Barcelona

We decided to go to Barcelona for some nice weather, and to celebrate Toolmans birthday.

We booked accommodation, and some flights with Transavia. Unfortunatley, Transavias' pilots union threatened to strike on the very day we were leaving - arg! Thankfully their threat wasn't followed through, and so our plane still flew. We got in late evening and caught a bus to the hotel.

We were staying close to the Arc de Triumpf.

It bears a resemblance to its French counterpart, although we don't know the exact connection. They could be completely separate arcs of triumph.

The accompanying court sports some novel lamp posts. We decided to head down to the beach, which lines the east side of Barcelona city.

The city also has many homeless cats that are part wild, part domestic. We went and checked out the beach - dipped our toes but no swim this time. Instead we had a new plan:

Hire a weird scooter/trike combo! This is basically a 125cc scooter with 2 front wheels and a fibreglass shell that seats 2.

It (she) sits low to the ground and still has the scooter handlebars and controls - no (gas/brake) pedals. Even better, she has a GPS system that guides you around the city by speaking - she is quite funny at times!

There is no screen, just spoken directions: she told us when and where to turn, and what we should notice. A screen would have been nice, but expensive and a target for thieves when its parked up.



This is a mega kitty sculpture.

This is la Ramblas, a famous pedestrian Boulevard full of locals and tourists around visiting the performers and markets.

We drove up the hill and around the area where the Olympic games were held. The 50cc engine got us up the hill - just.

The Olympic stadium and facilities are still there, and in use.

Here is a view over the city of Barcelona.

With such a spectacular view, there are lots of ways to get up the hill. Cars, buses, 3 wheel scooter ans of course gondolas!



This is a fort/castle? that looks over Barcelona, and out over the medeteranian ocean.



The entrance over the moat.



This is a 4 shot vista from left to right:



We were given a beautiful day!

An amazing skyline and an impressive dockyard.

The port and industrial area.

Us soaking in the sun. We headed back to the scooter and went down to visit the Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia.



This is the front facade, which is generally complete, but the rest of the temple is still being built. Antoni Gaudí is the original designer who spent 40+ years of his life on the project.



They started construction in 1882, and after a long pause, construction is back on. On the topic of the slow progress, Gaudi is said to have made the comment "My client is not in a hurry".

Its construction is planned to be completed in 2026.

The frontage is very finely decorated.

Once construction is complete, it will be even more impressive.

We continued out tour around the city, eventually getting to a series of narrow streets. One street that was on the path was closed for some festival. We had no choice but to go around and try and re find the trail - remember, no screen on the GPS! We drove around the city, and eventually rediscovered the trail.

With our tour finished, we returned the car and headed back to the hotel, and planned our next day - a trip out of the city.

Before boarding the train, we had a quick look around this impressive building.

We decided to visit to Montserrat, a mountain about an hour out of Barcelona.



We get out of the train, and there is this amazing mountain in front of us:



It is amazingly steep. Mountserrat is named literally, in English it would be Serrated mountain.

The rack railway track can be seen running thru the middle here. We got tickets for the Montserrat Rack Railway

The incline is reasonably steep; around 15 degrees for most of it.

Looking back down the tracks.

By the time we reached the top, the view was spectacular!

These buidings are built next to the the most amazing dropoffs.



Notice the walking track down? Steep...



This is the public square on the left, surrounded by the hotel, and the church center and to the right.

The rocks are huge and imposing over the public square..



This angular guard with an inverted face stands guard.

This is the Church; it has its own interior courtyard.

The interior courtyard.

We walked around the top paths to get some space and quiet.

Princess surveys the view.

Say cheese?

The formations vertical scale was impressive.

After a few hours of walking around up there, we made our way back down to the train to Barcelona.


The next morning, we headed to get some proper beach-time.

Down at the beach it was busy! We looked for a spot and parked up for some sun and relaxation. Toolman read eBooks on his iPhone :)

We haven't been in the sea since Mue Ni in Vietnam, so it was amazing to relax in the sun, take a dip in the Mediterranean and chill out.

Barcelona is a fun and vibrant city. We spent the evening walking around.

This is a column with Columbus standing on top, though he is clipped off.

Barcelona has some interesting buildings