Ah Barcelona!!! After getting up hideously early to drive from Bratislava to Vienna (saying goodbye to Susan), spending the day wandering Vienna with our Cousins, taking an overnight train to Milano (with a snorer going at it all night in our cabin), 6hrs to wander the streets of Milan, a 1hr bus ride, a 1hr flight and then another 1hr bus ride, we finally made it to our destination... Barcelona, and it was well worth the effort.
We stumbled upon a great pension in the heart of the city (Placa Catalunya), which coincidentally had an amazing vegetarian cafeteria right next door. We thought we found heaven on earth when the chef gave us a foul look when we asked if there was bacon in the paella. He thought maybe we were crazy and didn´t understand what vegetarian was. Too much time in Eastern Europe has made us a little paranoid expecting to find ham in "vegetarian" dishes.
But that was just the beginning. The architecture, the food, the people, the beach (ah, how we´ve missed the smell of the ocean - 6 weeks away from the sea is really torture) -- Barcelona seems to contain the best features of a few of our favorite cities. But it is expensive! We met up with our friend Laura for dinner at a great Catalan restaurant -- the Catalan Cream is delicious.
Two days was much too short -- we just managed to see a few of the major attractions -- La Sagrada Familia, an amazing unfinished cathedral by Gaudi which was started in 1886 and is still under construction. We also walked around Gaudi´s Parc Guell -- amazing beyond words so hopefully we will have pictures soon. And Barceloneta, the city beach. Plus walking La Rambla and through the old city and markets.
This morning we left Barcelona at 5am to catch a cheap flight to Madrid. Not sure how many more cheap flights we can afford in our sleep schedule ;) Again we managed to find a nice pension right in the middle of town (Placa de Sol), though this time it was with considerably more effort, and we are improving our vocabulary of "Spangles" continuously.
The Zuks arrive tomorrow, and we have a few days of wandering Madrid before we head south towards Sevilla.
Thanks for all the emails we´ve received since our last quarterly report. Keep them coming!
Photos will be posted when we get our act together (maybe sometime soon)
Barcelona
Barcelona: The Gaudi-designed Sagrada Familia, easily the most impressive piece of architecture we´ve seen yet.
Barcelonetta: Recovering from our overnight train ride with the loud snorers in our cabin keeping us up all night!
Out to dinner with Laura, showing us the local Catalan cuisine:
Gaudi´s Park Guell:
Barcelona
Barcelona: The Gaudi-designed Sagrada Familia, easily the most impressive piece of architecture we´ve seen yet.
Barcelonetta: Recovering from our overnight train ride with the loud snorers in our cabin keeping us up all night!
Out to dinner with Laura, showing us the local Catalan cuisine:
Gaudi´s Park Guell: