Barcelona Day 2

Woke up at 9am after a pretty sound sleep.

Visited La Sagrada Familia, an unfinished cathedral Gaudi dedicated his last years to. It’s pretty amazing – too many tourists, though. Tried to get into el Templo for free but it’s 8 euros. Some Spaniards were playing petanca in the park. Walked up to Wendy’s old missionary apartment, past a cool hospital. Saw the elders walking out of the LDS chapel and spoke with them for a while.

Visited Park Guëll, another Gaudi creation, intended as a housing complex for the wealthy (but ending up as a park when it didn’t work out). Saw some excellent musicians: a guitar/bass/drums trio and a choir from Avignon doing some singing during a tourist trip. We saw some of them later in the metro, still singing. We took a tour of the Gaudi Museum, one of the only things we’ve actually paid to see. (Wendy says we’ve lived on $12/day so far.)

Visited Montjuïc and took lots of pictures. The castle has an excellent view of the Barcelona skyline and the Mediterranean Sea. Walked through the park, including a portion with lots of musical art you could step on, push, or pull to play notes. Passed by the Olympic Stadium. Then on to the Palau Nacional, which is currently the site of a big car show that made it difficult to get back to the metro. They were charging 12 euros to see SUVs, which is apparently a novelty over here.

Walked down Las Ramblas again – Wendy had another falafel. They have my favorite cereal here – Cruesli au chocolat – I’ll be taking a few boxes home. Found a cool music store where a guy was playing When I’m Sixty-Four on the piano. Sent and read some e-mail and transferred digital photos to CD-ROM so I can start over on the memory cards. Went to a concert by a German youth choir in the cathedral nearby. Walked down Passeig de Gracia, where there are some fascinating apartments designed by Gaudi (and others) on what’s called the Block of Discord.

We had some tapas today for lunch. And freshly squeezed orange juice from a cool little Zumo machine.

Day 3