Four Apples a Day: Travel With Me Tuesday

Yes another theme day! :) In an attempt to finish up my travel section I will be posting one location a week with photos and fun facts. Today's location is.....

BARCELONA, SPAIN!

I cannot say enough good things about Barcelona. It is my favorite place in the entire world and I would give anything to go back again and again and possibly even live. It is big, inviting, diverse, exciting and does all this without being overwhelming. Food is delicious, locals are helpful, there is so much to see, great shopping, it is simply amazing!! I went to Barcelona with a friend of mine shortly after my husband returned from deployment. We spent two full days and were able to see quite a bit of the city, but there is just so much to it I'm willing to bet you could find more each visit. We flew Ryan Air (best option for Europe to Europe cities) arrived late at night and after spending HOURS sneakily looking at a travel book map (you know because we didn't want to look too touristy, it's not like we are extremely obviously American :)) we finally found our hotel and got some sleep. The first day we did self touring walking around taking in the sites, eating paella (soooo good), drinking wine and loving life.

We went in off season, so it was a bit chilly but far less crowded than during the touristy times. Amazing architecture everywhere you look!

The first thing I thought of when we stepped out into the town is New York. This is weird because I have never actually been to New York, but it just had the feel that I imagine when I think of The Big Apple.

Day two we paid to ride the tourist bus. It was an extremely reasonable price because you got on a bus chose which sites to get off on and then boarded another bus when you were done. It was
a great system and a much quicker way to get around. The bus also offered a guided tour in several different languages, so we got some good history about what we were seeing and of course got to know exactly what we were looking at, which is always helpful. :)

A view of the city

The bus tour

This friends was my favorite part. La Sagrada Familia

Building began in 1882 under Antoni Gaudi and is not expected to be finished until 2080 if at all.
Gaudi spent 40+ years on this temple until his death in 1926. Gaudi has amazing architecture all over Barcelona. [1]

I took about 20 pictures of this temple alone and none of them do it justice. It is extremely beautiful and so detailed and large that I stood and stared at it for at least an hour.