The Ashworths: Barcelona

Our time in Barcelona was simply fabulous! The weather was perfect and the sights really were spectacular.

We spent our first day walking around and getting the feel of the city. Then, we went to Las Ramblas (the happening street) for some delicious seafood, and then we headed off to wander around the beach. Although we didn't actually go swimming, Jared did insist that we at least touch the Med (of course, I almost fell in in the attempt). And in addition to seeing many, MANY leathery sunbathers (with and without clothing) we were drawn to a little area covered with old men playing chess. It was like something out of a movie.

But, Barcelona was really all about Gaudi. He was a famous architect whose work was quite ahead of its time (and still is). The city was covered with buildings of his work. We went to Manzana de la Discordia-a building he designed that is inspired by dragon scales, La Segrada Familia-his unfinished cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary, with spires dedicated to all the 12 apostles, Mary, and Christ, La Pedrera-a building of apartments that now serves as a museum of his work, and Park Guell-an entire living community that Gaudi designed atop the highest points in Barcelona. Even though it is marked as a failure (it only sold 3 lots, 1 of which was to Gaudi himself and another to Guell, the financier), it is a fantastic expanse of architecture like I've never seen before. It was quite the LONG and tiring hike up to the park, but it was definitely worth the trip. Also, when we were in the park, we saw many street performers and venders. Here, I bought my one and only souvenier-a turquoise necklace. But, while we were trying to pay for it, someone yelled, "Policia!" and everyone grabbed their merchandise and took off. We were barely able to pay for the necklace before the vender took off running. It was pretty entertaining.

And finally, after packing enough sustanance and soaking in the sights, we made it back to the beaches to board our 19-hour ferry ride across the Sea to Rome.

This is a pier off of one of the many beaches.

Barcelona has the most beautiful beaches! It's 100 times nicer than LA beaches. The water is clear, and the beaches are clean. Just look out for the MANY topless leathery skinned locals!

Although we didn't spend much time at the beach, Jared insisted on touching the Mediterranean Sea while we were there.

This is Gaudi's Manzana de la Discordia-a really cool building that I think looks like something out of "The Nightmare Before Christmas".

This is La Segrada Familia. This incredibly complex cathedral (designed by Gaudi) is still a work in progress. They have projected its finished date for somewhere around 2030.

These are some of the chimneys in Gaudi's designed apartments: La Pedrera. Looks like Dr. Seuss, right? What's cool though, is that everything Gaudi designed was practical in that it made cleaning and maintaining easier.

Here I am FINALLY coming to the end of our LONG journey up to Park Guell. It's such a steep and long climb that they've actually added a few escalators to make the climb a little less tiresome. But we still had to trek a lot of it on foot!

This is the Hill of Three Crosses. It's located towards the front of Park Guell. If you climb to the top, you get an AMAZING view of Barcelona.

Here's Jared in the Lover's Viaduct in Park Guell. All of these columns transport water from one level to the next. Cool, huh?

Here is Kristie at another part of the Lover's Viaduct. Gaudi used nature as his inspiration for the park/community, and all his designs reflect what you would actually see in nature.

This is part of the main plaza at Park Guell. Spectacular, isn't it?!?!

This is part of the ceiling decorations in the main market. Everything is so intricate and colorful. I just loved it!

And here are a couple more buildings (the shops at the marketplace) in the planned community of Park Guell. It felt like I fell into a Dr. Seuss book. PS-I'm wearing my new necklace!