A balmy 30 degrees awaited us the next morning as we headed out into beautiful Barcelona for a bike tour (as suggested by Mike and Melissa).
Me zipping along on my bicycle.
We met our tour guide Elizabeth who is originally from Austria. If you can choose your tour guide, choose Elizabeth! She was great. We also met Karen who was on her first Eurotrip and had chosen Barcelona for a ten day stay. She is from Philadelphia.
With our trusty bikes (and Vero with her zippy brand bike…whatever that means!) we headed out on the tour a little late as we were waiting for two others who phoned an hour into the tour wondering where the heck we were! Something tells me they did not set their watches correctly.
Zipping through the alleys!
Biking around the city is THE way to travel and I wish we would have done so in Paris. We biked around the city centre for a few hours and obtained some history on the city. For example, the city centre used to be an industrial area until the Olympics were held here and all industry was moved near the airport so that the city centre would be nice to visit. We swayed in and out of these tall shadowed hallways of merchant’s stores and tourists. Elizabeth was great along the way explaining things here and there.
Karen, Carrie and Vero before some excellent beer and tapas came our way.
We also got to take a breather and stop off for some tapas and a beer. I have determined that the translation for tapas is simply…appetizers! I didn’t particularly find anything special about them…everyone had been raving “You need to try the tapas!”. Well, tapas can be ordered from the menu, much like appetizers can be ordered for your own table back in Canada. So…until someone can explain what the difference is, I shall say that it was fine to stop off for a bite to eat, but I wasn’t blown away by tapas in general.
How could I forget to tell you about Carrie taking a wrong way down a ramp and if she would have continued any further she would have went down a flight of stairs with her bicycle!
After four hours of biking around the city, Elizabeth bid us farewell with some instructions on how to get to the beach. It was such a beautiful day that it would be a waste not to enjoy it! We asked if Karen wanted to join us as it is never as much fun going to the beach alone when you can hang out with some rowdy Canadians! We only had one problem…Vero and I had not brought a bathing suit from the apartment. After realizing it would take a few hours to get back home, we decided to do the only sane thing in the world…go in our underwear! I was lucky on one hand for bringing my nice boxer-briefs, whereas Vero was embarrassed by her choice of thong underwear that day! We pointed out that there must be SOMEONE else on the beach wearing a thong. However, we weren’t in Brazil and I’m pretty sure Vero was the only one! We all had a great laugh. The water was amazing and in 30 degree weather, there wasn’t any other place we wanted to be. I let the girls go in first so I could look after our bags. I was laying under the umbrella we had rented when I realized that it would be foolish not to absorb some of this wonderful sun! I was quite surprised that I didn’t emerge with a burn considering we didn’t have a lot of suntan lotion.
Me goofing around. Dad, pay close attention to the picture.
After a few hours on the beach we went searching for the Sagrada Familia, a church still under construction under architect’s Antoni Gaudi’s guidelines. It was said to be THE thing to see in Barcelona and it did not disappoint. There are some interesting things going through Gaudi’s head in terms of his architecture. There was a quote I heard along the trip that stayed with me…”Gaudi never saw straight lines in nature, so why should there be any in architecture?” The church was immense and out of this world. I was wondering what it would be like to be amongst the congregation on a Sunday morning while the choir sang.
Amazing.
We then decided to hoof it home while seeking out a pharmacy for band-aids (a blister had formed the day before on my foot! This would be persistent throughout my entire trip.) as well as some cold medication for Vero as she had woke up stuffed up. We figure it was the much needed air conditioning in the apartment. I wouldn’t sleep without it! We parted ways with Karen for the evening, went home, had a shower, a nap, some wine, some beer…the night was neverending! I think around midnight we sauntered down the street looking for some paella…which was unknown to me at the time, but turned out to be a fried dish of rice and seafood (typically…you could order chicken or beef I believe). With a mug of sangria by my side and a dish of paella and some shrimp looking back at me, it was probably the best meal I had all Eurotrip! I don’t know if it was because it was so good, or because I was so hungry but I devoured my plate as well as the leftovers of Carrie’s and Vero! I don’t typically eat shellfish (don’t like the taste and Vero is also allergic) but tonight I couldn’t stop. Two thumbs up for paella.
This little guy ended up losing the battle vs. me.
After a hazy night, we headed home for some much needed rest!