Barcelona, the city that Gaudí built

Ok I'm so getting back on the time line of our holiday, from Brighton we went to the Music festival and then back to my home town for a few days: This is always a pleasure but I'll talk about Basingstoke some other time. From Basingstoke we went to beautiful Barcelona. Another magnificent city I had always wanted to spend time in. I was there over night in 2009 on my way to Bennicasim music festival but sadly didn't actually get to see anything of the city. Like most of this holiday it was a relitevely small stop in Barcelona for just a couple of days but we were lucky enough to still experience a lot of this great city.

Now some of you maybe asking who Gaudí is and others of you may ask why I am giving him sole credit for Barcelona, well let me explain. Whenever I go to a new place, yes I may see and experience many different things but I will always take away one or two very specific things as my main memories . For example the first time in Norway it was Trolls. Well in Barcelona the main thing without doubt was Sagrada Familia, the massive cathedral that has been being built in Barcelona for well over a century. The reason this stands out so much is by no means a surprise when you see the view from our hotel bedroom window and the roof terrace.

Our bedroom window at night when we first arrived

In the morning

From the Roof Terrace

It was quite amazing and more than just a little bit imposing I can tell you. It is an incredible building with strange but marvellous details all around. For those who have not put two and two together yet, it was a Mr Antoni Gaudí who designed this masterpiece but he also did many other things including Park Güell, which we spent a large proportion of a day looking around and I strongly recommend. Its not exactly off the track and is completely packed with tourists but there are nice walks around the area that are less crowded and it really is a lovely place. These two things along with several other buildings in Barcelona stand out a mile as architectural wonders and they were all designed by this one man. Just a short walk from Park Güell we came across a 4D cinema all about Antoni Gaudí and his creations. It was a shortish show but lots of fun, not to mention a great way of getting out of the scorching sun for a little bit so thats another thing I really recommend. Ok with all the pictures this post is getting on the long side so I think I will talk about the food and stuff in Spain in my next post.

Park Guell

A view from Park Guell