Second half Spain - Barcelona back to Tarragona

The kids were up bright and early again our second morning in Spain. After eating breakfast at the apartment, we made our way back to the metro to begin our sightseeing for the day. Jason and I have now learned to really scale back our expectations when it comes to how much we can fit into a day with the kids along for the ride. So we had a list of three things to see, and anything above that was a total bonus!

Most of the stops we had on our list were related to Antoni Gaudi.  He was a late 19th century Spanish architect who is responsible for designing many of the famous buildings and tourist sites which attract millions of tourists to Barcelona each year.  It is technically categorized as "Art Nouveau", but it is a style entirely it's own! 

The first stop of the day was Sagrada Familia.  It is a HUGE cathedral still under construction over 100 years after work began in the late 1800's.  It was a little difficult to appreciate with all of the scaffolding, cranes and construction noise.  However, I would love to revisit when it is completed - we are told it will be another 50 years before that will happen!

After allowing the children to play on the playground across from the cathedral, we made our way back to the metro to head north to Parc Güell.  It is a unique and art-filled park originally constructed for a proposed upscale neighborhood, which never took off.  However, the park remains and attracts millions of people each year - both tourists and locals alike. 

Here we are on the hike up to the park...did I mention it is located on top of a small mountain!

Here is the view of the mountain we just climbed up!  Thankfully, we passed by a local woman and managed to decifer from her that there was an escaltor for the remainder of the hike up to the top.  So thankful for the kind-hearted Spanish people who take pity on the tourists!

Part way through our hike in the park, we came to this scenic overlook to see Barcelona.

Unfortunately, it began raining as we walked into the main area of the park.  Despite the grey clouds and drizzle, we were able to appreciate this unique and inspiring park.  Below are a few of our favorite pics from Parc Güell.

These two photos show the famous mosaic benches, which are completely packed on a warm, sunny Catalan day. 

Then we made our way under the platform to see the columns and more mosaic art. 

The houses in the photo to the left are at the entrance to the park.  Jason said they reminded him of the buildings at Disney! 

I felt like we were walking in a huge ocean wave when we were inside this tunnel. 

And the children finally decided on a cease-fire with the poor pigeons and made a peace offering by sharing their crackers with the birds. 

 Here is the official entrance to the park.  It is such a light-hearted and colorful park, despite the grey clouds, we truly enjoyed our time there.

 It was well past lunch by the time we left the park, so we found this local sandwich shop for a mid-day meal.  The employee was smitten with the kids and was very friendly. 

Our final stop for the day before dinner was Casa Mila.  This is an unusual apartment building designed by Gaudi and constructed in the early 1900's. It was constructed without any straight lines and finished off with an intricate roof-top complete with many sculptures.

These first two photos show the exterior of the building.  Definitely not your typical city building!

  Gaudi wanted light to fill each room in the apartments so he made two interior courtyards.

Jenna enjoyed taking pictures of the apartment that is open to the public. 

Here are a few photos of the artistic roof, complete with Ethan's ninja pose...

After touring the house for a few hours, we began making our way to dinner.  On the way, we passed "The Block of Discord."  This is a row of intricately designed houses built in the early 1900's as homeowners competed with each other - the ultimate "keeping up with the Jones's"!

 Following our filling, and touristy dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, this tired family made our way back to the apartment!

The Barcelona metro was clean, efficient and extensive.  I think we benefited greatly from all the improvements and upgrades made to the metro system since the '92 Olympics.

On the way to the apartment, the kids spotted this comically named pita shop...

Tuesday morning, our last day in Spain, everyone slept in a bit later!  On the agenda was catching a train from Barcelona back to Tarragona.  We were cleaned up and out of the apartment around 10:15.  We managed to get to the train station and purchase our tickets for the return to Tarragona just 4 minutes before it departed.  I seriously felt like we were on "The Amazing Race" from TV, with all of us running through the station trying to get on the train before it departed!  It's such a feeling of accomplishment when you sit down on the train just before it takes off.

This train ride, Mom and Dad vetoed any use of electronics in hopes that the kids would enjoy the scenic train ride down the Spanish coast.  The ride went relatively well, but I think we are all happy it was only a little over an hour long.

 When we arrived in Tarragona, we picked up some sandwiches for a quick picnic at a park with an overlook onto the sea.  It was a perfect location, although I felt this was not a typical picnicing spot for the locals.  We received several interesting looks as people walked by, but it really saved us a lot of time as we wanted to use our few hours there to explore before we had to head to the airport. 

 The main attraction for us in Tarragona were the ancient Roman ruins.  They ranged from a Roman circus, aquaducts, and this picturesque amphitheatre.  It was constructed in the 2nd century A.D.!

It's amazing to think about how so much of human nature is unchanged over the millenia...for two thousand years or more, people have come to enjoy the beauty of the sea meeting land in this very spot! 

Here are some of the views inside the theatre.  We enjoyed picking out the columns and other intricacies that were hand-carved so many generations ago!

We finished our time in Tarragona with a family portrait and a quick walk on the beach. 

We arrived back at the nearly uninhabited Reus Airport well ahead of our scheduled flight.  It was definitely a no frills airport, but very relaxed and I think we were literally the only flight that evening!

I think our family has been won-over by Spain and we truly hope to visit again before our time is Europe is finished.