Before You Go to Barcelona...

I didn't do one of these for Ireland, Portsmouth, or Munich, mostly because I wasn't really surprised by much. I was very surprised by a few things here.

1. Not everyone speaks English

Even more than Italy, people in Barcelona don't speak English, or don't speak it much. Not even in the McDonald's near my hotel. Or at the airport when you need directions to the other terminal when your gate closes in forty minutes. (I made the flight, with time to spare, but I was pretty panicky for a while.)

2. Everything is really far apart

I got a hotel near the Sagrada Familia, but the problem was that there wasn't a short, easy, or quick route from there to places like the beach or some of the ramblas. I got there over the day and a half that I was there, but it was a lot of walking. I probably should have just gotten a train ticket, but walking around was a lot of fun.

Sagrada Familia - the End

My favorite part of the Sagrada Familia, I saw when I was walking out. I don't speak even a little Catalonian, but I'm fairly certain the verse quoted is "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in Heaven, and glory in the Highest!"

This plaque was on the door out. I'm not sure what it says, but I remember hearing somewhere that it's the Lord's Prayer in several different languages.

Leaving

After Sagrada Familia, I went looking around more of Barcelona. I think I may have found the Gothic Quarter, but I'm not particularly sure. Anyway, look below:

Anno D. stands for Anno Domini, which is Latin for Year of Our Lord

Care to guess what this is? A church? An old theater? No - it's a soccer stadium!

These were the sidewalks- right in the middle of the roads!

Sagrada Familia - Climbing the Tower

The ticket I bought at Sagrada Familia included a climb up one of the towers. Here, I got fabulous views of the city as well as glorious up-close looks at the detail on the outside architecture. Take a look: