Spain - Barcelona

I arrived in Barcelona to meet my family to start the family portion of my vacation. I waited in the airport for David and then we headed to the air bnb we stayed in for our visit in Barcelona. He and I walked around the area we were staying in hopes to find some small snacks and wine. We were successful and brought it all back to our apartment to catch up. He had come from Uganda from a work trip and I had come from Tanzania. We swapped Africa stories over wine, rested and waited for my mom and brothers to arrive. They arrived and we headed to find a place for dinner. On Monday we went to the Casa Batllo and took a tour. The house is amazing and Gaudi was such a visionary. Most of his stuff really reminds me of Dr. Seuss. Then we headed to La Sagrada Familia...we waited in line with the tickets I had bought in advance got to the front and were turned away because I bought tickets for the wrong day. Omg. Fortunately, they were able to refund me and we were able to get in later in the afternoon (sans a tower visit..but oh well). I would have been very disappointed had we not been able to get into the cathedral. Wow, it was breathtaking.  On Tuesday, we took a cooking class on La Rambla - more on that to come next. And then my mom and I decided to stick it out and explore the ocean front. We walked through the narrow streets, stopped at the Arc de Triomf and made our way to the Mediterranean where we stopped in an Ice Bar to escape the heat...omg, was it ever hot and humid, so it was a nice change. We had a mini photo shoot in the bar, since we were the only ones in there! ha On our walk back to the metro to get back to the apartment, we stopped at fun looking bars for cocktails, snacks and gossip/catching up. It was a great afternoon, exhausting, but wonderful. Wednesday was our last day in Barcelona - I know, too short. Before we headed for the train station, we went back to La Rambla with David and my brothers. We found the Fuente de Canaletas and drank from the fountain signifying that we would return to Barcelona. Mom and I had searched for it the day before and had rough time finding it, it isn't very big so it is easy to miss (it is next to the Burger King at the top of La Rambla..ha!) We enjoyed tapas and sangria and then headed for the train station with a quick drive around Camp Nou, the futbol stadium. It is huge! 

Until next time, Barcelona. I will miss you.