Barcelona Day 2 - Just One More Mile

We logged 19,000 steps today, over 8 miles, and 22 flights of stairs. Ouch. We got a late start after sleeping in until 8am. Woohoo! We showered up and headed toward Ben’s Air BnB. We found a cute coffee shop and stepped in for a sit down breakfast. It’s amazing that coffee and a croissant is 2 Euros. Both. Together. So that’s 1 Euro each. How???

Afterwards, we stumbled upon a war museum and checked out some cool history of war and military progress. 

You have to have different sizes canon balls for the different sizes canons, right? It was a quick walkthrough and I’m glad it was free because I would have been disappointed if we had paid for the exhibit. Next up, we checked out some outdoor shops in the Las Ramblas district, we jumped on the Metro and headed up to Casa Batllo which is this quirky and strange type of architecture by Gaudi. 

We checked out a few more crazy architectural buildings before taking the Metro up to Park Guell. Well, we took the Metro park of the way, and had to walk UP the rest of the way. 

This was early in the day so we were up for the challenge, but midway through, we were already planning for Ubers and Taxis. It was this hill, plus escalators, plus stairs, some broken escalators, and then more stairs. We made it to the lookout and snapped a few photos. 

And then we headed to the building section all designed by modern architect Antoni Gaudi. We contemplated that perhaps his last name is where the word gaudy came from because well…

It’s a very eclectic mix of styles including lots of mosaics and colorful flair. It’s quirky! 

And what goes up must go down right? So down the hill we began to walk and right into a restaurant called Mercedes. We found a mix of foods and two pitchers of sangria later..

we thought, “Our legs can handle one more mile. Let’s go to the Sagrada Familia!” So off we trekked while talking and catching up. It’s been about a year since we’ve seen my brother who came out to California to visit just before he shipped out for Germany. And eventually, after what seemed like longer than a mile, we stumbled upon another ridiculous building. It’s gothic. It’s traditional. It’s religious oh and it has colorful stuff added on the top. Say what? 

It’s technically a Roman Catholic Church but it’s rather gaudy for my taste. See what I did there? It’s also designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi. He’s a little famous in these here parts. This project started in 1882 and they plan to be finished after 2026. 

After gelato, espresso, one mojito, and a trip to McDonalds to use the tiniest non ADA bathroom, we realized we were just one mile from the next destination - Ciutadella Park, and it was mostly downhill so okay, we can make it. THEN we’ll Uber home. 

We made it to the park just as the sun was setting and saw what can only be described as the prettiest water feature in a park I’ve ever seen. Oh, and they have cement table tennis tables which just seems like a smart investment for parks, because it’s way cool. 

So that was worth it. Super cool and very pretty. Lots of street performers were starting to come out since the sun was setting and that’s really when Spain comes alive…it’s also when the Berrys (well some Berrys) go to bed.  We contemplated an Uber, but wait the Metro is right here, oh but we have to jump lines. Hmmm…it’s only a mile. We can do it. We’ll just walk slow. And slowly we did indeed walk. We got to go see the Arco de Triunfo which is yes, Spain’s version of the Paris arch. Clever. 

I borrowed a photo from Google since my hand was too tired to pull my four inch phone out of my pocket. Every other word at this point was ouch and oh my gosh. We walked past a half a dozen pedicure shops and I began to realize why these places seemed to only open in the evening. Wow. Our feet are tired…

So Barcelona day two was filled with it all. Supposedly we actually have a few more spots tomorrow but right now all I see is sleep and dreams of a foot bath in my future. 

My last note of the day were some cool things we saw. Katie saw her initials and had to snap a photo. 

And since you won’t find tap water for free anywhere, this is how you can refill your water bottles. 

And maybe my favorite picture of the day, found after walking up that ridiculous hill to get to Guell Park✌️