Yesterday we boarded a high speed train in Sevilla and left the deep south of Spain. We watched out the window as the hot, dry landscape evolved into something much milder.
I had high hopes that we would have time to decompress on the long ride from Sevilla. I even was fine if we had to watch the hours tick slowly by yet somehow it was over in a flash. The kids spent their time alternating between summer homework, screen time, and trips to cafe. They also entertained a fussy one year old sitting behind us and Elliot discovered a new interest in being a Mamma's helper.
Our apartment in Barcelona is in the Born District, the medieval part of town where the streets are narrow and dark. I am happy we ended up here instead of the Eixample District where the boulevards are wide and busy.
Barcelona begs to be photographed. A real ham this city is! There is something that grabs your eye at every turn.
We slept in this morning and made our way to Gaudi's masterpiece - the Sagrada Familia.
I had been waiting for a long time to lay my eyes on one of Gaudi's masterpieces. What a vision! The kids said it looked like one big sand castle as we watched the crane operators lift large bricks into the air (nearly one hundred years later and they are still working to complete it). Unfortunately, many other people were also there to lay eyes on the Sagrada too - the line wound slowly around three square blocks. So we jumped in. Below you can see us passing the time: Nadia writing a post card, Lucas on his Instagram, Elliot playing an I-phone game, and Brad contemplating leaving and buying our tickets on-line.
But the line did move and we eventually made it inside. It did not disappoint.
The play of light is genius and the organic shapes and form are all borrowed from Nature.
I am sorry.
I have no words.
Next we moved on for some more Gaudi - this time at his famous Park Guell. We got quite a view when we finally made it to the top where he molded his fanciful shapes into the hillside.
(These two have become thick as thieves and have all sorts of inside jokes going.
A deep philosophical moment.
Surely they are discussing the sublime balance of Gaudi's architecture?)
As soon as we saw his pillars we knew there was just one thing to do.
Have an intense game of hide and seek!
Ten rounds later and it was time to move on. It looks like we have the place to ourselves but actually ....
The place was crawling.
We topped the day off with a bike ride on the beachfront. Brad, Nadia, and Elliot on the chopper.
And Lucas on his rented skateboard (look for a blog post about skateboarding in Barcelona by Lucas soon).
I rode a bike. It was a great way to end the day.
And then we made our way home ...
XO
Nancy
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