Barcelona - Saturday 9-23-17

Lindsay loved watching the sun come up while we were still flying and the awe of the stars before that.  We land and the kids are all excited to be here…and to get off that plane!  We are all like zombies but we have someone picking us up for a tour today of the city.  After Customs we get the luggage which was many pieces and we all head to brush teeth and try to be presentable.  We meet “Joe” who is holding a sign at the exit and load up the luggage and us into a van and start to tour.  Joe explains that we must chew gum in order to stay awake so we are all chewing like crazy and Joe is talking.  Our first stop was “Museu Nacional D’Art De Catalunya”  on a hilltop above the city.  There were great views of the city and fountains from this vantage point so we took lots of photos.    By the second stop we were on information overload and in sleep deprevation mode.  Chris was falling asleep sitting up and Joe’s voice was lulling us all into a comatose state when we were driving.  We were in and out of the van at various sights and landmarks throughout the city.  We were at the Olympic Village and stadium, saw the arena where the bull fights used to be held (they no longer are allowed in Barcelona), Casa Batllo and La Pedrera which are both Gaudi creations and many things I have already forgotten  before heading to Park Guell.  It was a beautiful day in Barcelona and by the time we reached the park it had gotten quite warm as well.  Joe asks if we want to take the stairs down or climb them at the end…dumb question Joe.  He was having difficulty with the people at the gate so it seemed like we followed him to several entrances before we had to go back to the first one.  We go in and he explains to us where we are to meet him…right.  It is now past noon and we haven’t eaten since the plane and have no water and it’s hot.  This place is packed with people.  It is interesting with the layout and the unusual buildings and landscape.  We take photos and get to the point where we think we are supposed to exit and it doesn’t appear to take us to the correct exit.  Lots of stairs and ramps going up and all of us dehydrated and tired.  Teresa and Chris decide to go and find Joe and they will get him to drive to the bottom exit so I don’t have to climb again.  Paige, Lindsay, Keith and I wait at the exit for what seemed like an hour before they finally arrived.  During the wait time Lindsay almost had us convinced that Joe had just dumped us there and had run off with all of our luggage.  We went to Sagrada  Familia which is the famous cathedral Gaudi started and then we asked him to take us to the hotel because we couldn’t take anymore. 

Park Guell

Sagrada Familia

Beach near Casino

I had changed hotels a month or so before to SB Glow.  The hotel I had previously booked happened to be in the area where the terriost attack occurred on Las Ramblas just a short time before we left.  S B Glow was a new hotel and very nice.  It was near Torre Agbar which is a landmark and bullet shaped building.   We were able to get into our rooms, and get drinks in the lobby and rest for a bit.  I had gotten Teresa and Chris tickets to Camp Nou which is the Barcelona Soccer (FC) and they needed to be there for the stadium tour at 4 PM.  They get a taxi to the stadium and the rest of us went to the rooftop pool and restaurant for some food.  Teresa and Chris get back about 6:30 and were excited about their stadium tour.  Teresa said their cab ride back to the hotel was even better because the driver could not speak any English.  They managed to get back and by then we were all crashing.  The kids were sleeping and Keith, Teresa and I went to the rooftop bar and had a cocktail while watching the gorgeous sunset before turning in.  The views from up there were stunning.

 

 

 

This stadium is huge!

Press Box

They had dinner near the stadium...looks yummy!

Our view of sunset from the hotel rooftop bar