our apartment to get ready for some beach time. Our day was a hot one, and it hit peak heat when we exited the basilica. Jumping into some water was much needed!
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| Rambla de Mar at Port Vell |
Barcelona's beaches? MEH.
I wasn't impressed, but maybe because I come from a land where beaches are wide and long stretches of sand. Barcelona's beaches were actually man made for the Summer Olympics hosted by Barcelona in 1992! Who would've known? Yeah. So these beaches are not the nicest on earth, but they fit our water needs. We jumped in and cooled off for a few hours, and then headed back to the hotel to clean ourselves up before hitting the town in search of dinner.
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| The husband forgot to pack his beach sandals. What a tourist. Also, our daughter had a terrible blister, so he carried her all the way back. Such a great dad. I would've left her behind. Kidding. She'd be walking if dad weren't there. |
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| Columbus Monument in the shadows of the sun. |
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| Columbus Monument. The opposite side, facing the sunset. |
The sun was beginning to set. Sounds like a short day, but if you read my day one, you know that the sun is completely set around 22:15 (or 10:15pm)! That's a pretty long day!
It was around 9pm when we started our trek up and down La Rambla, in and out of the side streets. We unexpectedly stumbled across a burger joint that a friend of ours had recommended we try. We had forgot all about the place until we saw it: Bacoa Burger.
THEE best damn hamburger I have ever ate in my life.
My husband agrees.
OH MY GOD.
Writing this makes me want one right now...
At Bacoa Burger, you grab an order slip and pencil at the door, circle what it is that you want, hand it to the person taking orders, and done.
It's not the ordering process that's amazing, it's the burger. The hamburger is a gourmet, all organic masterpiece. Bacoa is boastful about their small footprint on this earth, and it shows while dining. Personally, I loved the 'recycled' wall of plants. My favorite part of the experience? The fact that they give you squirt bottles of sauces at the table.
Bacoa reminded us of Chipotle, but with burgers.
I could go into more detail, but seriously, I am getting hungry thinking about this place and it's about lunch time for me in my reality of today.
Must go eat before I drool on my keyboard.
Anyway, if you are ever in Barcelona and interested in somethings other than tapas, there are a few Bacoa locations, but the one we visited is on Carrer de Ferran, right off La Rambla.
After filling up on burgers, we walked around a bit in the Gothic Quarter. It was interesting to see children at a playground, in the dark, around 23:00. I'm not talking a few kids, I am talking about a playground full of kids with parents in tow! I guess when it's hot as heck during the day, you would save your energy for night. Explains why we couldn't sleep the night before, and why we wouldn't get good sleep on this night, either.
We went back to our apartment, and tried our best to ignore the hustle and bustle below our window.
We had a big day ahead: A trip to Tossa de Mar.
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