Barcelona! This is a place I want to return to for sure! The couple from Northern Ireland recommended to the dinner table that we take the hop-on/hop-off bus to see the city. This was definitely the thing for us to do. We hopped on the orange line. Each of the two routes takes roughly two hours to complete if you stay on the bus the entire time. They give you headphones to plug in and hear about the city from an informative recording. The Sagrada Familia church was the number one thing to see on my list so we didn't do much hopping off. While on the orange route, we drove through the Olympic Park [Definitely coming back for a tour of this one day] and did get off at the art museum area just to get a view of Barcelona before getting back on the next bus.
We also drove by the FC Barcelona stadium. One funny thing on the map the bus company gives you is that they label all the Starbucks stores along the routes. I was amazed how many there were just along our routes. I admit, I got a real chai near the Sagrada Familia.... S and I decided to get off the bus at a stop that was closest to the church along Avinguda Diaognal. We got a glimpse of the neat Casa Mila or La Pedrera, a house designed by Gaudi. He also designed the church we're heading towards. We get our word "gaudy" from him. I read the map wrong and got us off track for a bit, but hey, we got to see more streets of Barcelona! We finally made our way over to the church. WOW. It is so impressive and it is not even finished! Construction began in 1882 and it is not scheduled to be finished until 2026! It has a nature theme to it. The columns are like tree trunks. National Geographic had a piece with a pull out section on the church in late 2010. I reread my copy when we got back to Austin. Just like St. Peter's, my photos do not do the building justice, but I hope you feel the awe I had as we explored it. Not sure how much time we spent here, but it was definitely worth it. One cool thing I learned is that the windows of the church are currently exchanging the temporary clear glass for the stain glass windows. See if you can see it in the photo(s).
I got yet another Christmas ornament in the area. Yes, I know I picked up several already, but we saw such memorable places on this escapade! After the church, we hopped on another bus line. Next time, I want to actually go to Parc Guell and Tibidabo and not just see their stops. We got off the bus for the last time to take a stroll down Las Rambla. It is a 1km or so pedestrian only area with tons of shops.
After our stroll, we took the shuttle back to the boat to get cleaned up just in time for dinner and set sail.
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