Barcelona - Day 7 and 8

Okay this is the last post on this holiday - thanks for sticking with me.  On Thursday we went down to the pool area to catch the sunrise.  The pool and the surrounding lounge areas looked so nice it would have been great to enjoy it in warmer weather. 

We had breakfast and then hopped in a cab to Sagrada Familia.  Of all things in Barcelona, I knew I wanted to do this one again.  When we went before, we had E with us in a stroller and it was late in the day and very crowded.  We weren't able to spend as much time as I would have liked.  Plus I was curious about the progress they have made on the construction.  

I had ordered tickets online beforehand for a 9:15 entry with access to the Nativity Tower at 9:30.  We were right on time.

The Nativity entrance - the carvings depict Jesus' birth and his early life.  The colours on the stained glass on this side are cool blues, like morning light. 

The other side is the Passion side and the carvings over the door depict Jesus' death.  The colours in the windows are reds and oranges like the light at dusk. 

We took the elevator to the top of the tower and got some great views of the city. 

Grapes and Loaves to represent communion - these are on the roof.

This is where I lost Dave.  He does not like heights to was eager to get back down to the ground while I wanted to look around a little more.  An Australian man and I took photos of each other while are families left us. 

The staircase on the way down - the seashell design is not an accident.

The photos simply do not do this place justice - it is just so beautiful.  I am so moved by the beauty, the biblical imagery, and the devotion of Gaudí and others to complete this project.

That 2026 completion date still seems ambitious to me but what do I know.   To see it completed someday would be amazing. 

From there we walked down to the Arco de Triunfo and sat in the sun for a bit. 

Then went to our favourite little pizza place in El Born

Check out this cutie from our 2015 trip in the same place.

All of the jamon

Classic El Born

We tried getting some gelato at our favourite place but it was closed :(  We then walked home along the beach.

We rested and read for a little bit and then went for a run - we ended up on the pier by the W Hotel on the opposite end of the beach from our hotel.  About a 5K run.

We had massage appointments at the hotel spa after that.  Dave got these shots from his locker room at the spa - the highest building in Barcelona. 

We went out for dinner with Dave's colleague and his wife.  They had picked out the restaurant, La Dama, a French place that looked like we had gone back in time to the 1920s, I was waiting for Gaudí or Picasso to walk in.

This door had to be unlocked to let us in - so swanky.

Then we went for drinks at Dry Martini, another great find.

Onto our last day.  I love a breakfast buffet so I had to take a picture of the one we enjoyed at the hotel.

We had signed up for the electric bike tour on this day.  Again, we weren't really sure what the tour consisted of, but we had such a great time.  The tour company was Barcelona e-bikes and I would highly recommend them.  The bikes were all parked on the boardwalk by our hotel waiting for us.

We set off down the beach and stopped a couple of times along the way as our guide told us about various sights.

Our guide, his name was Salvo and he was excellent!

Then we started the ride up Montjuic, this is where the electric feature of the bike came in handy and made for an enjoyable ride.  We stopped here to check out the cactus garden. 

View from halfway up. 

Then we parked our bikes and got on the cable car up to the top of the mountain.  

A beautiful day to see the city.

We walked around the front of the Castell to see the waterfront.

From there we took the cable car back down and rode over to the front of the archaeological museum (MAC).  As part of the tour we got a ticket to buy a coffee, pop or juice. The cafe con leche I got was just perfect to warm me up.

Group shot.  We were divided into three or four separate groups so we only had to make sure 7 of us (plus guide) stuck together while biking, and just met up with the whole group a couple of times.

From there, we rode down through the Montjuic park and through the streets of Barcelona.  The park, by the way, is full of beautiful gardens, we did not appreciate the full offerings of this park when we visited last time.  It would be a lovely oasis to visit when the weather is hot. 

Riding through the streets was great, we weaved in and out of people and got a good sense of the city, especially when we went through Barri Gottic.

The last stop on the tour was the fountain in the Ciutadella Park in El Born. 

Then we rode back to our hotel for the end of the tour.  I just thought we were going to be bussed to the bottom of Montjuic, go for a token bike ride, and then bus back; it was a real treat to bike through the city.

It was about 2:00 in the afternoon so we were faced with the dilemma of where to eat.  We knew we wanted to go to Mosquito, an Asian inspired tapas place with craft beer, where we went twice on our previous trip, but it was a 25 minute walk, which would take too much time.  So we just took a cab there, got a place at the bar, and ordered some favourites. 

We walked back to the hotel, along the beach, checking out the surfers on the way.

That night we went to Bestial for the team dinner (which is Manufacturing and Canada, by the way).  We had the entire restaurant and it was so lovely inside.  Again, this would be even better in the summer where you could sit in the patio by the beach but was very cozy for us.  We had a variety of Spanish tapas to start and that would have been plenty to eat, but then we had steak, and finished up with an apple tart with vanilla ice cream for dessert.  And lots of wine of course.

We had a drink at the hotel bar with the Quebec people and went to bed.  We were up early the next morning to start the journey home.

 German pretzel on the stopover in Frankfurt.  

We flew Lufthansa on the way back and it was fabulous.  We had two delicious meals and they have a very nice entertainment system.  I watched a movie and two documentaries, read, and slept.  I could have watched more things but my earphones were hurting my ears (#firstworldproblems).

You can read about our accommodations in Lisbon here

Lisbon Days 1 and 2 here

Lisbon Day 3 here

Lisbon/Barcelona Days 4, 5, and 6 here.

I love talking about travelling so if you have any questions, ask away!