European Tour – Day 18 – Barcelona

We docked early in Barcelona and had a quick bite to eat. We had an excursion scheduled so we got right on that. The bus took us into the city and then stopped a block of so away from the basilica Sagrada Familia. We were treated to a great tour around the four sides of the basilica with each having a theme. The construction continues but the project is to be completed by 2026 for the main structure and the area around it by 2033. We headed back to the bus and toured through some great neighborhoods with more Gaudi designs as well as some other great architects.

We continued the tour into the old part of the city where we saw one of the old royal palaces and some more churches. We passed a shop selling statues pooping and we learned that it was not an insult but an actual sign of good luck (due to use of such in the fields to fertilize crops).

We stopped for a coffee and tried the Catalan chorizo sandwich which is significantly different than what we know as chorizo. We headed back to the bus and continued the tour past the old bullfighting rings and up to the Olympic village on the hill where we got some great views of the city. The tour concluded and we were back on the boat for lunch.

After lunch I headed back into the city to walk up the hill to the old fort. It took about 75 minutes to make it up to the top, about 300m high. On the way up, I stopped at the Olympic pool to get some pictures of the city that we missed as the bus sped by. Beautiful. The old fort had some big guns and great views, and I was treated to some Gaudi inspired dresses in the old vaults. There were some other exhibitions going on as well. The city has had the fort or some version of it since Roman times.

I headed back down the hill by a different route (lots of stairs) and dressed up for a nice dinner. We were treated to a show on the boat of local Flamenco dancers, which was quite interesting. Great day. 12+ miles of walking