Barcelona Day 2:
What better way to start than breakfast in bed? (For Parker man at least.)
La Sagrada Familia, primarily designed by none other than Gaudi and still incomplete. Ticket proceeds are put towards the construction. We ended up "donating" twice since we got confused and thought we'd pre-purchased tickets for Saturday when we'd actually reserved a tour for Friday and of course didn't realize it until too late.
Park Guell, another Gaudi masterpiece and a big part of why I fell in love with Barcelona during my college visit. This place is amazing and pictures (at least mine) really don't do it justice. We spent a lot of time walking around here checking out the architecture, people watching, and chasing P (who once again pushed his stroller around as much as he rode in it).
We missed the mosaic lizard at the entrance because we were too busy trying to navigate everyone (P) and everything (all P's stuff) through the crowds and safely up the stairs. Maybe next time. ;) But we did enjoy hanging out around the mosaic benches. I really wanted a great picture of P on a bench, but, as is typical, he was too busy to cooperate.
In case it isn't obvious, Parker doesn't like to do a whole lot on command. But he'll spontaneously give these big hugs and kisses and it is THE BEST.
Finally! ;)
After Park Guell we took a taxi to the bottom of Mount Tibidabo, which overlooks the city and has an amusement park (the oldest in Barcelona with some original rides dating back to the turn of the 20th century), telecommunications tower, and Catholic Church all at the top. So random. We took a trolley part of the way and then rode a funicular to the top. Parker was loving all of the different modes of transportation.
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| This may be one of my favorite pictures. That face! |
We ended the day at this place.
Oh. My. Goodness.
Keith and I talk a lot about the meals we've had over the years in exotic and not so exotic locations and try to rank and compare them. We've had some really good ones. But this one. One of our favorites yet. Owned by Albert Adria, younger brother of Ferran Adria and both of El Bulli fame (El Bulli being honored as one of the best restaurants in the world prior to its closure), Bodega 1900 is the brand new sister restaurant to Tickets, located across the street. Tickets is the original offspring of El Bulli and it's hard to get a reservation unless you plan ahead. But going to Bodega 1900 instead worked out just fine for us.
Parker wasn't really into Spanish food (maybe it was because we were always eating so late?) so he had his applesauce on a fancy plate and then plopped down on the floor and played a "Duck Duck Moose" truck/car game (his favorite) on the iPad.
He was happy as a clam. And so were Keith and I as we ate...
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| We had several orders of these stuffed olives. Keith isn't a huge olive fan and even he loved these. |
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| When in Spain you must eat Iberian ham. |
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| Calamari sandwiches |
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| Favorite meal of the trip for all of us! |
And while I said before that good food isn't a bad way to end the day, the perfect ending is this:
