Outfit of the day!



Morning Surprise

 

Hoy es mi cumpleaños. Tengo 36 años.

 

Woke up around 6:30 this morning but it felt like we slept in. Don’t judge us, but we opted for the hotel breakfast. We needed some protein instead of pastry to start the day, and the breakfast bar had plenty of it. I guess when we checked in yesterday, they recorded info from our IDs because the server came over to our table singing Happy Birthday with some sweet treats in hand.

 

Park Güell

 

Even though we’ve become acquainted with the metro, we are realizing how cheap it is to taxi/rideshare. We used Cabify to get us to Park Güell this morning, where we met our group and guide for our tour. There were about twenty-something of us and a good chunk were from California.

 

The guide told us all about the architect Antoni Gaudí and his works. There is so much to be said about Gaudí, but honestly, we’d also been studying him in preparation for this trip via YouTube and documentaries. Such a unique and fascinating artist with a strong admiration of nature and God’s creation. Most of his architecture mirrored natural structures like trees or bones rather than straight lines. He is well-renowned all over Barcelona and his work draws millions of visitors every year.

 

We spent the morning admiring Park Güell and learning even more about Gaudí. Our guide was a real jokester too! He pointed out families of small green parrots living in enclosed nests up in the trees. He referred to them as illegal immigrants. I guess a few were brought over as pets once upon a time and were released into the park, eventually adapting and growing in population.

 

As we wrapped up the tour and turned in our headsets, Matt handed our guide a tip, which prompted him to notice Matt’s watch. He pointed to it and said, “Be careful with this in the Gothic Quarter!” So we headed back to the hotel and put all our jewelry, minus the costume earrings, in our safe.

 

Sagrada Família

 

Our next stop for the day was the infamous Basilica de la Sagrada Família — a must-see in Barcelona. We arrived just as a rain shower was starting. The clouds and rain made the weather much more tolerable today. It is very hot and humid here.

 

Gaudí was the 2nd architect to work on Sagrada Família. Technically it is still unfinished, even though construction started in the 1800s. But you know, beauty takes time.

 

The rain shower was wrapping up as we were leaving. Perfect timing!

 

Arc de Triomf

 

We made our way to our third “arc” of the trip — Arc de Triomf. Barcelona’s Arc wasn’t built for battles; it was the fancy front door to the 1888 World’s Fair. Basically, it’s the city’s way of saying, “Welcome to modern Barcelona, we’re kind of a big deal.”

 

Gothic Quarter & Cathedral

 

Our next goal was to see the Barcelona Cathedral and Gothic Quarter, which was walking distance away. We walked through the narrow streets of the Gothic Quarter, exploring unique shops with kind shop owners and employees.

 

We bought way too many sweets, including traditional Spanish cookies and chocolate from the chocolate museum. I love that there is an abundance of dark chocolate everywhere here — 70% cacao or more for me, please!

 

At a souvenir shop, I had a conversation with an older man working there, who kindly entertained my Spanish. He took pride in his souvenirs being made in Spain and not China. He told us that he intentionally orders t-shirts up to size 4X for Americans because “McDonalds.” He then advised us to be careful and make sure our bags are always closed and we’re watching our things. “‘Money and cellphone, they want it. Your country, America, it’s better…” He says Spanish people don’t like working, they just like to smoke cigarettes and drink beer. We haven’t run into those Spaniards yet. Hopefully, we never do.

 

I should note that I usually study the map before heading to the next location so that I’m not a walking target with my phone in hand. You know, gotta make it look like I know what I’m doing. So sometimes I come up a little short on my destination or question if I’m turning too early or too late.

 

At some point, we thought we were at the Cathedral but were really just taking photos of a random building with neat architecture. I didn’t realize it until we had stopped for lunch nearby at Restaurant Gloria. While munching on our seafood paellas, I told Matt we hadn’t quite reached the Cathedral yet. So we had to add it back in before heading to the hotel.

 

The whole thing gave me a flashback to Italy. Picture it: Rome, 2010. I proudly brought my friends to see the “Trevi Fountain” — aka the first fountain I saw outside the metro stop labeled Trevi Fountain. Spoiler: it was not the Trevi Fountain. Not even close.

 

Also at lunch, we learned that another customer had his phone stolen by pickpockets. Apparently there were two of them, and they started talking to him, distracting him until his phone ran off with them. Unfortunate.

 

Flamenco Birthday

 

In the evening, we went to a Flamenco show on La Rambla. I know everyone is dying to know if it was like eating a Philly cheesesteak in Miami (since Flamenco is from Andalucía, not Catalunya).

 

I’m happy to say, the show was a delight and a perfect addition to my birthday. Yes, it was a little shorter and more intimate than my Andalusian experience last year, but the talent was all there. Just fewer performers on a smaller stage. Still gave me goosebumps!

 

Dinner & Closing the Night

 

We closed out the night with a late dinner at a rooftop terrace restaurant. Tapas! All devoured before pictures could be taken. Matt was only able to get one picture of the grilled octopus, which was easily the best octopus I’ve ever eaten in my life. I’m still thinking about it.

 

All in all, an amazing birthday!

 

Side note: Matt has sooo many photos of me on his phone! If we weren’t married, I’d probably be considering a restraining order.

 

⸻

 

Tomorrow

 

Tomorrow: a Montserrat Monastery Tour and — just for Matt — a visit to the Barça Museum. Don’t worry, I plan to dress the part and keep the smile going for him, though I know nothing about fútbol!