Day 2 - Rambling Along The Streets of Barcelona

D is feeling the jetlag badly.

We awoke this morning around 9am. And by 10ish (or earlier) we were out the door and ready for another day of sightseeing.

We walked down Nou de la Ramblas to get the Las Ramblas:

Just like our guidebook said: Rick Steve's Spain 2009... there were plenty of flower vendors and then pet vendors.. you could hear the sound of lots of birds. We passed the Placa de Catalunya and walked along Passeig de Gracia. I think D could feel my irritation at not knowing where the street names were... but we finally got it. The street names are on the buildings...which can be a bit hard to find!!

We managed to get ourselves to Eixample.. today we were going to get a healthy dose of Antoni Gaudi.

We stumbled on a group of ppl and figured that there was something around worth seeing. And yeup.. we found the Block of Discord.

Casa Batllo:

I did want to go inside and check it out. But, it was either going into this one or Casa Mila (La Pedrera)...going to both seemed to be too much to spend. Since Rick Steve suggested Casa Mila was better than the two.. we did just that. And I'm glad we did. With a 9.50 euro admission fee with audioguide included.. it made D more interested in Gaudi's architecture..which actually made me happy.

The other building on the Block of Discord was Casa Amatller..but the outside of the building was being renovated... that seems to be a running theme going on here.. first the Catedral and now this place. And since we had already passed the Casa Lleo Morera..we just skipped it.

To be honest.. I hate skipping things.. if we're here..we should see EVERYTHING.. but time limit and money limits and laziness are always a factor.

So we walked down some more to La Pedrera.

Since we didn't have breakfast.. we were starving.. so again we took Rick Steve's advice on a lunch spot: La Rita. This was a GREAT spot to grab lunch. After feeling embarassed at not knowing the language and finally getting a waiter who spoke English, we got the 'Meal of the Day'. It was yummy three course meal with wine included for 8.95 euros. Now that's a deal..especially since we felt like we got jipped on last nites dinner.

We were debating whether to carry onto Parc Guell. But after lunch we wanted a siesta!

So we moved along to Sagrada Familia (Holy Family Church)It was just so fascinating seeing this structure.. no wonder it's one of the most visited building in the world. Each spot on the building has something going on. Although Gaudi didn't finish it.. its still in the process.. and its crazy how it's like a work in progress. From our guide book..it says it might not even be done for another 30 years!! Crazy!

I kinda wanted to go inside...but we skipped it and took the metro back home.