Sam's Visit - Part 2 - Barcelona

Thursday morning, Sam, Pam and I flew to Barcelona for a long weekend. We flew into Girona, Spain and took the bus directly into Barcelona. On the ride in it was interesting to see the country side.
Our hotel, the Pere IV, is a 5 or 6 blocks from the beach and just north of the old town and it was very nice. We all commented how it was an interesting part of town for a hotel. It was pretty industrial, but it did look like it was being developed as there was considerable construction going on.
After checking in the first thing we did was to check out the beach. Sam had never seen the Med before. I was a little concerned about what the beach looked like because it is in a city, but was pleasantly surprised. The water was clear blue and while there were many people there, it was not jammed with people. We walked along the beach to the Marina and decided to have a snack as we were all hungry. I had told Samantha about eating traditional Tapas style food in Spain and she liked it. Sam was very good about trying all sorts of new foods. She would have had more, but we were concerned about her shellfish allergies and the last thing we wanted to do was spend a day in the hospital with her.
It was really hot in the middle of the day, and after our snack we walked back to the hotel for another Spanish tradition, a Siesta.
In the early evening we headed back out. The Subway was just down the street and we took the subway over to the edge of the old town. It was Thursday night and the streets were packed with people. We wandered down Portal De l’Angel which is a wide and Pedestrian only street with shops and we eventually made it over to La Rambla which is the heart of Barcelona night life and shopping. Wednesday night was also the Semi-final match of the 2008 Euro Fußbol championship between Spain and Turkey. We found a nice Tapas Bar showing the game and rooted for Spain. We wanted the final game to between Germany and Spain on Sunday night.
Thursday we went to see the Familia Sagrada, an unfinished cathedral designed by Gaudi. Construction started in 1882 and continues today. Gaudi’s vision of the cathedral is amazing and very modern with interesting lines. From the side we entered, we could not tell how incomplete it was, but inside was filled with scaffolding and incomplete walls. We also went up one of the towers where we could see the incomplete domes. All of the work is now being paid for by admission fees to the cathedral. This would be an interesting place to travel back to in 10 years to see how construction has progressed.
We walked around Barcelona over the next two days, found a couple food markets which were just amazing, filled with Seafood, produce and meats. We found parts of Barcelona that were just very beautiful.
We also visited the Barcelona Cathedral, which is quite a contrast to the Sagrada Familia, Santa Eulia, which is a Gothic cathedral started in the 13th century and completed in the 15th century. Where the Sagrada is light and airy, the Eulia is dark and brooding.
Sunday morning we went to the Picasso Museum. The museum is set up to frame his life and his art, so that you see his talent and style develop over the years, from traditional portraits to his cubism. He was an amazing talent. Samantha knew very little about Picasso. In the first room I told her to really look at the art, that later it will be entirely different. Several rooms later, she was a room in ahead of me and came back to tell me how different the art got. This was his blue period. I told her, just wait…it gets even more different. I think she enjoyed the museum. She commented on the way out that she was surprised that such an important museum should be in an area that is better kept.
After lunch we headed to the beach. Again the beach was crowded but not jammed. The water was clear and blue and cool but not cold. Spent time in the water and people watched. People watching is something that we all enjoy doing.
That night was the Euro2008 Championship game between Spain and Germany and for dinner that Sunday night we returned to the Tapas bar we went to on Thursday night to watch the game. Germany lost 1-0. They did not play well and were lucky to lose be that small a margin.
On Monday morning, we checked out of the hotel early, took a taxi to the bus station and headed home.