All over Barcelona

We started our full day in Barcelona early after waking at 5.30am. We showered and by 7.30 we were heading back to the Barri Gotic, the Gothic Quarter. We found a cafe to eat breakfast in ( chocolate croissant and cappucino..mmmmm) and though we had bought hop on hop off bus tickets, decided to walk to Sagrada Familia to get there when it opened at 9 as we had not bought tickets online for entry ( mistake 1).
Google said it was 45 minutes walk,though google didnt account for us getting lost in the delightful meandering alleyways of the od city, and our having to constantly detour for another photo.

We found ourselves in the midst of living history and it was hard to keep to the plan..the plan took a nosedive when we discovered the old cathedral. we were no longer going to get to Sagrada Familia by 9am!!

The old Cathedral is immensely beautiful and we spent a good hour inside.

The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia (Catalan: Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia, Spanish: Catedral de la Santa Cruz y Santa Eulalia), also known as Barcelona Cathedral, is the Gothic cathedral and seat of theArchbishop of Barcelona, Spain.^[1] The cathedral was constructed from the 13th to 15th centuries, with the principal work done in the 14th century.


The present Gothic cathedral was begun on the foundations of the previous churches on 1 May 1298; James II the Just was King of Aragon at the time, and Bernat Pelegri was Bishop of Barcelona. The church was built from the east end towards the west end, with a simple west facade completed in 1417. The cloister was completed in 1448, making the total duration of construction 150 years. In the late 19th century, Miguel Girona i Agrafel offered to complete the neo-Gothic facade and central tower as inspired by the original 15th-century design prepared by master Carlí and rearranged and drawn by the architectJosep O. Mestres. This work was completed in 1913 by Girona's children.^[2]

The church has many incrdible decorative dedication area around the walls as shown by the one in the photo here.
We could have stayed much longer and explored here but we needed oget to Sagrada Familia

We once again got a bit lost but finally made it to Sagrada Familia. The earliest ticket we could get was for entry in 2 hours so wandered the area around, finding the Arc de Triomf and buying a pair of spanish shoes each, and lunching at a fast food place called Pans which sells filled bread rolls.
The Sagrada Familia did not disappoint and really cant be put in words . Its an immense work in progress, and clearly Antony Gaudi was one of the most imaginative men ever to walk the earth. It is still years from being finished but requires hours to view as there is just so much to see. Every time you look you see something you didnt see before .. Visiting inside is a highlight for me

We spent the remainder of the day touring Bacelona on the Hop on Hop Off Bus. We attemped Park Guell but the next available entry to the Monument zone would have made us too late for the last bus and it was a LONG way to the hotel so we just took in the view from the free area and then caught the bus to the another area with a couple of iconic Gaudi houses,  ( very expensive to tour inside so we will save those for next time!

We had dinner in a remarkable deli type restaurant   complete with aobout a hundred hanging hams . Paella was a must  for our last dinner in Barcelona.
Our big adventure on the high seas awaits us tomorrow but in the morning we plan to visit the Bouqueria Market and further explore the  Gothic area