Day 4 – Sierra Madre mountains and coastal Spain

It is Day three at sea and the weather is beautiful and sunny. We have been able to sit out on deck and read without getting chilled! All day the coastline of Spain has been featured off our balcony…it is beautiful and rugged with the snowcapped Sierra Madre range in sight. It has been another quiet day at sea and we are resting up for a big day of exploring Barcelona tomorrow.  We now have our sea legs so the land will likely be heaving once we set foot on it – that is an interesting side effect of spending days at sea.  We have met many interesting people from all over the UK and are hearing stories from all over the world. By the end of three weeks who knows how much we will have crammed into our brains?

More later – hope all is well and not to cold back in Saskatchewan or wherever this may find you.

Day 5 – Barcelona, Spain

stained glass in la Sagrada Familia

Nativity Facade, La Sagrada Familia

Figures on the Passion Facade, La Sagrada Familia

tree-like support pillars inside the Nave, La Sagrada Familia

Barcelona was founded by Romans and is now the capital of Catalonia. The first language spoken and taught here is Catalan, not Spanish, and the Catalans are very protective of their culture (think parallels with Quebec in Canada). The city is both ancient and very modern which makes it very interesting. The highlights, architecturally speaking, are without doubt the buildings designed and/or inspired by Antonio Gaudi. Top of the list was La Sagrada Familia – which is an amazing modernista cathedral designed by Gaudi and still not completed. Portions of it were burned and ravaged during the Spanish Civil war in the 1930s. Ongoing restoration work as well as new construction carry on today. The whole building looks a bit like someone’s over-the-top version of a wedding cake – there are curves and smooth lines and brightly coloured bits where you least expect them and then added to it all are some amazing Art Nouveau ironwork and wood carvings and spectacular stained glass in a full rainbow of colours. This is “cathedral meets fairytales” and is crazy, gorgeous and fascinating all at once. We went up the “bell torres” (bell tower) to dizzying heights above the city. What a view! When completed the cathedral will have 12 towers representing the 12 apostles and 6 more representing 4 evangelists, the Virgin Mary and Christ for a total of 18. Capacity of the cathedral is 13000 souls! We explored from bell tower to crypts. It is really worth the visit should fate land you in Barcelona.



View over Barcelona from the Bell Tower (over 800 feet up)



From La Sagrada Familia we hopped a bus to tour around the city a bit and hopped off again in the Barri Gotic – the mediaeval heart of Barcelona where tiny little streets wind and curve all over the place and it is incredibly easy to get VERY lost!  The first thing we did was go to a supermercado(supermarket) to buy laundry soap…yup – that was my big Spanish purchase! I spent a whole 3 Euros.  Dale did better and bought himself a very nice jacket to round out his dress clothing collection a bit more (who knew I married such a clothes horse??).  We wandered the streets of the old town and La Rambla – which is a main pedestrian thoroughfare of shops, cafes, tapas bars and pretty much everything and everyone you can think of. By siesta time we were both tired and cold as there was a nasty wind blowing down from the mountains into the city (yes, I am just SAYING, not complaining. We know we could be at home where it is…well, you know).

Art Nouveau store front along Las Ramblas, Barcelona

Anyway – the day was lovely but a bit chilly so we couldn’t bask in the Spanish sun (you can laugh all you want – we still have Greece and Egypt) but then again we weren’t dying of heat exhaustion or fighting huge crowds so it all comes out in the wash so to speak.  I am still cursing the techno-geeks regarding photos. It all worked fine at home so I don’t know what the issue is now. But I will keep trying. Worse case scenario I will post them when we get home. So Adios (Spanish) or Adéu (Catalan) until something new occurs!