Barcelona

The day was as predicted, not one for the beach so we set off for Girona to catch the fast train to Barcelona.It took about 35 min as opposed to two hours by the slow train.We left about eight hoping to catch an early train but that idea was foiled as the train only had two seats left so we had to hang about for nearly two hours for the next train.It worked in our favour as we were able to explore Girona old town which was quite impressive.

The massive  catedral is in a prominent position in the town and noted for the 90 steps leading to the main doors and known as the stairway to heaven.It has a  Baroque  exterior and a Gothic interior with the largest  nave in the world.The catedral is  a medieval marvel and has an austere beauty inside the knave itself.There is a museum and a bath house at the bottom of the steps.

We had a walk through old narrow streets of the old Jewish Quarter, winding up to catedral itself before having a nice coffee stop and enjoying toasted bikinis in the old town.

Eventually we boarded our train at a very smart station,quite new and well set out.The train runs at about 200 km per hour and we zapped along through rather more luxuriant scenery than I had anticipated.Quite green,tree lined and lots of farming activity.Autumn is showing in the colors of the trees and fields alongside the road to Girona and then onto Barcelona.

It was about 12.30 when we arrived and we bought a day metro pass and headed to the Sagrada Familia to start our day. We had a plan but that quickly had to change as the ticket queue was already well occupied and we could not get into the catedral until 5.15pm, plus the tower was sold out already.

We went into La Rambla and strolled down the length of it, stopping for lunch in a delightful old square called Placa Reial, just off the main thoroughfare and fringed with palm trees, arcades and cafes.The lamposts here were designed by Gaudi.This was lovely and by now the sun was out so we sat and enjoyed the atmosphere.Lou and I had the most amazing size beers in huge rounded glasses plus some nice Spanish food to wash it down.

Later we strolled through the old winding streets of el Gotic, so narrow you cannot get a car down them until we arrived at the waterfront area.This is where you can see amazing yachts and leisure boats ready for the Mediterranean holiday. Port Vell has plenty of action taking place on the water.We could have spent longer but time was running out.
We walked along to the Marco Polo statue where Lou bargained for a designer bag from the touts at the market there.
Later we visited the food market -Mercat de la Boqueria which is thought to be the biggest undercover food market in Europe for a look at the range of foods available,memories of our other trip with Rachel in 2008.She would love to be with us.

We walked back along the length  La Rambla until we reached Catalunya Square for a look at a couple of the iconic  Gaudi Casa buildings too. We saw the Casa  Batilo which  represents the legend of St George and his dragon along with  Casa Amatelier and some other of  the notable buildings along the avenue. We did rather stumble on them so that was a bonus before heading off to our visiting slot at Gaudi's masterpiece.

I was surprised at how much had been done since Lou and I were last here.Much of the interior has been completed and the vision I had had changed because of it.The light was still amazing but different time of the day so different colors dominated. The vaults under the alter were available for private prayer.
The ceilings soared and the embellishments and adornments take your eye in so many directions.The alter piece was also finished and there was seating installed.It is mesmerizing and walking around the huge interior you get a sense of what Gaudi intended, indeed a spectacle of glory.

By this stage it was about six and I was feeling very footsore and ready for a spell. It turned out so were Lou and Chris, so we opted to go back to the station and maybe get an earlier train back to Girona.
Just as well we did in the end as the google maps device on Lou's phone had a little tantrum and we ended up on a toll road so Lou had to back out of it!! Very stressful but at least it was not dark so we eventually got the map re-programmed and on track for home.

It had been a long day as we had left at eight and it was about nine when we drove into the car park.
I slept very well after all that walking.