Barcelona in half a day

MELISSA KEEPS A Rick Steves classic handy ever since we moved here - a dog-eared copy of Rick's Best of Europe 2010 edition.  In it is listed 20 or so of Rick's favorite European destinations.    Everytime we get the chance to visit one of them she marks with an X the tabbed pages for that destination.  

Although Barcelona was a good 2 hours from where we stayed, with 14 marks already made in the book and the thought that we might never be this close to Barcelona again...well, of course we made a day trip.   

A 1:30 minute drive and a 30 min train ride later, we popped out into Barcelona in front of the Gaudi house: 

The Gaudi house museum, one time home to native Catalonian architect Antoni Gaudi. 

 Fountains at Plaça de Catalunya. 

Every major city has their promenade - in Paris its the Champs-Élysées, in Berlin it's Unter Den Linden, and in Barcelona it's La Rambla - the big pedestrian street in central Barcelona linking Placa de Catalunya with the Harbor and Christopher Columbus memorial - a 30 minute sight and sound filled ramble, as it were.   

 There are two market staples unique to La Rambla (apart from the steady diet of tourist trinkets).  On the North end, the market is full of birds and small pets.....

 And farther down, it's full of flowers.  Birds and flowers....

 ...among other things.....

 La Rambla terminates at the Harbor with a towering monument to Christopher Columbus and a natural place for a mom-required 5-child pose.   

 Adding to the list of our subway experiences...the Barcelona metro is amazingly clean.

Sagrada Familia...a modern day (still under construction) Cathedral designed by Gaudi.  Construction started in 1882, and is not scheduled for completion until 2026.  We have seen a lot of Cathedrals in Europe, but Sagrada Familia's exterior is one of a kind.  The pictures do not do it justice, it is a mammoth and striking structure.

Renfe train passing by as we wait for our return trip to our car.....our kids continue to get more and more accustomed to public transportation of all flavors.  

To quote Rick Steves from the 2010 book directly, "Of course, Barcelona in a day is insane."  Well Rick, we spent half a day - so there's that.  I'm sure we missed some worthwhile sights, but what we saw was great.  Someday maybe we'll get the chance to return.  It was a nice day trip, without a single blemish...apart from a small incident with the Thule luggage topper on the way back....but that's another Clark Griswold story.