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2003-06-03 - Barcelona Day 9 Tuesday we began the morning with our tour with the local guide. Instead of visiting the Pueblo Espanol, we opted to visit the Parc Güell. The park was to have been a planned community designed by Gaudí, but the actual houses did not sell. Only Gaudí and his sponsor for the project inhabited houses there and no more were built. It was quite beautiful and several of the areas throughout were accentuated by a colorful mix of mosaics, which were sometimes items he had recycled and used.
We then took a tour around the outside of Sagrada Familia. It was interesting to see the progress that had been made since I was last there. It was disappointing not to be able to go inside and take some better photos of the passion façade, but I really enjoyed seeing it again. I bought a poster of what Sagrada Familia is to look like at its completion. We continued around the city and worked our way to Montjüic, which provided a wonderful view not only of the city from high up but also a view of the Mediterranean coastline. Following our tour, we had a large amount of free time. We returned to the hotel briefly and then went to lunch. We were going to go to Pans & Co., but the menu was in Catalan and I could not tell what sandwich it was that was my favorite. It was also noticeable that the menu varied from region to region somewhat. We decided just to quickly run to Burger King so that we could have some time to look around the Plaza before meeting some of the group to go down to the city beach. We briefly went into a nice department store called Sfera. I do not believe it was there the last time I was here – I believe it was a Marks & Spencer’s then. Mom and Megan found some good buys there. I wish I had seen the skirt Megan found! We met up with about half of the group to go to the beach. We took the bus, which was interesting since it was harder to tell when you had reached your destination. We did find it though and made our way down to the shore. The wind was blowing hard, making it rather cool, but there were many people who were sunbathing up and down the shore. Some people stuck their feet in the water and confirmed that it was quite cold. We then walked and took the Metro back up to the shops around Passeig de Gracia. We split up and worked our way back down the street. Mom, Megan, Sharon and I went into the Lladró store, which was interesting since I’d never been in one. Megan bought a piece for her mother – a dog which looked like their dog. They had one beautiful piece with a flamenco dancer that I would love to have bought, but I decided to be practical and pass. They were beautiful though – the colors and especially the ones with a more Spanish theme. We worked our way down the Plaza de Catalunya and went down a portion of Las Ramblas. We made it far enough down to check out the marketplace just as the stands were beginning to close. I was excited to find a ceramic version of Guernica in one of the stores along the Ramblas. We then returned back to Corte Inglés. I finally found the right pair of Majorica pearl earrings for Marissa, who works with us at Citibank. I also found a beautiful black shawl with black flowers, exactly what I wanted. Mom and I then went the grocery store she found the fresh strawberries she had been wanting and we bought some snacks for the bus ride tomorrow. We went back to the hotel for a brief rest before dinner. Dinner was at a restaurant up Las Ramblas. We had an appetizer of green beans. The main course was pork medallions and rice with seasoning (somewhat similar to saffron) and raisins. Dessert was the best part – chocolate and vanilla ice cream with a berry sauce. I tried not to eat too much because some of us were planning to stop by the Hard Rock Café for some appetizers and since pork and beans are not my favorites. Part of the group went to see a flamenco show, but I opted not to since I had already seen flamenco dancing in Andalucia during the study abroad program. We went to the Internet café for a bit before heading to the Hard Rock Café. There was a long line at the HRC for it to be so late at night (40 minutes) so we decided just to head back to the hotel. I did grab a quick snack at KFC since I was still a bit hungry and we returned back to the hotel.
Via Laietana, 61 Barcelona, Spain Phone: 011-34-93 343 55 55
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