We arrived at Madrid Airport and changed over to Spain Airlines to fly to Barcelona. My son nicknamed the airline spam air as we felt like we were in a tin of it. My son could hardly fit in the seat and could not put his legs down the whole trip. No problem for me as I’m pretty short which means I love the short countries like most of Europe and Asia, everything is me sized.
This post continues on the journey I took with my son in 2010 around the world. If you would like to see the story so far you can start it all here.
LINK: My First World Trip : Where It All Started
We took a train from Barcelona airport to the city and found the hotel where our Cosmos tour was staying. As we’d missed the first few days of the tour and hadn’t got to know the rest of the other people, we felt a little like the outsiders. We thought we would be travelling with people from other countries but due to the volcano eruption in Iceland this wasn’t to be. It was one of the reasons we picked this tour.
But there were only Aussies, New Zealanders and two Poms on the tour. We met our tour guide Trish (pronounced Troosh). She was Dutch and very friendly, she could also speak Spanish, Italian and French, which was very impressive. The bus driver was Italian and didn’t speak any English so lucky Trish did. Boy could he turn that bus on a dime and it was amazing the places he was able to maneuver it.
After dropping our bags in our room at Hotel Suizo we joined the group for a walking tour of the city. As we walked out of the hotel there was an accident between a car and a motorbike. A lot of yelling and hand waving while they blew off their anger at each other, and then they just shook each other’s hands and drove away. Our first example of Spanish culture.
It was “Love Day” like our Valentine’s Day, but women get red roses and men get books. Traffic had been diverted and the streets were a mass of stalls and people. Music was playing everywhere, food stalls and men carrying large religious statues trying to wind their way into the churches. Children were feeding pigeons in the plazas and every now and then the birds would get a fright and all fly up, feathers and breadcrumbs everywhere.
We decided to head for a tapas bar and have our first meal. So many choices and it all looked great. We picked a few different types and found a little table in the back of the restaurant. Then we had a jug of Sangria recommended by the restaurant owner and we were in heaven.
Then after our meal you just have to have gelato or ice cream so we indulged in that too. Not just your old round ice cream, mine came in the shape of a chocolate rose very in theme with love day. It was soooo good! One of the many joys of travel is the food and you don’t feel so guilty when you are walking 10 to 20 thousand steps per day to wear it off.
After roaming around for a while checking out one of Gaudi’s buildings and having my photo taken with St George and the Dragon. We then joined the tour again and headed towards the “Església Catedral de la Santa Creu” – Church of the Cathedral of Santa Crue.
The church has a lot of alcoves in the shape of a circle, all very beautiful and this church has a very different alarm system. Inside the courtyard is a fenced off pool with geese in it, about 12 of them. Wondering why, we were told that they were there to guard the church at night against any intruders, as they can make a lot of noise when they get woken up and start honking.
And below the ground level of the church was an underground prayer area with a service ongoing that we were allowed to watch. I have attached a very grainy video below of the service in progress. Keep in mind this was 2010 pre smart phones and was on an old camera. I thought it was worth it just to hear the singing.
We then headed over to the “Basilica de la Sagrada Familia” – Basilica of the Holy Family. Designed by Antoni Gaude a Spanish architect and still unfinished. His work on the building is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s a combination of Gothic and Art Nouveau and so beautiful. Everywhere you look there’s some amazing sculpture and there is so much detail. You could almost spend a day there and still not see it all.
Back to the hotel for dinner and then decided we’d take a walk into the heart of town to see the night lights. It was so much quieter than it had been during the day. I have included random photos of pastries and cakes below that we found in shops as we wandered around just to tease you. I am a big fan of pastries and cake and probably why I have a love affair with France.
The next day was a free day and as our hotel was opposite the Placa d’Espanya roundabout, we decided to take a walk up the Catalonia National Museum and Art Gallery. It was all uphill but what a view when we got to the top. Sadly though the Museum and Gallery were closed, we were able to stroll around the buildings and see some of the beautiful murals. But don’t be sad I got to go inside on my next trip to Barcelona.
In the afternoon we decided to take a walk back down to La Rambla, the tree-lined pedestrian walkway in the middle of the road that runs down to the bay. There are so many lovely little shops and historical buildings and lots of tapas restaurants in alleyways. So you guessed it, we had some more tapas. We were warned by our guide to be very careful about our handbags, as pickpockets are notorious in this crowded area.
Finally, I thought I would end this article with another love affair of mine which is gardening. Here are some beautiful flowers we found as we wandered around. It is great to develop an adult relationship with your kids and by now my son knows I will always stop to smell the roses ;o)
I have always loved the vibrancy of Barcelona and I have been back a few times since then with my son and others and no doubt will again soon when travel is allowed post Covid again. The next stop on my first world tour is where all the spies seem to love MONTE CARLO!!!!