Barcelona in 3 days - part 2

After lunch (paella) at a restaurant in Barceloneta we had a walk along the waterfront seeing some of the sights we had already seen but now close up.

The World Trade Centre Barcelona

 This building - I can't remember what it is - is quite near the gold fish.

Marc - sculpture by Robert Llimos

We hopped on to the bus again and made our way to La Sagrada Familia. There are no words to express how wonderful the structure is. The sculptures on the outside walls and towers are really intricate.

When the church is finished it will have 18 towers, 12 dedicated to the apostles, 4 to the evangelists, one to Jesus and another to Mary. The building is still under construction so there was lots of evidence, both inside and out, of the ongoing work.

Inside it is a completely spiritual experience. I resented the other tourists because I felt the basilica could best be appreciated in silence.

What can I say!

Hopped on again to hop off at Parc Guell. this park was constructed at the beginning of the 20th century, thanks to a commission by textiles entrepreneur and patron to Gaudi, Count Guell. It was originally intended to be an English style garden city but the proposed development did not take off. The city of Barcelona acquired it in 1923 to convert it into a public park. Gaudi himself lived in the show house which has now become the Gaudi Museum house. The design of the park shows Gaudi's inspiration and respect for nature. It is tailored to the natural environment with sinuous forms and shapes that are combnined with original architectural ideas.

The main entrance to the park is flanked by a couple of buildings that look like they come from a fairytale and in fact they do - Hanserl and Gretel. Then there is a huge staircase with a multi-coloured lizard creature. The staircase leads to a walkway supported by twisting rock pillars that seem to be growing out of the ground like tree trunks.

 At the top is a terraced area from where you get a panoramic view of Barcelona.

I took advantage of the benches for a bit of a rest! My feet were killing me.






We made our way back down again from Parc Guell to the bus stop where we did our final hop on of the day. Having refreshed ourselves in the hotel we set off to choose an eatery for evening tapas. This involved strolling through the nearby streets where we found a lovely chocolate shop with fantastic Easter creations.

Our choice of restaurant had the rudest head waiter we have ever experienced. Any time we needed his attention he told us to wait five minutes, even when we wanted to pay him! The people next to us were in fits at his antics.

After a mammoth day of sightseeing and hopping on and off we headed for bed knowing that another busy day was ahead of us.