Three Days in Barcelona, Spain

Our Intinerary

Inbound travel consumed most of Thursday and we departed pre-dawn on Monday, leaving us Friday to Sunday for our first (but not last) exposure to Barcelona.

Saturday

• Recinta Modernista

• Walking El Poblenou and Port Olímpic

• Christmas Lighting Ceremony Plaça de Catalunya

• Dinner @ Teresa Carles

Sunday

• Sagrada Família

• Illa de la Discòrdia - Casa Battló

• La Pedrera

• Dinner @ El Nacional

Friday

• Orientation to the city

• Palau de la Música

• Picasso Museum

• Dinner @ Pepita and Churros @ Xurreria Trebol

Walking Barcelona's Old Town

We took a lovely walking tour of the old town with highly recommended Jose Soler. We visited the Raval, Born, and Gotic sections of town. We stopped at the Roman ruins dating to Agustus, the gothic Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulàlia, the Palau de la Música, and ended at the Picasso Museum.

Recinta Modernista de Sant Pau

The former hospital of the Holy Cross and Saint Paul was built between 1901 and 1930. The full design by Modernisma (Catalon Art Nouveau) architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner was not completed but twelve of the pavilions served as a hospital until 2009. In addition to being a UNESCO world heritage site it now also provides space to the WHO, UN-HABITAT, and others.

Port Olimpic

After a long walk through the city we arrived at the port, revitalized by the Olympics in 1992 and now a hub for beachgoers, cruise ships, and conspicuous consumption.

Christmas Lighting Ceremony, Plaça de Catalunya

It was unplanned but we happened to be in town on the night the city celebrated the start of the Christmas holiday and illuminated the light installations around town. After not experiencing the famous Barcelona crowds, we found ourselves in an incredible mass of humans from which we had quite the struggle to extricate ourselves. It was fun to have much of the city free of cars for a night, however.

Bon Nadal a Tothom!

Sagrada Familia

Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece. Despite everything we had read and seen about this monumental undertaking, it is still quite unbelievable in person. We were lucky to have tickets for late in the day when the sun was setting through the stained glass and both the nativity facade and passion facade seemed to come to life. Seems almost excessive when put in the context of how Jesus lived his life but still a beautiful, modern wonder.

Illa de la Discòrda - Casa Batlló

The "Block of Discord" is a city block in the Eixample district. The block is noted for having buildings by four of Barcelona's most important Modernista architects, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Antoni Gaudí, Josep Puig i Cadafalch and Enric Sagnier, in close proximity. As the four architects' styles were very different, the buildings clash with each other and the neighboring buildings. They were all built in the early years of the 20th century. We toured the apartments in the Casa Battló

La Pedrera - Casa Milà

That evening, we visited the apartments of La Pedrera, Casa Milà, and ascended to the rooftop for a presentation of organic and abstract visuals projected onto the ornate chimneys, vents, and spires atop the building.