A 4-Day Weekend in Barcelona!!

 Barcelona was perfect.  Matt and I had such a special time together.  We enjoyed eating a lot of fresh seafood, paella, tapas and drinking caipirinhas and sangria.  Though we enjoyed the traditional Spanish cuisine, we did not adapt to their traditional meal times.  In Spain, it is normal to eat lunch between 2-4PM and dinner between 8-10PM; we were hungry before these times, thus, we never had to wait to be seated and/or make any reservations.  Barcelona was enjoyable because it not only had the beach to offer, but also the large historical city (1.5 million people).

The city was rich with architectural and historical beauty.  At times, I could see some resemblances to the streets of Venice and Rome, although there was a Mediterranean presence as well.  The city was filled with art (i.e. contemporary statues, fine art performers, art vendors).  It was clear that Gaudi’s work had a great influence in the entire city.  We were though disappointed that the historical bullfighting arena, “Las Arenas,” was not preserved in the historical sense (similar to the Roman Coliseum) but rather converted into a shopping center.  Bullfighting was officially banned in 2010.  The Cantalonia region, which includes Barcelona, is working towards a movement away from Spain.  The Cantalonia region associated bullfighting with the country of Spain, and thus, does not want any presence of this old tradition being present in the city.

And thank you to my dear friend Meredith continually sending me cute pictures of the four girls (see below), I was able to confidently know they were having a blast in Germany!! 

The sun....oh how we have missed you in Germany!!

A view of one of the hotel pools from our balcony.

The plate for all of the skins and shells.

 Gaudi's Sagrada Familia Cathedral.  UNFORTUNATELY, we were not able to view the inside due to not having advanced tickets.  Then on Sunday, due to Palm Sunday it was closed for public viewing.  The outside was remarkably beautiful.

Matt riding on the back of the bus; the ceiling was too low for him to sit up all the way-lol.

A mid-afternoon break...

"Las Arenas"

Port Olimpic (positioned very close to our hotel)

Columbus Monument

My trusty guide:)!!!!

The famous street "La Rambla"

There were palm crosses being sold at most all vendors on Sunday.

Arc De Triomphe

 My pictures do not give the beautiful and quaint street justice...... they were lovely.

 We walked into a spectacular street parade, in celebration of Palm Sunday.

La Seu Cathedral

 Along with shells that Matt and I collected on the beach, we also got the girls personalized necklaces.

 And Matt and I bought one piece of art from a local artist.  The painting was on barcelona newspaper (as the texture), underneath the actual painting (all on canvas).  We are excited to get it framed.  It was the first purchase for our new home!!

A few of the many street performers.

And below are pictures of the girls having fun with their very special friends....

Being silly....walking up towards the castle.