Week 2- Barcelona!

One of the best parts of living in London is the ease with which you can travel around Europe! The first trip we planned was only 10 days after our arrival in London. Our friends Grant and Leslie Cvitkovitch- affectionately refered to as the "Cvits", had planned a tour around Spain and invited us to meet them somewhere along their path. We decided on Barcelona! The Cvits were going to be there from the 7-9, so we booked the 6-11 to have a little extra time.
Rob and I have been using home swapping for about a year and a half (I'll dedicate a post to that in the future if you're interested), we've managed to save up quite a few "points" that we can use to stay in homes around the world. We found a lovely flat in Barcelona that was available for 5 nights while the owner, Eva, was away on a business trip.

So, on September 6th we headed over to Luton airport for our flight. Since we'd never been to Luton we left plenty of time to get there and ended up arriving around 2.5 hours early for our 2 hour flight! Then the flight was delayed, ugh. We spent about twice as much time in the airport then on the plane. Anyhow, we eventually had an uneventful flight that ended in a long queue to go through customs, found the train into the city after a bit of confusion and headed towards our flat. Eva had left the keys with the hostess at the Italian restaurant just below the flat- it seemed like a great plan... except when you have an evening flight that gets delayed...There was a *bit* of stress when we realized the restaurant was due to close at midnight and we were just getting on the train at 11:30! However, it was all fine, the last few tables were still finishing up, we got the keys just in time!

Eva's flat is apparently typical of that in the Eixample. It was built around the late 19th century and full of historic charm. The elevator was the smallest I'd ever seen let alone taken- I don't love elevators at the best of times, but it worked fine- except for never stopping on our floor haha, fortunately it was just a few stairs down from where we would get off. The unit was long and narrow with small rooms on either side and a nice living room at the end. The kitchen was so small that the fridge was kept down the hall in the spare bedroom! As in many European homes, the shower and toilet were in separate rooms, but unusual in that they were separated by the kitchen!

Barcelona is a beautiful city with a great transit system that took us everywhere we needed to go and quite cheaply, our flat was in the Eixample and 2 minutes away from the subway- Entença (if you're curious). Our first day we went to the Gothic Quarter. We toured around the Cathedral, walked down the Ramblas, had cocktails and snacks in a very cool and tiny whole in the wall bar and then thought we'd head to the Parc Guell. We had checked the availably of tickets before heading over and there were lots, so we weren't worried as we went on our way.

Parc Guell is on the top of a hill. There are a few entrances, but maps lead us to one that included a very steep and long walk up the hill. It was hot. There were escalators on the street to help, but they weren't all working. That's okay, we're not in terrible shape, we like walking. We made it to the entrance, sweaty and tired, but ready to explore the park. Only one problem- the tickets had been sold out! Oh well, back down the hill, back on the subway to head back to the flat for showers and regrouping. 

We found a little bar that had live music- a duo playing and singing Tango! Listen They were fantastic, and the bar had a really nice vibe, but no food except these little jars of dips and spreads served with a basket of melba toasts and a dry sausage. It was not too bad, to be honest, Rob was quite happy with it. I was unimpressed and stopped nibbling to save my appetite for a tapas meal later on. 

Barcelona is filled with cafés, bars and restaurants, many with outdoor seating all along the road. It's such a fun atmosphere, but definitely tough to decide where to settle and difficult to find a table even with all that choice. We did eventually find a place that looked nice and had a table for us. We accidentally ordered way too much, assuming that the tapas dishes would be tiny! In some restaurants we went to during the week they were tiny and some were more like main dishes. We never really knew what we were going to get! 

After dinner we went for a long walk around the city, enjoyed some beautiful views- for the second time that day we walked up the hill, and finally headed back to the flat, full bellies, tired feet, but very happy.

That was Saturday. Sunday morning we decided it was the best day to go back to Parc Guell, so we got online and bought tickets first this time. There was some rain in the forecast, but it looked like we would miss it, so off we went. Well... we didn't miss it. By the time we were on the bus headed to the park it started to rain. I had chosen a white dress (thinking we'd miss the rain and I'd be cool and comfortable). I was definitely cool. And drenched. And of course the more drenched I got, the more see through my dress became! Fortunately, I had thrown another dress into the backpack just in case. I ended up doing a quick change on the side of the road partially shielded by Rob holding an umbrella!

That's alright. We had umbrellas, I no longer looked half naked, the rain seemed to slow and we were in the park enjoying the beautiful views and the amazing Gaudi architecture. The Cvits had also decided on the park and so we met up. The rain that had slowed, increased. It was absolutely torrential rain. You can see in the pictures the heavy downfall- and how wet we are! here's a short video of the rain pouring out through a spout. We decided to part ways with the Cvits and meet up later as we were all drenched. It would have been nice to see the park on a beautiful sunny day, but we certainly had an interesting experience ...

After a hot shower and a cup of tea it was time to head out to meet the Cvits for dinner and then on to the famous Palau de la Música Catalana for Gran Gala Flamenco. That was an amazing night. The music hall is incredibly beautiful. All four of us were blown away by the flamenco performance. It was really unlike anything we had ever seen or heard. Definitely a highlight of the trip.

That brings us to Monday, our visit to La Sagrada Familia. It was absolutely stunning. The architecture is by Gaudi, who died long before the completion of the church, in fact, it's still not complete and won't be until sometime next year. La Sagrada Familia has been under construction for about 150 years! As in all his work, Gaudi takes his inspiration from nature. No detail in the entire massive structure is without religious significance, reference to nature or both. This is no ordinary "old church". I hope you can get a sense of it's magnificence through my (and Grant's) pictures, but if you ever get the opportunity to visit I'd highly recommend it.

That night the four of us had yet another yummy tapas meal. This time it was on the recommendation of one of Grant's colleagues. We ordered dish after dish and everything was delicious. There may have been one or two drinks along the way as well. The Cvits left the next morning, while Rob and I visited  Casa Batló for more Gaudi, and a little shopping- mostly at the Mango outlet.

We headed back to London on the 11th.