Barcelona: Day 3

To go to Barcelona and to not visit La Sagrada Familia is unspeakable. It's kinda the symbol of city peeps! It's in view from all angles of the city; you can't escape it like how you can't escape the Eiffel Tower of Paris, the Harbour Bridge of Sydney and the trannies of Bangkok.

Church after church in Europe - they all start to look the same. But not Gaudi's church; he's a Gothic architect extraordinaire! The 'bony' appearance of the building is his signature but you know, this isn't an essay and I'm not going to bore my myself nor anyone else about style, structure, symbology blah blah blah blah - I gave you a link above! Though, I do have to say the mathematical precision achieved by simple methods was pretty impressive. The inner nerd strikes again!

Who's a happy tourist with the audio tour? The exterior of the front entrance.


Yeah, it's the interior.


Back of the church. Fruits topping the side naves.

I could post more photos up but this would just get boring and anyway, photos don't really capture the atmosphere of the place. Well, at least not my photos. There's a bit of tragic story about Gaudi. He got a bit down and died before the church's completion.... which is planned for the year 2026. Yep, that's right, they're still trying to finish it.

Being in a Gaudi mood, we made our way to Park Güell, the site of many Gaudi works and his own house.

Someone not looking very happy about the imminent steep trek. My view of fellow trekkers.

Having escalators up that hill certainly helps.


The view from the top of the hill with Barcelona's own Gherkin.

Time was not our friend today and by the time we completed the ascent (it didn't that long, really) it was evident that planes would be missed and friendships destroyed if the descent to the park was made.

Here is my 'so close yet so far' photo of the park. One day, I shall return!

Tummies needed a final feed before boarding our respective flights and the La Boqueria market was the choice venue. Even though it was the Spanish lunch time, for some reason a lot of the market stalls were shutting up shop :( We ended up at a tapas restaurant that was probably more tourist trap than genuine fare.

Market entrance

Snacks galore


I nearly dropped a croquette, hence Kt's face - really!


Freshly squeezed juices. Hard to come by in London. For dessert, I opted for fruit rather than add to the ice cream tally.

My souvenir. White chocolate with dried strawberry pieces. Yum!

Well, my backpack and I were left to our own devices as everyone deserted me for their earlier flights. Damn Ryanair and their one-flight-out-of-Girona schedule. In that time, I wandered the streets and bought a few tacky magnets.

One more rumble on La Rambla.

In my solidarity I also stumbled into Barcelona's Chinatown. Us chinks always manage to find each other somehow. What I was actually looking for was the Arc de Triomf; the Spanish, Moorish lesser known version of the Parisian Neoclassical counterpart. Maybe not worth a special trip to visit, but it is located at the end of a long pedestrianised boulevard where one can enjoy a good ol' book on a park bench.

Yeah, there are a few things Barcelona does in the way of Paris but with Spanish flair. Maybe that's why I like it so much. If Paris and Barcelona were sisters, I'd wanna hang out with them! Paris would be the pretty, refined, elegant, older sister while Barcelona, though not much younger would be the sexy (but not slutty sexy), relaxed, funky younger sibling. I will return one day!

The flight back to London was as painful as the arrival except I ran into some people I knew and at least had some company on the Stansted Express..... which got cancelled and we had to board a replacement bus service instead..... ugh!