Today we saw the crowded side of Barcelona. After all it is three times the size of Philadelphia and crammed into a small area blocked by mountains and the sea on two sides. It was also Monday and the museums were closed, so I suppose everyone was trying to see the non-museum sites like us. The metro and the buses were crowded and the lines seemed extra long. We managed to see two of Gaudí’s major works. The first was La Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family, see picture). It is Barcelona’s most famous cathedral and was started in 1909 and is still under construction. The line to get in was 2 blocks long at 11am so we came back at 7pm which was an hour before closing to see the inside. That worked well as there was no line and the stain glass was incredible in the fading light. It doesn't get dark here until well past 9pm. We also visited Park Güell which is up on the hill above Barcelona. It was intended to be a housing development, but today is a public park filled with mosaics by Gaudí.
We did dinner on our own by shopping at the open market called La Boqueria and eating back in our room overlooking Barcelona. Dinner was Manchego cheese, crusty bread, Iberian ham, pineapple and sangria. It is one of our favorite ways to dine when travelling as it is a break from restaurant food.
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