Saturday kicked off the true adventures in Barcelona...after fueling up on cafè and something way too crispy, chocolately, and yummy. In true Italian Katie fashion by the end of the first block something already caught my eye so of course we started meandering through the Naples like alleys with shops and cafes lining both sides. Luckily, we weren't that far away from where we wanted to be- Catedral de la Santa Crue. This cathedral was burried in the Barri Gòtic area, just on the other side of La Rambla.
The most striking difference between this cathedral to those I'm used to in Napoli was the amazing stain glass windows. The sunlight filtered through the otherwise dark sanctuary illuminating the hundreds of colors strategically arranged. Simply beautiful. I still don't get the need to have the remains of important people in these buildings through. Well, there is a lot of things about the Catholic Church that I don't understand...but I think that is the one that causing the most confusion in my head. Did these people say "I hope my remains get buried (or put on display) at _____?" Yes, these are the thoughts that go through my head while I'm walking around these old buildings... Once leaving the cathedral (and admiring its moat) we headed towards Parc de le Ciutadella. If I haven't already bragged about the weather we had, let me do so now- blue sky with the sun streaming down and
For the 1888 Universal Exposition, many of the buildings now in the park were built, including the Natural History Museum (Castel dels Tres Dragons). While we walked around admiring everything, hundreds of runners were utilizing the paths within the park running drills and for a split second I wished I was out there with them...but then my body remembered the marathon just a few weeks back. Piano, piano.
The bench lined walk ways with flower covered branches arching over them were simply stunning, as was the amount of grass. I guess I am becoming more of city girl with each passing month! On our trek through the park we saw dogs playing fetch, an enormous Mammoth statue, old men playing bocce ball, and the greenest of mini parrots sticking out of the palm trees. Eventually we found the Cascada, a fountain designed by...yep you guessed, it Gaudí. This was one of his projects as a student and he sort of designed it after the Trevi Fountain in Rome. Although there was only a ton of algae and a floating watermelon rind the water around the fountain, somehow it just blended with the somewhat natural look of the fountain. Well, minus the gold figures on top that I really just didn't care for. Maybe if there were fish I could have looked passed the goldness...maybe. Let's see here. Then it was off to my favorite place of all time, but now since you're all Gaudí experts I won't take you through that again. On the route back we wandered through more new streets, re-exploring where we had been the night before. Stopping by Mercat St. Joseph there was some permanent damage done... I love looking at all the stands: produce, fish, spices, cheese, and even the occasional meat case. Well, they took it to a whole new level with ham legs. Cured. Hoof and all. Ick. I may need therapy to work through this.
Fast forward to dinner that night along the water. Finding a place to sit us at 11pm was no tough task. Getting through said dinner when I'm staring at a wall with no less than 3 pig legs hanging from it- tough. Very tough when you realize that the white thing stabbed into it is a "juice pan" and MAJ545 teases you about it the entire time. Gracias by the way.
I think I've captured most of that last collage. Some of those pics are just random but too much fun not to include. And yes, those are our "map shots." By that time of the day all map rules had been thrown out the window since we'd walked way too many miles and were in dire need of naps.
It truly was a fabulous trip and I couldn't have asked for a better escape from Italia. Although I'm not one who typically enjoys returning to places I've been...I'd consider returning to Barcelona because that's how much I enjoyed it. PLUS, I need to see the progress made on the most beautiful building ever!
