Barcelona Trip - Barcelona without the group (April 15 - 19th)

Inside Le Seu Cathedral

Looking up

The last five days was spent with Janey and Katelyn. We started this idea of traveling with only one child at a time on our recent Dubai trip a few months earlier. That trip was with only our younger daughter and I have to say it worked out quite well. We had a chance to experience what it was like having one child again and Kirsten had all our attention during that trip. It created some great memories and I would definitely do it again.

Outside Le Seu

At a courtyard off Las Ramblas

Just playing

So we did; this time with Katelyn. On this trip, I had a chance of seeing Katelyn at the cusp of her pre-teen years. At times, she would be our innocent little child and then there were times when I saw her trying to define herself. It was very apparent through her new found love for shopping. She would be the ones seeking out the kids clothing stores while mom of course was looking for her own stuff. Fortunately I had the amazing old architecture to keep me and my camera busy. On this trip, I taught Katelyn how to shoot with my SLR and she's proven to be quite a natural photographer. In fact, she was shooting some really nice pictures, in manual mode even. Her composition was amazingly good, even better than many adults. She even picked up model shooting on her own. Here's some she did all on her own.

Katelyn taking a picture of me

Me taking a picture of Katelyn taking a picture of me

Katelyn inside

Me inside

In the extended last few days we had here, I wanted to spend some time to really experience the city. The last time I was here, it was only for a few hours and I hardly scratched the surface. One of the first things we did was take a guided bike tour. Katelyn loves biking and I wanted to know more about the city so it turned out to be a great day. One of the things we learnt on this tour was that before Barcelona was part of Spain, it was actually part of an aboriginal area called Catalan. In fact, most of the language and signs and menus you see in Barcelona is regulated to be in both Catalonian and Spanish. During the Franco dictator years, anything Catalan was actually banned because he believed that a country should be united and and not segregated so it can be strong. This lead to a lot of persecution during those dark years of Catalan culture. I learnt from a taxi driver that there is currently a movement to give the Catalan region it's own independence. It would be interesting to see what Barcelona will become on my next visit here. 

Break at the old palace

Palace for Catalan Music

Katelyn going strong

Janey and Margot, our bike tour guide

We ended the bike tour with a stop at a restaurant called Sagardi which serves tapas. In reality, the correct term for the items served here are montaditos which is like small food items on a slice of baguette. Montaditos is a Catalan version of tapas which originally from the south of Spain. Katelyn loved the food so much that she kept on asking to come back. I don't blame her because it was probably the best restaurant of our whole trip. For those reading this and want to try it out, it's in the Borne district very close to the Picasso Museum. It has a great patio in a courtyard where you will often find performers for your enjoyment.

Outside Sagardi

Yummy montaditos

Katelyn feeling good after the bike trip

Gargoyles howling at the moon

We made a day trip out to the highly recommended Montserrat. This is monastery built on a mountain range, which seemingly look serrated, thus the spanish name of Montserrat. It's an easy one hour trip by train and then a scenic Gondola ride up the mountain. The interesting story behind this monastery was that sheppards found a black statue of St. Mary in cave. They wanted to move it back to town but it would not budge. They went to Monserra, the nearby town and consulted the priest who recommended that a chapel be built in the mountains instead. This was back in the 800's and the buildings have expanded since then. Now, it has a beautiful basilica,  a cafeteria with a visitor's center, rental apartments, and a beautiful courtyard for public gatherings.

Taking the gondola up to Montserrat

Outside the Basilica

Looking up

Candles for worship

Janey and me in the courtyard

Katelyn and me before the hike

This was also a popular place for hikes along the mountain ranges. Katelyn and I decide to hike to a nearby viewpoint. The roads were paved and it was less than 30 minutes for us to get to a beautiful viewpoint where you can have a 270 degree panoramic view of the monastery and the mountain range below it. The view was majestic and serene and reminds me of how great nature is. Katelyn met a new friend here, a cat which she loving named Ginger. We took a few minutes to experience it all and took some photos before hiking back to meet up with Janey. The train ride back to town was fun, teaching Katelyn how to play the card game she now loves.

We'll be hiking to that little cross on the top right corner

We made it to the viewpoint!

Can you see the Monastery behind?

Ginger taking a catnap

We wanted to go somewhere that Katelyn would enjoy and found out that there is actually an amusement park called Tibidabo on the top of a local mountain. Besides the amusement park, there is also a church and a outdoor space you can enjoy the panoramic view of Barcelona. We took a delightful cable car ride up there but found out that only a very limited selection of rides were open on the weekdays. We tried one anyways; it was like a large pendulum arm which had a bucket on each end rotating you high up in the air. It moved slow but was actually quite scary because of the added height you get from being at the top of a mountain. Katelyn had no fear and was actually jumping on the cart that we were on. I was freaking out thinking about what would happen if the mechanics failed on this ride. The few moments I got not thinking about this, I managed to take some nice shots of the church. I was more than happy when it was finally over and I was on solid ground.

At the top. Do you see the pendulum ride we went on behind?

The city behind us

Katelyn in the bucket of the Pendulum ride

 After a lot of walking in the last few days, we decided to just relax at the beach. Katelyn was combing for stones and pebbles while I was happy photographing away. Barcelona has a beautiful waterfront full of shops, boardwalks and multiple beaches. You could never tell but what you see current day were all created for the 1992 Olympics. Prior to that, the whole waterfront was an industrial port and they even had to ship the sand from Egypt to make the beaches. Because the sand is not origin to the beach, they have to reload it every few years. I guess the city tops up on the beaches while the citizens top up their tan.

W-hotel in the background

Looking for pebbles

Found some!

Being silly.

Ouch!

Eeek!

Although I was wondering if 6 days was too long for Barcelona, I felt it worked out well. We got to see all the sights we wanted to and did not need to rush through things or pack it all in so that we were dead tired. Katelyn loved the trip and I was happy that we were able to spend time just with her.

Inside La Boqueria market

Playing cards at a cafe

Mommy teaching me cards

Barcelona Trip - Barcelona with the group (April 13 - 14th)

After the morning bus ride, we arrived at Barcelona where the group was going to spend the next two days touring the city. I met up with Janey and Katelyn at the hotel and we decided to just walk down the famous Las Ramblas, a pedestrian street with shops and cafes. I was in Barcelona 3 years ago as one of my port of call within a Mediterreanean cruise. I loved the city a lot at the time and bookmarked in my mind it to come back. Las Ramblas was very much responsible for giving me that good vibe on my first visit. This time around, it seems more crowded than I had remembered it 3 years ago. But seeing the pedestrian friendly shops and people taking in the full European patio culture is always a welcome sight.

At the rooftop of Palau Guell

A trip to Barcelona is never complete without a visit to Sagrada Familia. For those of you not familiar with it, it is a cathedral designed by Antoni Gaudi, the famed spanish architect who is best known for the Catalan Modernism movement in architecture. Interestingly, the word gaudy also had roots from him and if you know his style, you can see how that could've originated.

One of the earlier completed facades by Gaudi

A newer part finished after Gaudi

Newer tower still under construction

The Sagrada Familia was a cathedral that was dedicated to the holy family of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus (hence the Sacred Family). This is probably going to be the last cathedral ever built in the world, since it's taken over 130 years already and is still not complete. And personally, I think cathedral building is a dying art. This cathedral was started in 1882 and although wasn't initiated by Gaudi, he took it over very early on and dedicated a lot of time to it. Within the last 12 years of his life, he actually lived on the construction site so he can focus only on this one project. He only retained sundays as his day off to leave the premises to attend mass. Gaudi was a devote catholic and wanted this to be the tallest cathedral in the world but also believed that no man made structure should be taller than that of God's. So he designed the cathedral to be the 170m, beating all other cathedrals, but still shorter than the nearby Mount Juic at 184m. When the project first started, he had to pitch the idea to the Vatican because you can't build a cathedral without the Pope's approval. That would be like not consulting with the town sheriff first. Unfortunately, Gaudi did not get the approval he wanted but was determined nonetheless. Without funding from the Vatican, he resorted to what he did best, and that was designing buildings. Fortunately, he attracted many wealthy clients who afforded him the project fees which he then used to fund his "side" project. Since there is no formal approval from the Vatican, he can't call it a cathedral, so instead, it was referred to as a "church" or a "temple" up until 2010 when the Pope formally recognized it as a Cathedral. I wonder how much of this was due to the overwhelming popularity of it as a tourists site? I guess the pope owes Gaudi a thank-you and apology.

Katelyn and me inside

Janey and I inside doing the audio tour

Gaudi was a holy man and very absorbed in his work, He really didn't take care of himself or his appearance in the final 12 years when he was working solely on the cathedral project. In 1926, on his way to Sunday mass, he was actually hit by a tram and not having any identity on him, people assumed he was a beggar so checked him into the "poor man's" hospital. Yes, there were different hospitals for different classes back then. He was finally recognized by the Chaplain of the Sagrada Familia but unfortunately it was a little too late. The city honored him by burying him in the crypt of Sagrada Familia. He is very much loved by the Catalonians and there is even talks right now about given him a saint hood. Since Gaudi, there has been a group of Architect's trying to finish the Cathedral. This explains why the older parts of the cathedral is stylistically different than the new ones. The city has a goal to complete the construction by 2026 to commemorate the 100 years since Gaudi's death. This may or may not be possible considering how the Spaniards love their holidays and siestas.

The ceiling of Sagrada Familia

Beautiful stained glass

Janey and Katelyn

Inside one of the towers

Looking down on the city

Going down one of the towers

At one of the view balconies

We ended off the night at a local restaurant. It was the last dinner together as a group before everyone went on their separate ways. It was a great trip with a really fun bunch of people. I think to commemorate this, the girls managed to find a stuffed pillow in the shape of our new found friend, the Iberico Ham. It was passed around the table and everyone had a little fun with it. For some, it's back to Vancouver the next day and maybe back to some lighter meals and healthier salads.