Welcome to chapter 8 – A Summer in France: Barcelona. We’ve arrived in Spain for a few days after leaving Andorra. Neither of us have ever been to Barcelona, so we’re looking forward to our stay. Barcelona has a city population of 1.6 million people, while the metropolitan area has 4.8 million. It is Europe’s 5th most populous area. Here’s an aerial view of the city I captured on a funicular ride up the mountain. There are more panoramic photos later in this post.
There’s also a large port and a number of beaches as the city sits on the Mediterranean Sea.
The Sagrada Família Church and other landmarks designed by Antoni Gaudí are two things for which Barcelona is best known.
Basílica of the Sagrada Família
The Basilica of the Sagrada Familia is the largest unfinished Roman Catholic Church in the world and was a lifelong project of Gaudí. It’s been under construction since 1882, so over 140 years now. However it has a proposed completion date of 2026. Once completed, the church will have 18 towers with the tallest reaching 564 feet high. The enormity of the building is hard to describe. In the bottom left of this photo, you can easily see the newer construction next to the older, weathered stone of previous decades. It is unlike any structure you’ve ever seen. It is also where you will find Gaudí’s burial crypt.
Antoni Gaudí
There are many Antoni Gaudí landmarks through the city, but I’ll share just a couple. Gaudí built Casa Milà (1906-1912) for the wealthy Milà family who lived on the main floor of this mansion. Casa Batlló, originally built in 1877, purchased later by the Batlló family gave Gaudí complete artistic control for its reconstruction (1904-1906).
Gaudí’s passions in life were architecture, nature, and religion, so this is reflected in his work. He also loved incorporating recycled materials such as ceramics, glass, stone, and iron into his architecture.
Markets, eating, drinking and strolling
We love going into the local markets as they have the best meats, produce and cheese. It’s also a great place to eat and drink. Danny enjoyed a very large sangria as we sat outside at a cafe. We had a great lunch of Arròs negre. At first, we thought it was seafood paella made with black rice. However, it wasn’t actually black rice, but squid ink that turned the rice black. It was absolutely delicious.
Much of our time spent everywhere we visit is simply enjoying walking around and exploring the alleyways, squares and courtyards of each town. Some of the streets are so narrow that the buildings seem to touch. The architecture, buildings and squares here are stunning. It’s unfortunate that Spain is undergoing a drought, as they have shut off all public fountains and drained the water displays, so we didn’t get to enjoy them.
Panoramic Barcelona
One morning we decided we wanted to see the city from the top of Mont Montjuïc. So, we hopped aboard the cable car for a ride to the top where there’s also a castle fortress from the 1640’s. In one of the city views below, you can spot the Sagrada Familía. There are also several photos of the port and the castle, followed by a short video of the ride.
A walk to the beach
On our last day in Barcelona, we headed to the beach to close out our fun time in this beautiful city. If you’ve never been to Barcelona, maybe you should add it to your bucket list. There’s lots to see and do and the food is great.
Thanks for reading A Summer in France: Barcelona. We leave tomorrow to drive back to France for the rest of our trip. Stay tuned for more of our escapades in chapter 9.
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