Our ride arrived on time to take us to the airport this morning. Check in at the airport was incredibly easy, as was security. We got a coffee and doughnuts and relaxed before boarding our flight.
We left slightly late but made up the time enroute. We had to wait a good hour for our bags at baggage reclaim but it didn’t matter too much as we had to wait for 3.5 hours for our transfer (it’s easier to wait at the airport than outside an apartment on the street which we can’t get into until 3pm). We found a charging station and sat and waited. Once we had our bags we exited and found a cafe to have some lunch and wait out the time.
At 2:30pm we met our driver who took us to our apartment. It was a slow drive in but we got there eventually and were met at the apartment and shown around. It is a huge improvement on Rome so everyone was happy.
After freshening up and getting ourselves sorted, we took the metro to the Sagrada Familia, the largest unfinished Catholic Church in the world. Mark & I were last in Barcelona over 20 years ago so it was interesting to see what had changed since then. It is one of the many buildings in Barcelona designed by Anthony Gaudi. It had been anticipated it would be completed in 2026 in time for the centenary of his death but it has been delayed due to Covid.
We entered into the basilica and had a look around inside. The way the light shines through the windows is quite stunning. We had booked to go up the Nativity Tower. The Nativity facade was constructed between 1893 and 1936 and was the first to be constructed. It is the only tower to have been mostly built during Gaudi’s lifetime.
We headed back towards the apartment and to a supermarket on La Rambla to pick up some supplies. Mark & TJ were running short on time so left us there to get ready to go to the football. The girls and I got our groceries including some Iberian ham and fresh warm baguette and went home to eat.
The boys went to Estadi Olimpic Lluis Company for the Barcelona v Seville football match. Camp Nou is currently undergoing a major renovation. Barcelona won 1-0 (an own goal by Ramos from Seville). They really enjoyed the game and said the fans weren’t as crazy as the Italian’s.
The girls and I went out and did some shopping before getting gelato and heading home.
