Travel day and first day in barcelona

We had an uneventful trip to Barcelona with a layover in Toronto, but not really a layover, since we walked for the full hour and 10 minutes to get to out gate just in time to board.

We were pleasantly surprised to see how close to the sea was our hotel. 
we took a lovely walk along the docks on our first night, then found a nice small place to have some tapas: olives, fried potatoes, salad, mushrooms and vegetable paella. 

On the way back, we happened upon a gothic church, so we poked our head and stayed for a bit of the mass.

This first night, we were tired so went to bed early,

The next morning, we had a bit of a scare. the taxi we ordered didnt arrive. we had to be at the Guell Park for our Gaudi tour, so we were in a bit of a rush. the hotel register came out to help us flag a taxi, but most were occupied. Luckily, she did get one for us, so we made it. The driver, from Ecuador, was fun to talk to. We used Spanglish to communicate.

So we got to see what mightend up being the highlight o our trip: The E
Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece of a church.

The lighting though the stained glass windows was fabulous as were the four different facades, some designed by different artists. I decided to call his style Organic Gothic since it has so many natural elements, such as trees and birds, yet it has gothic towers and other elements of medieval architecture.

The guide told us the church should finally be completed in seven year if all goes well.

We also saw the Guell Park, another Guardi work, originally built for a planned community, but only three people ever built and lived there: Guell, the sponsor, a lawyer and Gaudi himself, who lived in the sample when the project didnt pan out.

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first night amd gaudi’s Guell park

sagrada familia and cathedral