Barcelona, Spain
Capital for pick pocketing! Happily, I was not a victim. Nor was I a purp! We arrived in at Barcelona late in the afternoon and I managed to squeeze in a shower before heading out to find some Tapas. After much wandering and rejecting too many "not Spanish enough" places, we settled in for a Tapas taster plate and jug of Sangria. My allergies were acting up and my eyes were killing me so I headed home for an earlyish night. The next day I headed out for a bike tour of the city which was a great way to see lots as it's a really big city! We checked out a bunch of the gothic architecture, saw one of the old bull fighting rings (Catalan is the first district of Spain to outlaw bull fighting, now the arena's are museums, parking lots and shopping centres). We also went via La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's church, which is quite impressive to see.
That night I went to a Paella and Sangria cooking class which included a tour through the markets to buy fresh seafood and look at all the produce that was bursting of fresh! The class was more a vehicle for Tapas and Sangria. We also learned to make Sangria, I made copious notes (ie videoed it) so that I can make it when I'm home. The Paella was surprisingly straight forward so I'm keen to get the recipe, a Paella pan and have a go at home too. Most people get really drunk in the class as the jugs were effectively bottomless, I drank an entire jug to myself. We also got to make our own Tapas which was a cool choose your own adventure type culinary experience in all. And the Paella was fab!
The next day I had a slow morning and did my washing, a very important task when traveling. I went out for a spot of shopping and went exploring through the artisan quarter which had some beautiful bags and such, but I couldn't justify buying yet another bag. In the afternoon I headed up to El Parco Guell which is an attempted community suburb that Gaudi's was designing, the project ultimately flopped but left behind a beautiful collection of buildings and parklands for billions of tourists to go exploring. In hindsight, I should have spent more time there but it was hot and I was tired.
I headed back to La Sagrada Familia as I had a ticket to go inside and up in to the Nativity towers. I've been to plenty of Cathedrals and Churches in my travels, but Sagrada Familia is the most impressive, beautiful and stunning religious place I think that I've ever been too. I sat for quite a while and just looked at stuff. It is like being inside a huge, still forest. The towers were pretty amusing in their tight spirally staircases and views over Barcelona. Afterwards, I headed up another mountain that apparently has the best views over Barcelona for sunsets. Annoyingly, the train only takes you part of the way up and it's another 10 euros return to go to the top, or you can walk. I was pretty tired so I had a bit of a walk around and recognised the I was too tired to do the park well, so I headed for home instead. I had a nice and cheap meal around the corner, packed my bag and had a Nanna night in readiness for the bus the next morning to Valencia.