Wednesday we spent the day sightseeing in Barcelona. There was a lot to =
see, so we had to plan carefully. As in France, we made extensive use of =
the Metro. Once we figured out which ticket to buy (very few people speak =
english) we were off. The Metro is just as good as in Paris. We never =
waited more than two minutes.
First stop was the Sagrada Familia, which was not without adventure. We got =
off at Sagrera. I was expecting to be able to easily spot the Sagrada =
Familia (it’s huge and has cranes around it), but it was nowhere to be =
found. So we checked the map and figured we needed to do some walking, but =
after a while we decided we were lost, so I asked a lady pushing her child =
around in a pram. It was all in Spanish, but she pointed us in a direction =
and we started walking towards it, but ended up where we got off at the =
metro. We the went down another street, but turned around again, we then =
discovered that the lady had followed us down our wrong turn and using our =
Metro map pointed us at the connecting line to get us to the Sagrada =
Familia. Gracias!
The Sagrada Familia was designed by Antoni Gaud=C3=AD. They started =
construction in 1882 and are still building! It is definatly the most =
uniquely designed church ever. We took the lift up one of the towers and =
got to walk back down the narrow staircase (it’s tight!).
Next stop was Park G=C3=BCell and Casa-Museu Gaudi, where he used to stay. =
The park is awesome.
Next stop was La Pedrera, a house designed by Gaudi and just down the road =
was another one of his houses, Casa Batll=C3=B3, which we visited =
therafter.=20
We then headed down La Rabla, which is street market renound for its trade =
in live animals. From ferrets to porqupines to tortoises. It’s a rather sad =
sight.
We then popped in at La Catedral de Barcelona. It was as impressive as =
Notredame.
Just around the corner was another Dali exhibition. This was a private =
collection so we could take pictures. We ended the days’ sightseeing with a =
walk up Av. Portal de l’Angel which is one of the streets to shop in when =
you are in Barcelona.
Spain, amougst other European countries, is renowned for pickpockets, so =
you need to keep everything close and out of sight. We were approached by =
someone dragging a suitcase looking for directions for the busses. We told =
her we were using the metro and had no idea how they worked. I pulled out a =
metro map to show her. Another guy apprached and. started speaking spanish =
to the person asking us for directions, who then replied in spanish! This =
sounded fishy to me so we we left at pace.
The Aussies on our tour were less fortunate however. A few of them were =
robbed while out drinking.
We just crossed the French border and are on the way to Nice.
Steps: 25915