we’re here!

It has been a whirlwind (like them and the word). We arrived on Tuesday morning and, after a nice little breakfast down the street from our hotel, went to the shore. The weather warmed up considerably, and I was still wearing my travel clothes, and ugh … then was happy when the hotel emailed us that the room was ready. We walked, and walked, and walked. Overall, we are averaging 22,000 steps a day! A. DAY. Now that I pay attention, I struggle to reach 3,500.

The city is mobbed, and it is sensory overload, which I don’t mind — just saying. The architecture is spectacular. I remember how entrancing it was the first time I came here. Yesterday we took a tour bus, yes, how gauche, but it was nice to sit for a bit. Afterward, we looked for the Arc de Triomf (that’s the Spanish spelling), and trying to find the way towards the Gothic Quarter (where we stayed), bumped into the Banksy museum, which I wanted to see but forgot about, so we went in. 

the one disappointing thing is that the Rambla is under construction, almost the whole length

The Rambla is a pedestrian street that leads to the port from Plaça Catalunya 

One of my sisters arrived today with her husband, and the whirlwind intensified. We went to the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. I had only seen it from the sidewalk during one of my long-ago trips. Got vertigo looking at it, maybe it was jetlag, who knows, and had to grab a taxi to bring me back to the Hotel Majestic — which, BTW, is hoity toity now! We went inside one afternoon to use the water closets. It is at the beginning of what I call shopper’s row. Chanel is right next to it. Needless to say, we crossed the street after the loo 😄 and meandered back toward Plaça Catalunya. My husband is so unadventurous … I have never been in a Chanel store, I mean …

anywho

Sagrada Familia is something out of this world. Kid not. We went in the late afternoon and experienced the sunset on the stained glass, wall, people. It was quite a sight! Posting my gazillion photos would not do it justice (you’re welcome). A good friend of mine said that people should pick the best fifteen photographs of a vacation to show friends. She actually told me to pick fifteen when I brought the two-inch stack of photos.