Mediterranean Vacation

We left last Friday for two nights in Barcelona followed by a seven night cruise.   We hoped the cruise would meet our "vacation" needs - pools, convenience, relaxed setting - and allow us to experience aspects of Europe.  We could see Pompeii, Naples, and Rome without staying in the chaos of southern Italy.

The kids couldn't wait.  Every night the last eight months they insisted, "Tell us about the boat."  "There will be slides, all the ice cream you can eat, hot dogs, kids club..."

We left our house at 11:00 and arrived, via Frankfurt airport, at our hotel in Barcelona by 4:30.  Located in the Catalunya region, Barcelona is considered Spain's second city.  We hopped on the clean and easy metro system to the Eixample district to eat dinner and passed Casa Mila  by Gaudi, a Catalan famous for his Modernista architecture.  Dave and I loved the tapas and the sangria - though we stopped by Micky D's for nuggets for Owen.

Saturday morning we visited Sagrada Familia - Gaudi's most famous and still unfinished church.  He began the project in 1883 and even today it is not expected to be completed for another 30 years. As we walked around the line to enter, passing hundreds of people, I clutched my advance tickets a little tighter.  We went straight to the Passion facade elevator to take us 215 feet up to view the city and the Church's on going construction.

 

Owen could not ride the elevator so we snuck granola bars and hid from guards while Emily and Dave went up.

I found the Church breathtaking and so unlike any cathedral we visited.

Next, we stopped at a playground - Dave had to get his energy out.

I wanted to hit Rick Steve's top places - his three triangle "don't miss" sites.  He provided a walking tour for the next site, the Ramblas, Barcelona's main drag.  Since I forgot to pack our I-product chargers, we hit the Apple store as well.  (We also searched for socks for Owen and pajama's for Emily - so much for organized packing.)  We started in Placa de Catalunya, the main square with a beautiful fountain and lots of pigeons.

We did a "short sweet walk" for a three-stop dessert.  We ate turron at Casa Colomina.  The churros place was closed for siesta, but we loved the chocolate at Fargas, a shop founded in 1827.

We wondered through Barri Gotic, the Gothic Quarter an found a cool store that made belts and bags out of old Barcelona banners.  Of course, I had to get a belt.

At the bottom of the Rambles, we bowed to our favorite mime, rode the lion, and rested on the pier.