Day 23 - La Sagrada Familia, Casa Batlló, Las Ramblas and dinner with old friend

We have been so happy and comfortable in our new home that it is hard to leave the house. Yes, even in Barcelona, or perhaps we are just tired of moving around!
We left after our usual breakfast to see the most visited building in Europe, Gaudi's masterpiece La Sagrada Familia. We asked the concierge the best way to get there. Of course, he was going to call a taxi, since we are staying in a fancy "barrio" (area) but we told him that we were looking to save money. He directed us to the kiosk to get a metro-bus card for 10.20 euros that's good for 10 trips around the city. That was the cost of the taxi one way!

Transportation is very good in Barcelona. We only waited a few minutes for the bus. Also, it is nice to get in the bus to see the city and the locals. We made it to the church only to find out that it was fully booked for the next couple of days. We were supposed to get the tickets in advance online if we wanted to get in! Bummer. We spent a good amount of time looking at the different angles of the church and we read about Gaudi's architecture and his life. Do you know how Gaudi died? He was run over by a tram and no one would take him to a hospital because he looked like a homeless person! A good lesson to learn is not to judge someone by there looks, although Sunshine pointed out that the real lesson is always dress nicely, shower and shave.

After that, we took the metro to see the Casa Batlló. Beautiful place, it is 20 euros (each!) for a chance to visit empty rooms so we stayed outside admiring the flow and movement of Gaudi's architecture. We thought about making some money by renting out the bench just in front of the house! After that, we walked to Plaza Catalunya which probably should be called Plaza de las Palomas (Pigeon Park). There were so many pigeons above us that we rushed to eat our lunch in one of the shady benches due to fear of having a shower of you know what!

It was so hot and muggy that I wanted to go shopping just for the air conditioning. Luckily Gregory spotted the Movistar Centre and we went in. Downstairs was the flagship Movistar shop. Upstairs there was free WiFi and an Instagram photo exposition. It was really neat and Sunshine and I really enjoyed it. Gregory and Daniel found seats with a great view of the plaza and the Ramblas! We sat there for a while avoiding the crowds and the heat and then we went to walk down Las Ramblas. A must do in Barcelona, it is a popular street full of kiosks, flowers, ice cream, food stands and more! You can see a lot of important buildings along the way. We walked a little bit in the crowds and found a museum of photography. Sunshine and I went in while Gregory and Daniel went to visit music stores. After a while, the boys took us to the shop they found. Gregory found guitars for a decent price. We had promised to get Sunshine one for the trip so after an hour of chatting we decided to buy it! She was thrilled! She ended up getting a smaller one because she has to carry it for a whole year. We took the bus back home, rested a bit, and got ready to have dinner with an old friend from the translation agency where Gregory and I worked 16 years ago.

The kids didn't want to go, they were exhausted. Gregory and I met with Rocio and her family in a restaurant called Parking Pizza It is built inside an old parking lot, and as a tourist, you would walk right by. We had a great time catching up and talking about both families' dreams of traveling and living abroad. Rocio's toddler was done by 10:00pm so we said our goodbyes and promised to stay in touch.

It was too early to go home so Gregory and I decided to go back to our neighborhood for drinks. It was a very nice evening with my hubby, finally reconnecting and having time to ourselves. I know everyone had given me this advice but it is so hard to do in our hectic lives in the US. Here we had the time to finally do it. Plus, places are actually open late, unlike Encinitas.

Daniel's View

We visited a few buildings today, including ANOTHER church. Everyone was crowding at the entrance in the heat trying to get in. Yes, this church did look cool, but only people with tickets could get in and you could only buy tickets online. We then took the metro to another Gaudi building and we sat down on a bench in front of the building and watched the people walk by.
Then we walked to Pigeon Park and ate lunch. After that, we walked to a nearby Movistar, a phone carrier, where they had phones on the 1st floor, and an "Instagrammer's Corner" which I only went to for the free Wi-Fi. Later, when we were ready to go, and Sunshine and my mom had to use the bathroom, my dad and I checked out the phones on the first floor. They had the Lilac Purple Samsung Galaxy S9+! They also offered the first 3 camera phone, the Huawei P20 Pro.
But we had to leave to go walk down a crowded street with lots of Ice Cream stands. Sunshine and I saw slushies and really wanted some and so our parents bought us some, and they were very refreshing in the summer heat.
Sunshine and my mom went to see a Greek art exhibit while my dad and I went to look for a guitar. We ended up at this store and looked at the instruments. I tried out a ukulele and I wanted to try out a piano, but Sunshine and my mom couldn't find the music shop and so my dad and I went to find them. We took them back to the place and my dad ended up buying Sunshine a Guilele, a guitar the size of a tenor ukulele but tuned to the key of A because a low E would have made the strings too loose. Becuase of the way it's tuned, you can play it as a guitar, or not play the first 2 strings and only play the last four strings so you can play ukulele chords as well. The rest of the day was just Sunshine and me trying to tune the Guilele correctly.

La Sagrada Familia