Barca

We finished our cruise and flew to Barcelona.  We had heard from many a peeps that Barcelona was among the best cities in the world.  We were not disappointed..

Entrance to our hotel

Doors at the our hotel, aren't they beautiful?

The outside of our hotel

Chilling at the lounge of you guess it-our hotel

Barcelona has a distinctive architecture that features flatter ornamentation on buildings.  It's really stunning to behold.

Candy!!!  Just one of the bounteous displays at La Boqueria market

 

 Like most visitors to Barcelona, we went to check out La Sagrada Familia, a famous cathedral designed by the famous architect Antonio Guadi.  As a child Guadi was an invalid and couldn't run and play with kids his age.  Instead his mother would take him on extensive nature walks and nature continued to be a great inspiration for him for the rest of his life.

Lizards, snakes ,turtles, flowers and seeds adorn the edifice instead of the traditional gargoyles and spires.

 There are unorthodox carvings outside the entrance that depict the last week of Christ's life, the work is magnificent.  It's one of the most awe inspiring buildings I've ever been to.  The designers use of light made it feel very spiritual.

Scriptures carved into the door as you enter the building.

Guadi designed the columns to be like trees and branches.

Candice and I both felt like Guadi's modernistic design kinda looked like a blend of organic, nature inspired and sci-fi alien aesthetic.  Trust me, it totally works.

 We went to some ornate public parks and saw masterpieces at the Miro museum.

Pastries were consumed in large quantities.

Park Guell, a public park again designed by Antonio Guadi 

 

Attempting to use the hotel's public computer, I ate it another time.  This was repeated twice.  It really was because the stool sucked.

 Having enough of anything cultural, we went to the beach and there we went boob hunting and swam in the warm Mediterranean water.  It was relaxing and perfect.

 

Spaniards have a passion for their ham like you won't believe.  In this pic we are enjoying some traditional cured ham with machego cheese and tomato rubbed bread.  That was just the beginning.  We ate so well in Barcelona.

This is a great pic because it looks like I've gained about 25 lbs in my gut.  I love pics that turn out that way.

Barcelona is without a doubt one of the most amazing cities in the world.  It's beautiful, has amazing food and feels very cosmopolitan.  It was nice being able to speak the language even though it's been 12 years since my mission.

Next stop: Morocco