Get Your Ducks in a Row
I will explain more about the geese later.
We spent Friday exploring Barcelona for the first time. We planned to visit Gaudi's famous basilica, "La Sagrada Familia", and Casa Batllo on Saturday, but they closed due to Coronavirus precautions. We managed to tour one of the Gaudi homes, Casa Mila (La Pedrera) on Friday before it closed too.
Some lovely flowers welcomed us in the hotel lobby.
El Palace Hotel proud displays its date of construction on the top of the building.
Our cherubs hover nearby.
While we were walking around town, we felt like someone was watching us.
We found the lovely Gothic-style Barcelona Cathedral, which was built starting in 1298 and took 150 years to complete!
The cathedral cloisters are home to 13 geese (pictured above). The number is explained by the fact that Saint Eulalia, one of the patron saints of the cathedral, was age 13 when she died and endured 13 tortures.
Brock wanted to see boats, so we walked down to the palm tree-lined harbor. There, he got to see plenty of boats!
We saw three privately owned large yachts that were almost as big as cruise ships!
Yachts of the size you would normally see in Palm Beach were nearby and dwarfed in comparison.
We enjoyed a wonderful harbor lunch of goat cheese salad and seafood paella!
Our next stop was a tour of Casa Mila (La Pedrera). The industrialist Pere Milo commissioned Antoni Gaudi to build this as a family residence and also apartments for rent. In the attic was a model of the building, built 1906-1912.
I enjoyed the undulating rooftop of the building, but you had to watch your step. The sculptures on the roof reminded me of Star Wars Storm Troopers.
There was even an interesting view of La Sagrada Familia basilica!
I enjoyed the tour, but Brock did not appreciate Gaudi's taste in architecture at all. He prefers symmetry.
We enjoyed walking around Barcelona on this beautiful 70 degree spring day! Everyone said it was not normal for it to be this warm in mid-March.
We found a bar that pays homage to someone whose empathy, competence, respectability, stability, and calm demeanor we miss dearly!
We enjoyed dinner at our hotel's elegant Mediterranean restaurant. We had the whole place to ourselves and were served by three amazing, friendly waiters!
After dinner we checked out our hotel's "Bluesman" Bar in the basement. They had an elaborate Cigar Room and Humidor. The Rolling Stones and U2 have performed on their tiny stage! They had framed photos on the wall of other famous patrons, including Frank Sinatra, AC/DC, Michael Jackson, the Beatles, Mick Jagger with John Lennon, James Brown, Paul Simon, and more.
This clock was lovely, but it did not have the right time! It's time to go!
We have one more day to enjoy in Barcelona, but it will be a quiet one, because most tourist attractions are now closed. We will use our day to pack up, get our ducks in a row, and prepare to fly back home to the United States on Sunday!