Shortly after we checked in to our hotel as seems to be our luck it started raining, but we ventured out anyway. Within about 20 minutes it was downpouring & we were literally soaked to the bone. We were miserable. We decided to ride the hop on hop off bus for awhile just to get out of the rain. We decided to get off at the sagrada familia church. We had tickets for the church & towers, but continuing our theme "Europe: Under Restoration" the towers were closed for the day because of the rain. Stepping inside the church is an unforgettable experience. No picture I've ever seen does it justice. It's so large & beautiful it's like being lost in a huge forest with colorful light filtering through the branches.
We walked to a "hambugeseria" nearby for very unique & tasty burgers & fries. The salt they use in Spain in amazing! It's like thin, crunchy flakes with a wonderful flavor. I wanted to bring some home, but couldn't find it anywhere.
Finally the rain cleared up & we were able to look at the outside of Sagrada Familia while we waited for our bus. We jumped off the bus again at Park Guell and took a look around, then made the rest of the loop around the city on the bus back to our hotel. We changed out of our still soaked clothes & shoes & headed out to explore. We found Farragis, which seems like a Spanish Starbucks. Justin discovered apple tea & I finally hot chocolate & churros. The hot chocolate was so thick it was like mousse, but that didn't stop me - I ended up eating it with a spoon. After more wandering we found dinner at this delicious tapas place, txtepelas and had shrimp, vegetables, ham, potatoes and fried eggs all served on skewers on top tiny crosstinis.
The Placa & Rambla areas are decorated so beautifully for Christmas. It was fun to wander around & look at all the lights. We stopped to watch a light show on one building when Justin noticed a pickpocket was watching me, I didn't have my purse with me so she didn't get anything, but we decided to keep moving just incase.
Our second day in Barcelona we headed back to Farragis for tea & croissants & the took the bus to Camp Nou, Barcelona's futbol stadium. Justin was in heaven all morning. We did the museum & tour and I was really impressed. Their museum was first class, full of touch screens & interactive displays allowing you to experience all different aspects of their history & the game day experience. We got to sit in the press box, see the locker rooms, and even walk down the tunnel & onto the sidelines where the players walk. I laughed a little when we passed the chapel just a few steps before the field. I guess it doesn't hurt to get a last minute prayer in :). At the end of it all you walk into their "giftshop", a 4 floor megastore of anything you could want emblazoned with the FC Barcelona logo. Fozzie almost got a bowtie.
We hoped the bus back to our hotel, as the rain had stopped & the sun had finally come out we took the opportunity to ride on the top, open deck of the bus & got to really admire Spain's architecture and many of Gaudi's works. We ate lunch at Mokas, I really wanted to try paella, but was disappointed in how bland theirs was, their sangria was quite good though we didn't anything to compare it to. We continued our stroll down Las Ramblas to the ocean, then as we turned around to come back it started raining again. Fearing another downpour we booked it back to the hotel & stayed there awhile watching horrible Spanish music videos. After a less than stellar lunch we thought there was no need to chance it and went back to the same tapas place as the night before for dinner. I could get used to a tapas Thanksgiving!
Then it was back to the hotel to try to cram everything in our suitcases and keep them under 50lbs... that was a trick, but we did it.
After 18 days in 5 countries and 2 continents I'm ready to come home. I miss our dogs, air conditioning, proper plumbing, cell service, clean clothes, the familiarity of home and English. I have so many amazing experiences & memories here to be thankful for and more to be thankful for at home than I realized.
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