Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Day 12 - Barcelona


Beautiful day in Barcelona.  Another wonderful city that I would very much like to return to and explore.

We had a half day tour with Barcelona Day Tours.  Our guide, Marta, was excellent.  She spoke great English as she spend most of her youth in the US and returned to Barcelona when she was 16.   We toured Montjuic, the mountain where the Olympic stadium is, and the Olympic Village and other areas that were created for the 1992 olympics. 

We visit Parc Quell where Antonio Gaudi created some fabulous artwork.  Gaudi’s artwork is fantastical.  His buildings are whimsical and remind one of Dr. Seuss, yet he never intended his art to be whimsical.  He was inspired by nature which he said was never straight or flat and all of his art and structures are curved and covered in mosaics. 

Lastly, we visited La Segrada Familia, a cathedral that was begun in 1882 and is one of Gaudi’s greatest creations.  It is still being built today and is probably only about ½ done.   The outside is magnificent and totally different than any church we have ever seen.   I am sorry that we didn’t get tickets to visit the interior, as others that went said it was memorable.

Unfortunately, our tour ran late and we did not have a lot of time of port, so we wound up going back to the ship.  I was disappointed to not spend time on Las Ramblas, the main thoroughfare through Barcelona…but maybe next time.

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