What to do in Barcelona

One of the cities we will be visiting on the cruise is Barcelona. In fact, it is the port we say good-bye to the cruise. We have the entire day to get lost before we head to the airport and back to real life. When we looked up excursions for Barcelona, there were SO MANY options. And it didn't help that most of them were in Spanish. So, I asked our cousin Kyla what she would recommend. Let me tell you, she gets around. :) She gave me a list of her favorites and I did a little research on them. Thanks for your help Kyla!!

Here they are:

[caption id="attachment_224" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Park Guell

Park Guell[/caption]

 

Park Guell is the city garden. It features many of Gaudi's designs complete with colorful, tiled mosaics.

[caption id="attachment_227" align="aligncenter" width="480"] La Sagrada Familia[/caption]

This is one of the few modern-day basilicas that is still under construction. It was designed by Gaudi and was the project he was working on when he died. The exterior was inspired by the skeletal system.

[caption id="attachment_230" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Palau Musica Catalana[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_231" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Palau Musica Catalana[/caption]

This is a concert hall renovated in the 80's that is still in use today. All of the stained glass, glazed tiles, and exposed brick and iron were designed to give a feeling of openness and transparency. They too were experimenting with the lack of linear lines.

[caption id="attachment_233" align="aligncenter" width="610"] Market La Boqueria[/caption]

The Market La Boqueria is one of the best markets in the world. I can't wait for some freshly squeezed juice. Look at those colored straws!

[caption id="attachment_240" align="aligncenter" width="543"] Las Ramblas[/caption]

Las Ramblas is a series of shorter streets with lots of shopping and historic sites.

[caption id="attachment_241" align="aligncenter" width="351"] Picasso Museum[/caption]

For some more color and art inspiration, we can visit the Picasso Museum.

[caption id="attachment_242" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Palau Guell[/caption]

Palau Guell is a mansion designed by Gaudi. It was made for entertaining "high society guests"- all the way from small viewing windows for the owners to spy on their guests to the colorful chimneys. Who knew our chimneys were so boring?

[caption id="attachment_247" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Casa Mila[/caption]

Casa Mila is categorized as one of the weirdest apartment building in the world. It was designed by Gaudi (surprise surprise!) and it was built not using a single straight line. There are no load bearing walls, just pillars and arches to support the building. Each apartment is entirely unique. Pretty neat.

[caption id="attachment_248" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Casa Batilo[/caption]

Gaudi was hired by a middel-class family to renovate their home- Casa Batilo. The exterior has a very bone-like quality to it, dubbing it the house of bones. The roof was inspired by a back of a dragon. And of course, the colors and lack of linear lines are the signatures of Gaudi giving this home an "ocean" feel.

I'm already tired and so excited looking at all of these sites! Not to mention color overload. Now, we have to figure out what we can actually see in one day. ONE day. Maybe this will be one of the cities on our list to come back to...

Do you know of any Barcelona hot-spots we can't miss? Please share!

xoxo Kelsey

P.S. Don't forget there is another giveaway for a storyboard design. Enter here!