Adios from Barcelona!

Sorry I didn't blog while I was in Barcelona (well I'm still here, but it's our last afternoon).  We leave our hotel at 4:30am...eek!  I will leave you some of my favorite images and memories from this BEAUTIFUL city!  Sam and I had so much fun!  Let me make one recommendation to you foodies...if you visit Spain you must eat at Tapas 24.  Sam and I are headed there one more time for our last dinner (it will be our 4th visit).  Fellow Asheville friends, you can get your own taste of Barcelona at Curate.  Head Chef, Katie Button, does an amazing job of preparing authentic Spanish tapas.  In fact, she still has my favorite pan con tomate (bread with tomato - we've had a lot of it here, but Katie does it best!).

La Sagrada Familia - definitely on my top 3 from this entire trip.  60 Minutes did a segment on this church, now Basilica, the Sunday before we left (you can watch it here, it's 12 minutes long...very cool!).  Sam and I went up to the top of the Passion Towers (the 2 on the right).  You can ride an elevator up and take the stairs down (or elevator down), we took the stairs. 

I will spare you all of the history behind these sites, but you do need to know one name.  Antoni Guadi - he was the head architect in charge of this church.  They hope to have this church finished in 2026 on the 100 year anniversary of his death!  When it is finished there will be 18 spires, and the center spire will be the tallest church spire in the world.  Anyways, here is the view from the top of the tower...it was breathtaking and definitely had my heart racing to be at the top!

This is the view from the bottom of the stairs we climbed down.

Inside the church is just spectacular.  Not all of the stained glass has been installed yet. 

There will be 3 entrances, Nativity, Passion, and Glory.  The Nativity facade is the only facade that Gaudi was alive to see finished.  It features the birth of Jesus Christ.  This was the only side that was finished when Sam visited Barcelona in 8th grade (1997).  There was no interior of the church for him to visit as well, just the exterior.

The next few images are of Park Guell, another Antoni Gaudi creation.  It was intended to be a 60 home wealthy gated community.  When World War I began, construction was halted and only 2 homes had been built.  Now it is a beautiful public park!

View of the Sagrada Familia from park.

One last Gaudi creation, Casa Mila.  We toured this house.  The next few images are from the rooftop.

I was able to teach Sam a few basics about taking pictures with my camera : )   (it doesn't have an Auto mode)

Last, a few images from today walking around the El Born district.  We visited Citadel Park and enjoyed seeing all of the dogs playing...we miss Hans!

Yes, we completely embraced the "tourist" look today.  Sam has one clean shirt left for the plane ride tomorrow, so he broke out his Nike purchase.  My hidden wallet is not very well hidden when I took off my denim shirt...oh well!

Goodbye from Barcelona!  We will definitely be back one day!  We really enjoyed our visit!