Barcelona Pics

Barcelona was a blast! It is a cool, funky, active city. The typical schedule there is to party until 6am, go to work around 10 or 11, take a siesta (nap) from 2 to 6 (so literally most of the stores shut down for this time), and have dinner around 10 or 11 pm, and then go party again! There was a lot to see there, so here are some of the highlights.

We went to Guell Park, a park designed by the artist, Gaudi. There was a lot of mosaic art work there and trails to walk. To get to the park itself was quite a hike. They even have outdoor escalators to help us out. From the park there was a beautiful view of the city.

We found another park that wasn't on the map that was in this very modern part of town. We had an enjoyable nap there and reading session.
Our last morning we crammed in a lot of things. We took a cable car across the port. And a gondola ride up to the top of Mount Juic and saw a cool castle.
There are many plazas in Barcelona. This one was Plaza de Jaume. A very active square. A place of many protests, music concerts and in this case a human tower competition! These teams would build 5 to 6 levels of people. This picture was of two people on each level but there were also four people per level. It would end when these little girls would crawl up the human tower and switch sides. Then the tower would disassemble by each layer sliding down one another like poles. It was crazy. And we saw one collapse, but no one was hurt because there was a huge net of people at the bottom.
Every weekend in Plaza de Espana, there is a fountation light show. Called Font de Magic. It is really cool. The fountain changes colors and different spray patterns all to the beat of music.
There is a famous street called La Ramblas. There are a ton of street talent/human statues that come alive when you drop a coin in to their tin. We thought the guy in the picture was pretty cool. There are a ton of shops and vendors on the street as well. It was a cool atmosphere to be around.
The Sagrada Familia was massive! This is Gaudis church. It was neat to see a historical monument that is still being built. Several architects have been used since Gaudi's passing so its almost as if its a different on each side of the church.
We went on an awesome Fat Tire Bike Tour. Our tour guide, JJ, was from South Africa and loved rugby. We went with him to a pub afterward to watch his beloved Springboks barely hold on against the British Lions. Our bike group was awesome! We had a family from Chicago where the dad was a former high school chemistry teacher and is now a superintendent. There was another brother/sister pair from North Dakota. The brother had just graduated from the Air Force Academy and is starting pilot training in Pensacola in August! (mini Philip?) We also had a fun pair from Australia on the trip! We run into Aussies everywhere. We decided that no one is actually in Australia, they are all in Europe. The bike ride ended on the beach drinking sangria!

This is one of the oldest Cathedrals in Barcelona. It has been under construction for over 6 years mainly because the church was making more money by selling advertising than completing the job! The government has now finally had to put a timetable on completion of the construction!