**Click HERE to look at pictures from our time in Barcelona**
Both: Hey everyone!
Jen: It's Jen and Greg with an update on our travels.
Greg: This update is about Barcelona.
Jen: So we began by disembarking early in the morning on Saturday. We got through customs quicker than we expected. Our guide, Marta, picked us up along with two other couples that actually happened to be on our ship as well.
Greg: Yeah. And one of the couples was actually doing what we are.
Jen: They were a lovely husband and wife from the UK - named Irene and Nigel - who started touring in 2020 right before the pandemic. They shared a lot of helpful tips with us and I even connected with her on her Instagram page. And I saw last week that they had just boarded a six-week Mediterranean cruise.
Greg: Yeah, so Marta drove us to Montserrat and Montserrat actually means "serrated mountain". And is the name of the mountains that are in that part of Catalonia. There's also an abbey built high up there in the mountains from around 1000 AD, Santa Maria de Montserrat.
Jen: And a fun little fact about Montserrat is that it's actually on the Camino de Santiago Trail. So for those of you who haven't heard about it, "the Camino" is a trail that was heavily traveled by religious pilgrims to go to a cathedral in Galicia, Spain. It's still a very popular hiking trail in France and Spain, much like the Appalachian Trail is in the United States.
Greg: You know, there were so many cyclists and pedestrians traveling up that road, which is like...it's a two-lane road, but it's not that wide. And it's also really steep. Like I was exhausted just riding up that road. I can't imagine biking or walking.
Jen: Once we arrived at the top, we were one of the last groups allowed in the basilica. It's still an active church and mass was about to begin soon. So when we walked through the doors, I could literally see Greg do a double take.
Greg: Yeah, I did! Because they were working on the organ or doing something to it. But the acoustics right when we walked in and the organ playing just hits you right away. And it was phenomenal acoustics. Plus, you can see all of the art and the sculptures and adornments, the architecture of the place right when you walk in. And it really kind of sinks in why so many of the churches and cathedrals from all those years past basically become mini-museums.
Jen: Besides the basilica, Santa Maria de Montserrat is actually still home to dozens of monks and one of the oldest boys' choirs in Europe. The choir is thought to have begun in 1307.
Greg: And after the tour was done, they dropped us off right at our hotel. And we just kept the rest of the day kind of low key. But the next morning we were picked up right outside of our hotel to do the driving tour around Barcelona.
Jen: Yeah, the van that they picked us up in was a pretty nice van. It was about six to eight passengers. But the front most seats were facing backwards. Since we were the last to be picked up, we wound up in those seats, with me in the middle. So we didn't really get to see much of anything. And another problem with that is it encouraged conversation between us and the British duo that was also on the tour.
Greg: Yeah, I think the driver was also getting a little frustrated because he was trying to give us the tour. But the British duo - were very nice people, we got along with them very, very well -
Jen: (laughs)
Greg: - but they kind of kept talking over him a bit and visiting with us. And a couple of times I tried to like bring it back to the driver, asking him questions. And he would start answering, but before long, the British people would start talking again. And then, you know me, I can talk to a wall -
Jen: (laughs)
Greg: - so I was engaging with them at that point. And I think it made him kind of take the stance of "I don't want to interrupt your conversation anymore. So I'm going to stop speaking as much about the tour you're on." And that's kind of my fault a little bit but it just added to the whole aspect of we didn't get as much from the tour because of the whole setup.
Jen: Why don't you tell them about the cars?
Greg: Yeah, one of the coolest things about that specific tour and drive is while we were sitting in traffic at one point at a light, we see these cars begin going by that are from the early 20th century. By that, I mean like 1920, maybe even a little earlier than that. Some 1930s. And somebody made a comment about the clothes. And we noticed that all of the drivers and their passengers were dressed in period clothing to match the vehicle that they were driving.
Jen: Yeah, I think I even said, "the car looks just like the one in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." So the Brits in the van - and Greg - decided to start to sing the song.
Greg: In my defense, it's already a song that I randomly sometimes sing. Dick Van Dyke movies were very popular when I was growing up and I liked them a lot.
Jen: That's true.
Greg: So besides the car parade, during the tour, we saw a couple of buildings that were designed by Gaudí before we went to Park Güell. And the buildings - one was designed to be like the ocean. So all the balconies were kind of curvy and all of the decorative aspects were very aquatic themed. Plus, it attempted with its shape of the building and the roofline to inspire waves. Uh, the other building, I think was almost right across the street, was designed to look like St. George slaying a dragon. So at the top of the building roofline were almost like these spikes, like the back ridge of a fantasy-genre dragon. And all the balconies and all the adornments on the building were sort of like scaled armor. And there was a part of the building that looked almost like a sword kind of piercing. It was…it was a neat building, but it did seem out of place with all the contemporary building.
Jen: Yeah, I think they're pretty famous buildings. So if you Google "Gaudí in Barcelona", they'll probably show up. But they were very whimsical. It was almost like they should be in a theme park or something.
Greg: Yeah, that's actually exactly what I felt like they were very much kind of theme park buildings. I did enjoy the buildings more than the park, though. Park Güell is also by Gaudí. And if you look up pictures, you can see that same whimsical approach to the whole park.
Jen: We spent about an hour in Park Güell. And I think it was just okay, I would say. Maybe it was because I wasn't too familiar with Gaudí's work going into it. But everything I saw kind of looked the same to me.
Greg: Yeah, I mean, I see Gaudí's style. I kind of understand his appeal, but I feel like Barcelonan people kind of really overhyped the guy.
Jen: (laughs) Pretty sure people are probably cringing as we say all of this...
The last stop of the tour was La Sagrada Familia. We got there about mid-afternoon, so the area was filled with what looked like - and what felt like a million people. We were a little overwhelmed by the crowd, so that kind of took away from it a bit.
Greg: Yeah, it definitely did. I mean, it really did feel like a million people in one single block. Plus, there was all the scaffolding and the fabric that goes up like two stories high, that were really blocking so much of the view of the lower stuff. Without the huge crowd and without the scaffolding, I think it could have been really cool because each tower is supposed to be a different representation of a biblical story and the one that was finished by Gaudí before he died. You could see, you know, it could be impressive, but you just can't enjoy it with that many people.
Jen: When we were planning, we were kind of torn about whether or not to buy tickets to see the inside of the cathedral. And since we knew ahead of time that it would be later in the day by the time we got there, and there probably would be a ton of people, we decided to pass on the entry ticket and we were glad we did because we saw a photo of how many people were inside that day and it was packed.
Greg: Yeah, and that's really why we try to always buy tickets to visit places like this early in the morning or as early as we can get there. And we also try to avoid the busiest attractions on the weekends if possible. Unfortunately with this one, it was a Sunday and it was right in that peak of when people were going. So definitely inside way more packed than the outside.
Jen: When we were trying to figure out what to do on our last day in Barcelona, we reached out to the tour company and asked them if they had any recommendations. And they recommended Girona, so we signed up for the tour. It was probably our favorite one of the three.
Greg: Yeah, I think so. And she gave us a lot of history about the area of Catalonia while we were driving there and back.
Jen: Someone actually even commented on how impressed they were with her wealth of knowledge about the area. And I learned something new that day. They actually have a program in Spain that they have to become a certified tour guide and it's a nine-month long program and they earn a certification that's called a "master in professional tour guiding". And that allows them to be able to do these guided tours to these different cities.
Greg: One of the interesting things that she taught us while we were driving to Girona was the historical significance that this town presents since they are sort of like that first bastion of defense when people cross over the Pyrenees Mountains. And they take a lot of pride in the fact that they held off three sieges by Napoleon and his army in the early 19th century. And there's a monument in the square of town, kind of in the center, called the "Monument to the Defenders of Girona". Overall, kind of stuff like that made me feel like Girona had more character than Barcelona did. Barcelona to me felt like just a big metro area. Besides the fact that there was graffiti everywhere. It just lacked a little bit. Maybe it's because I don't appreciate Gaudi enough. But Girona has history on display that I just felt like Barcelona would be like… visiting Houston. Like who brags about visiting Houston?
Jen: (whispers) You probably...
Greg: Okay, I'll edit that out.
Jen: (laughing) Oh man...start a riot. (sighs)
Also, it's popular, I guess, for some Game of Thrones tours because some of the scenes for Game of Thrones were filmed there. In fact, I think one of the big scenes where Cersei does something... I don't know, we're not really fans of the show. I haven't watched it. But a lot of people liked it. More people were there at the steps of the cathedral than probably the rest of the town, so...
Greg: Yeah, I honestly feel like that's a shame because so much of Girona is so fantastic. And the most popular thing is Game of Thrones related.
Jen: Not that there's anything wrong with that...
Greg: …I guess.
Jen: And now for the part that everybody wants to know. Yes, we ate at some good restaurants while we were in Barcelona. The very first place that we ate at was a place called, Ayres del Sur. And it was a little Argentinian restaurant that was down the street from our hotel. And we really kind of stumbled upon this because we got off the tour late. So there was really no other place open to eat lunch and we were super hungry.
Greg: Yeah, we ate empanadas there for lunch. And when we came in, there was this kind of gangly, like early 20s kind of, waiter who let us take a seat. But when he came over to take our order, I just said, "Habla ingles?" And he kind of perked up a bit and was like, "Yes, I'd love to practice my English!" And it turns out he was a super excited guy. Not just to speak English, but also when he asked questions and we talked a little bit. And we said we had just started traveling the world. He was so impressed and he was as excited about this trip as we were. And he became kind of like our little best friend in Barcelona.
Jen: Yeah, his name was Etán. And we actually went back to visit him for dinner because when we were eating lunch, everybody else was ordering all this grilled meat. So we just decided to go back because we felt like we were missing out.
Greg: Yeah, we also went to a place called El Puestu, which was the tapas place we ate at. They were pretty good. And…we remembered to take pictures there!
Jen: Yay! I think tapas might actually be my new favorite way to eat because I hate making decisions. And you can try so many things at a tapas restaurant and there is no judgment. Well, I think that about covers it for Barcelona. And next time we're going to share about our first European train ride and our time in Lyon, France.
Greg: So thanks for checking in...
Jen: ...and we'll see you at the next stop!
