Barcelona: Part 2

We headed back to Barcelona after several days in Ohio. Originally, Brennan and I were on completely different flights-he was flying from Columbus to Atlanta, then on to Barcelona and I was scheduled to fly from Columbus to JFK, then to Barcelona. Thankfully, his flight had a delay and he was able to rebook onto my flight! We were also upgraded to Comfort+ on the flight to New York, because Brennan had earned Delta status! We spent 6 hours in the JFK airport, between the SkyClub lounge and the Centurion Lounge which were both crowded but nice. Then, we were ready to do the overnight flight to Barcelona. We had an entire middle section to ourselves, so I was able to lay down on the seats and Brennan stretched out. It definitely helped make the flight more comfortable!

We got back to Barcelona around 10AM. We collected our bags and headed back to the same hotel we stayed at the week before. I was still really tired, so I took a quick nap before we headed out to walk around. 

We've found the best way to lessen jet lag is to be outside and walking around. It's harder to sleep when you are walking! We wanted to see the Park Guell, which was inspired by Gaudi's work. From all the pictures, it looks like something out of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Unfortunately, when we got there, the tickets were sold out for the day. We were still able to see a little bit from the outside and it looked interesting. Next time we're in Barcelona, we will definitely check it out!

We walked from the park to the Sagrada Familia. Brennan and I agreed that one of our favorite things to do in a city is walk, preferably with a coffee, and just look around. Barcelona had so much to see as we walked.

We tried to come to Sagrada Familia the week before and tickets were sold out. Thankfully, this time we were able to get a ticket for the evening! In case you don't know the story of this building, it was started in 1882 and has been under construction since then. Gaudi took over in 1883 and worked on it until his death, even living in the church at some points! He is buried there. The church is dedicated to the Holy Family, the "Sagrada Familia". The first part to be completed was the Nativity side, which is what you see behind us in the picture below. It is so detailed and intricate!

I thought the outside of the basilica was impressive, but the inside might beat it. Gaudi felt that nature was an important and incorporated it to all the parts of the building. The columns are supposed to represent trees. Everywhere you look there is detail and purpose; it felt very special to be there.

The color inside the church is incredible, but the detail outside is impressive too. The opposite side of the church from where we entered is the Passion facade, which represents Jesus' death. The square on the wall is a magic square, so all the columns and rows add up to 33 (how old Jesus was at his death). The style of this side of the building is so different than the Nativity facade-I feel like it's really a testament to how styles, architecture, and technology has changed as they have built this structure.

When we finished at Sagrada Familia, we found a place that had been recommended by the food tour Rachel and I went on the week before. They had filled churros (we got dulce de leche!) made to order. It was INCREDIBLE. If you ever find yourself in Barcelona, make sure to eat a churro!

We returned to the hotel on the metro. Our hotel was at the end of one of the metro lines, but it was easy to get there and into central Barcelona. The other thing that made this hotel great was the lounge! Because of Brennan's status with Hyatt, we had access to a lounge with drinks and snacks. It was great to have some space to hang out that wasn't in our room. 

We only had 1 day in Barcelona this time, but we made the most of our time!