Gx3

Remember that one time last November when I wrote about going to Barcelona? That time there was only G (as in Godfrey) running around the city. Now I'm back there again, but this time the G power has tripled with the arrival of two fantastic individuals -- yes, that's right, I'm finally getting to see my parents after more than 8 months of being a continent and an ocean away!

My parents arrived in Barcy (don't know if that's an official nickname for the city, just mine) yesterday morning, and after packing all my wordly junk into a couple of backpacks and a monster suitcase and dragging it through some trains and airports and subways, I joined them too. (sidenote: I'm sure I looked absolutely ridiculous and many people judged me, thinking I was some dumb tourist who packed her entire closet for a two week European vacation. NO PEOPLE, this is actually everything I own thankyouverymuch. I'm a little self conscious about the whole thing, if you couldn't tell already...)

Anyway, enough ranting and on to more exciting topics. Like updating you about what we did today, the first full day of our trip.

Well, first we walked from our comfy little apartment Mom so cleverly reserved online to La Plaza Catalunya, one of the main squares in the city center -- actually a bit of a walk, especially since we took a rather indirect route in getting there. After taking a moment to orient ourselves/drink some cafe con leches on the plaza, we hit up the following areas:

1) Las Ramblas
Las Ramblas is a big bustling street dominated by hordes of wandering pedestrians, creepily costumed street entertainers, street vendors offering to sell you various things -- postcards, newspapers, maps, flowers, parakeets. You know, the usual. Lots of things just kind of to look at, but not much that makes you want to stop and spend a lot of time observing.

2) Barri Gotica
The Gothic Neighborhood. True to its name, has a lot of Gothic architecture and a lot of pedestrian only streets and alleyways. It's also where the Cathedral of Barcelona is located (see #3) and where Mom got pooped on by a bird.

3) Cathedral of Barcelona
Probably the main reason we went in the cathedral is because it has a restroom where shat-upon Mom was able to clean up her hair a bit. I mean, it's a cool cathedral, has really ornate altars, a pretty interior patio with geese, a sarcophagus of a 13 year old martyr from back when the Romans were hanging out in Spain... but I think if you asked her, Mom would still say the best part was that bathroom.

4) Picasso Museum
Next up on the list was the Picasso Museum, also in the Gothic part of town. I had been there before, so I don't really have a whole lot to say about it -- there's a lot of cool artwork there, I'd say the majority of the pieces are from earlier on in his career (i.e. pre-Cubism), so there's actually a lot less crazy abstract looking things than you might imagine. Also, since it was Sunday and after 3pm, we got in for free (yesss!) but then again, so did the other 100+ tourists who were waiting in line ahead of us. So much for thinking we were being clever tourists for knowing which hours the museum is free of charge...

5) La Pedrera
Our last stop for the day, La Pedrera is a building designed by the architect Antoni Gaudí. It was originally designed to be an apartment building, but of course, Gaudí designed it with his usual flair (lots of shapes from nature, a perfect compromise of practical functionality and mind-blowing aesthetics) so now it's mainly just another stop on the tourist trail. Again, this is somewhere I had been on my first trip, but surprisingly, I enjoyed it even more the second time around. Gaudí's work is just so incredibly unique and interesting to look at.

After all that, we trekked on back to the apartment -- a full day of walking and sight-seeing (not to mention jet lag for 2/3 of us) has left us pretty tired!

Well, that's all for now -- further entries and pictures will follow in the next few days, so stay tuned...