Barcelona - Excuse me while I Picasso your face

We flew into Barcelona and played for two days before we got on the boat. I have never had any real desire to go to Spain. I don't know why, but I didn't. But I was blown away by Barcelona. It is beautiful. I'd go back in a heartbeat.

The architecture is amazing. All of the apartments have balconies with beautiful flower pots. The climate is great. It's on the water. Enough said.

Our apartment was right by the Sagrada Familia. A remarkable and still unfinished church by Antoni Gaudí. It has been under construction since 1882 and as of right now completion is planned for 2026.




We spent the afternoon walking around the different neighborhoods. Seeing the Gothic Quarter. Walking down Los Ramblas. Walking down to the port - and seeing the Columbus statue. All while trying to will ourselves to stay wake.






Of course when Caisa found out there was an Aquarium, we had to go. Now I don't know if you know but aquariums are kind of dark. The dim lighting illuminates the fish tanks. The dim lighting is also conducive to sleep. We were going on about 36 hours without sleep. I may have sat down and fallen asleep. My mom may have come over to me, woken me up and told me I was breathing loudly. It may have happened more than once. I knew right then, that I wasn't going to make it to the 9pm fountain light show. The whole family crashed at the apartment at about 9pm and woke up at noon.

Our breakfast of champions - Spanish hot chocolate and pastries!



Then we went to the Picasso Museum. Dad needed proof that he actually went to museums and cathedrals the whole trip! I loved the Picasso Museum. In addition to the permanent collection, there was also a fabulous special exhibit - Forgetting Velázquez. Las Meninas. Picasso did forty-four interpretations of the Velazquez painting Las Meninas. It was a fascinating exhibit seeing the two artists imitating each other. I loved it.


Then we did a little more walking around. The Cathedral:


Barcelona is beautiful, and I'm so glad it was one of our stops.