A few of my favorite post cards! I needed to find stamps all day!
{side note: I spent all day SEARCHING for stamps and finally found a tabacco shop open with them and then FORGOT to mail them, so on the train to Luzern I panicked since they all had Spanish stamps and asked the woman working at the train station if she would mail them and she said she would! and you guys, she did!}
The thing I miss most about Spain is the tapas.
My brother and sister-in-law stayed at Hotel Barcelona Universal, and while we stopped by to say, "hi" my sister brought up all this espresso! and they gave us free cookies!
After our morning routine we bought our tickets online and headed to La Sagrada Familia, it was a great choice to get them online, it saved us time in line.
Husband has been here before, but he was still shocked to see the completion of the ceiling.
And last time we were here the stained glass wasn't as complete...
Above the alter is this hanging light fixture above the crucifix.
The pillars are supposed to mimic palm trees and reflect elements of nature.
The whole church glitters with the sunlight and is glowing.
If it weren't for the toddler pulling me around and the baby fussing I could stand there all day.
These balconies and staircases each had intricate details.
The back half of the church had these realistic and nuevoesque sculptures, each sculpture represents from the scripture.
{above} Sonja loved all these miniature sculptures, downstairs they have scale models of the church which looks like doll houses to a toddler. It was a little disappointing to her, that she couldn't touch things in museums, like yeah, it's awesome, but no you can't have it.
Here's a little detail of how Gaudi developed his shapes for the embellishments on the church.
Some relics in the museum.
Uncle Wayne and Aunt Gretchen waiting for the rest of our group.
After La Sagrada, we decided to walk to the beach, yes. walk. Technically, we took the metro to a closer stop then walked La Rambla down and over. way over. Because the Metros are underground they can't be build too close to the sea, so the closest walk is still a bit away.
I thought everyone else realized how far we'd be walking... but I'm not sure they did, as Husband just kept leading us just a little bit further. Past La Rambla. we walked through the Marina.
We all just kept going...
And going...
...and going..
After the Marina, we walked through the neighborhoods...
And FINALLY, we made it to the Mediterranean!
While everyone else sat on the wall, Sonja and I ventured down to the water so she could put her feet in, after all, we didn't fly half way around the world {even in the winter} to miss out on touching the sea.
Do you love that fish building in the background? Its by Gehry Partners.
While we were on the water, it got cold, really cold, so we walked back to the Gothic Quarter.
I love all the local graffiti you find walking around Barcelona.
After our daily outing we decided to get dinner before ringing in the new year, we actually had a terrible experience waiting for service at Taverana del Bisbee {we wanted to eat at Cafe d'en Victor but they were closed}. They literally made us wait OVER AN HOUR at a table and we finally gave up and ended up eating at Los Cachitos {were we ate those delicious tapas featured above} and we had the best service, less than a 5 minute wait!
Look how happy we are now that we ate!
or it *might* be the sangria.
I think she's asking about Gelato.
And after dinner Husband and I enjoyed the new year in our hotel room with sleeping babies.
I wasn't sure about the 12 grapes rule, so I just shoved them all in!
Our midnight snacks {above} with a side of fireworks and explosions outside our window!
After a good night's rest...
Outside of our hotel we could see the leftovers from the festivities of the night before...
We walked down to the nearby park. This was the first day of the new year, but our last day in Barcelona {and everyone else already moved onto Luzern} so we took it easy and revisited a few of our favorite places.
This park near our hotel was our first stop, as Sonja had been asking for swings the whole week.
After this local park we went to Park Guell. Husband wanted to hike up to the top of the hill in the park. But Sonja found this playground first.
Once we got her out of the playground, we started on our climb up to the top...
Husband was such a trooper with Vera constantly on his back. I got so spoiled on this trip, not having an extra 20 pounds on me all the time.
Met this little guy on our walk up.
Sonja wanted to watch this puppet show, so we took a quick break then kept on!
The view was totally worth walking up hill {or mountain} with a toddler!
On our walk down I started documenting all the tourists and their camera {above}. I can see why the locals are frustrated with all the floods of people into some of their best spaces.
I also found an artist, Laura Aubert, at the park and I loved all of her pieces, they were such intricate textures with textiles and fabrics featuring uniquely posed women. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture but I did get her card and here's her link: http://lauraaubert.com/
I was SO EXCITED to find a bubble performer in the park, since it's so heavily secured, I thought they'd be kicked out, but thankfully there are still some free spaces, and in those areas you can find the true Barcelona culture.
But this poor guy, the kids kept chasing him knocking over his bubble bucket.
And can I just say how much I loves these trees?
One more stop at the playground and another at a bench on the walk back to the metro.
Such a good day in my favorite city, I couldn't ask for a better way to start the new year.
Our next city was Lucerne, Switzerland. Stay tuned for more European Vacation Documentation!
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