Day 22 - Barcelona - Cathedral, Gothic Quarter, Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar

We got a very good night sleep and woke up late. Greg and I went out to look for a grocery store. The kids of course, stayed home. It kind of takes a day to recover from the traveling, or maybe it's the heat that makes us so drowsy. We found a bigger market, finally, and I actually got excited to see more choices of food! We have been going to small and local places where we have been getting the basics. Today we got a decent grocery cart of food. Although, going to a grocery store where all the food labels are in Catalan can be a challenge. However, I asked for advice, and a very nice lady recommended what ham and cheese we should choose. We saw raw rabbit meat and live lobsters. We walked home with our little cart full of food. We had lunch at home and after cleaning up, we took a taxi to the Gothic quarter. We first saw the Cathedral of Barcelona also known as The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia.

 There was a long line to get in but I really wanted to go in because I thought it was the Cathedral by the Sea, which was in a book I read for book club, so it was special to me. When we got closer to the entrance, the "morality police" (Gregory's term) sold us a shawl to cover our shoulders and legs and then, the entrance was 7 euros each. Gregory and the kids were not interested but I was, so I went in by myself. It was well worth it. Some high school students were performing classical music and it was very pretty. I also went up the elevator to see a magnificent view of Barcelona. 

The cathedral was constructed from the 13th to 15th centuries. The cloister, which encloses the Well of the Geese was completed in 1448.[In the late 19th century, a neo-Gothic façade was constructed over the nondescript exterior that was common to Catalan churches. The roof is notable for its gargoyles, featuring a wide range of animals, both domestic and mythical. 

 Gregory and the kids had ice cream and walked around the Gothic Quarter while I was in the cathedral. After that, Gregory informed me that the cathedral wasn't the church that I wanted to see, so we walked to the Barrio la Ribera where you can see the Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar. That's the one that is mentioned in the book  La Catedral del Mar which I highly recommend reading.

 The basilica was built between 1329 and 1383 at the height of the Aragon kingdom's maritime and mercantile preeminence. It is an outstanding example of Catalan Gothic architecture. We rested on the pews for a while. After exploring the church a little more, we walked to the old port (Port Vell) because we wanted to see the sea. We sat down on a bench by the water, watching people ride their bikes, rollerblade, dance or just walk along the very alive port. We didn't do much but around 7:30pm we were all ready to come back home.  

 At home, we chatted with a girl from Israel who is renting a room in the same apartment as us. She gave us good tips of where to go in Israel and India. Gregory was surprised to hear that in December, Jerusalem actually gets cold and that we will be needing our jackets (I'm glad I didn't listen to him when he told us not to bring one). We had a nice family dinner in the spacious dining room and then we watched half of our favorite movie "Freaky Friday" with orange sorbet.

TIP: If you plan to visit the churches in Barcelona, don't wear short shorts or tank tops. If you do, bring a shawl to cover up, or they will either sell you something to wear or turn you away.
Barcelona Cathedral




Amazing views from the roof!


Tomb of Santa Eulalia in the interior of the Cathedral.

Walking in the Gothic quarter and Plaza del Rey








We got our treat!





Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar


Detail on the wall of men building the Basilica.

Gregory is trying out for a job with the morality police (but we don't think they'll let him join)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What I Learned from This Trip

What have I learned from traveling for a year? The last homework assignment for my kids was an essay about what they learned about our trip around the world. I told them that Gregory and I had to do it as well. Here I am, in front of my laptop and not knowing what to start with. I know it will be me who has changed and not the people or the places around me. I know this by experience because I have been away before and I know that the biggest changes happen inside you, in the way you see things, your perspective changes and I believe that’s where the growing happens. Right now, we might not be able to see it because it is too soon, but once we go back to our routines and our daily old lives, we will see, feel and live the change. I’m happy to say that one of my biggest dreams was to travel around the world. I always wrote in my journal that I wanted to visit more countries or just travel more with my family, but I always wrote them as a wish, a dream and I never really worked to make ...
Read more

Day 309 - Lunch with Gregory’s friend Axel - River Bus - Golden Mount Temple

Sunday, May 12, 2019. After last night's adventure, we told the kids they could sleep in today. Around noon, Gregory and I went to meet Axel, an old German friend of Gregory's. We had a delicious lunch at Coffee Beans by Dao. We had a lovely time chatting until 3:00pm when the waiter told us that they wanted to close the restaurant. Axel drove us back to our hotel and we promised to get together next time with his wife and daughter, who is two years older than Sunshine. The kids had a wonderful time resting in the room and went out for lunch on their own. They are so aware of their expenses, they told us that a bottle of water cost 60 THB at the restaurant, and in the market, it cost 10! So Daniel went to the 7/Eleven and bought a bottle there. I guess they have learned to live on a budget since that’s what we have been doing. The kids wanted to stay in the room but we decided to take the boat ride to see some of the city. They still whined and complained but we made them do i...
Read more

Day 15 - Tangiers

Image
Today we woke up at 9:00 am and went downstairs to our usual cafe to have our last breakfast there. The waiters already know us and what we like to drink. After breakfast, we went back to our place where our host, Rachid was waiting for us and said: why didn’t you wait for me, I would have paid for breakfast like yesterday”. He never made it very clear if breakfast was included or not, in any case, food is inexpensive in Morocco and we said that it was fine. We decided to move to another house where we can have a common area for the family plus a kitchen, not that I want to cook. Also, Rachid’s place was quite noisy and we were in need of a good night’s sleep. We thanked our host and took a taxi to our new place, which was not far away from where we were. Actually, it is very close to the Catholic cathedral. Our new place is a much bigger and more modern apartment. It is not as fancy and traditional as our previous one, but this will do for the extra two days that we are stayin...
Read more