We woke early (well sort of) had breakfast and prepared ourselves for the day of sight seeing. What better way to see the city as we step onto the Hop on Hop off bus. As Barcelona is so big with so much to see and do bus tours have 2 routes....green (east) and orange (west). We only had interest in the green tour and to stop at 3 stops.... La Sagrada Familia, Park Guell (Gaudis work park) and Casa Batllo (a house designed by Gaudi).
The sun was beaming and sitting on the top deck was great as not only did you get a view and listen to the history but also got a chance to work on the tan. First stop was La Sagrada Familia and that structure still amazes me to today. Construction continues with additions and expansions and again l did not go in as the queue was out the door, around the corner, around the other corner and would take at least 3 hours. The view from the outside was enough as we snapped away and ensured that our belongings were secure due to the known pick pocketing in the area. Next we headed off to the park which had spectacular views of Barcelona. Gaudis' work is amazing the more and more l see of it and the park set in beautiful gardens is a pleasure to walk around and do nothing for hours. The locals even cater for shopping as well with many of them trying to sell fans, statues and jewelry (without getting caught by the police). Some even tried to sell water for 1 euro but the only issue was that the bottles were already opened and the water was just tap water from around the corener. At least they try. Apart from seeing his work we also got to experience many different cultures where some ladies walked up hills and climbed steep stairs in the smallest dresses and stilettos l have ever seen....let's just, that view was one l was not interested in but most of the time it was there without even asking for it and don't get me started on the poses people were doing....hilariously entertaining l must say. We also got see Tibidabo, which is an area that has an amazing castle and at the bottom a theme park and from what l could see in the photos we took, it looks like it has a great long water slide. Back on the bus we go as we made our way down from the park and by this stage there was no way we could do Casa Batllo due to tiredness and instead we headed back to the hotel where l got a burst of energy from somewhere and decided to walk down La Rambla. Wow how much this strip had changed from what l remember. I remembered that it had artists and souvenior stalls. Now it has plenty of florists, deli take away stands, souvenior stalls and plenty of really dodgy people. This strip is the only part where l had to have eyes on the back of my head, held onto my stuff and made my way down as people tried to sell me all sorts of stuff.....the most popular being a duck whistle (yeah, like l needed one of these...not). Some retail therapy was attempted on the way back to the hotel but no purchases were made due to exhaustion.
Short rest was had and then off to our ritual pre-dinner drinks on the roof top and off to Barcelonetta region we went for dinner for Paella. We found a place which took for ever to be seated and let's just say that I have had better Paella in Aus but l guess when you travel we need to expect that some places wil be nice and some won't. Off to bed early as tomorrow we are off to Montserrat which has a Basilica with the black/dark....trying to be politically correct here but cannot cause that's what they say the color is of the black faced Madonna (Virgin Mary).
Adios Z xx
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