Destination: Barcelona

Transportation: 1.5 hour flight

Accommodations : Apartment

Duration of Trip: 4 Nights

Barcelona Pictures

Itinerary and Summary

Day 1: We arrived in Barcelona around noon. The first thing that struck me was the palm trees; we haven't seen palm trees for so long. I was thrilled to be in a climate that was warm enough for palm trees. We took a bus from the airport close to Las Ramblas and walked to our apartment. After going to the store for milk and other necessities we made our way to Barcelona Beach. It was a 25-30 min walk. The beach was beautiful and there was a full moon; it made for some nice pictures.

Day 2: We spent the morning at the Barcelona Aquarium. We then walked the Barri Gotic (gothic) area, Mackenzie spent sometime feeding birds and we ate at a great Tappas bar. After eating we made our way to Torre San Sebastia, a cable car that takes you up a mountain for a panoramic city view (which included the coast line). After the mountain view we made our way to Font Magica to take in a fascinating water fountain show set to classical music. It was a busy day but the weather was beautiful and we all had a great time.

Day 3: This was our Gaudi day. We first got an outside look at Casa Mila then went and toured the inside of Casa Batllo. We then made our way to La Sagrada Familia and to Park Guell. We all enjoyed touring his house and all the different designs and colors he used at the park. The Cathedral (La Sagrada Familia) was beautiful and still under construction. We ate at Hard Rock Cafe; it was FANTASTIC our first real American food in 11 months. Yum, Yum, Yum!

Day 4: We spent our time at Montserrat Monastery . We got up early and took the 1 hour train ride then the cable car up to the Benedictine Monk retreat. We first went to mass and listened to the boys choir after mass then made our way to the hiking paths. We spent the rest of the day hiking in the mountains. The weather again was perfect; a little cold in the shade but it made for good hiking weather. We returned to the apartment tired from all the hiking.

Note: Our apartment was right on Las Ramblas and it was quite loud at night. John and I slept on the sofa bed while the girls got the room away from the street.