Barcelona Trip Day 6 (March 9, 2010): Make the Time Adjust to You

Vacation

Mar 16

Written By Joel

By this point in our trip Jenn and I have completely given up on trying to adjust to Barcelona's time, it is just not going to happen. So we ended up getting to sleep at around 5am and woke up close to 1pm. We headed down to the concierge to have him print out our boarding passes for our flight back to LAX tomorrow. After we got that taken care of and had our boarding passes prepared we were off to enjoy the day. Jenn had one more place she wanted to check off her list before leaving Barcelona and that was the Sagrada Familia one of the "must see's" according to the few travel websites we read before coming. Instead of taking a taxi, or any form of public transportation to the Sagrada Familia, Jenn thought it would be a lot of fun to walk from our hotel to the church. She spent about fifteen minutes mapping out our route, and then we were off.

Yesterday proved to be a rather interesting diversion in the weather because at no time in the weather forecast did it call for snow, although that is exactly what it did for most of the day. However if you came in to Barcelona today you would have had no idea that the weather had been anything but sunny as the weather outside was as close to perfect as you could possibly get. The sun was shining, there was a nice light breeze, and everything just smelled fresh. Jenn did an amazing job mapping out our route and we made it there in a little over an hour with no navigational issues as at all. I am so glad we chose to walk it was nice to get out of the tourist areas of Barcelona and take in some of the more less traveled areas of the city. When we did make it to the Sagrada Familia it was as breathtaking as you would expect, and yet it still has a long way to go before it is complete. We had seen the Sagrada Familia earlier in the trip on the bus tour but this was something you really did need to walk around and experience first hand at least on the outside. We were so impressed by the outside of the massive building that we paid the 12 euro per person entree fee to see inside and boy was that a mistake. The inside is so far from complete and was being constructed on all over the place that you really could not appreciate anything inside. I am really glad we made the trek to see the Sagrada Familia even if touring the inside wasn't necessary the experience was perfect.

Jenn Leading the Way to the Sagrada Familia

Jenn Double Checking the Map in Barcelona

Double checking the map to make sure we are on the right track!

Joel Staning in the Front of the Sagrada Familia

Standing in front of the Sagrada Familia

Jenn giving a great shot of me standing on the other side of the Sagrada Familia

On our journey back to our hotel we stopped at a modern restaurant called Brown 33, by far the most modern restaurant we ate at all trip. I started off with the house white wine and Jenn stuck with water. For starters I went with the shrimp tempura with rumescu and Jenn went with a vegetable soup. For our main course we switched roles as Jenn went with a four cheese pizza and I went with Tagliatelini (fresh pasta) with Pesto Oil. This was a great meal, and the atmosphere was exactly what Jenn and I look for. In fact we were joking on our way out of the restaurant that if we were to ever open a restaurant it would look a lot like Brown 33.

The front of Brown 33

Enjoying a Glass of Wine at Brown 33 in Barcelona Spain

Enjoying a European Tradition, a Glass of Wine

I wish there was more, the Shrimp Tempura was delicious

Minestrone Soup at Brown 33 Barcelona Spain

A very nice size portion of the vegetable soup

Fresh Pasta with Pesto

Jenn went with the delicious four cheese pizza

On our way back from Brown 33 to our hotel Jenn decided she wanted to stop off and do some shopping something I had fortunately avoided for the majority of the trip. We ended up going to an H&M which are all of the US and also all over Barcelona which made Jenn's day. An hour or two later we got out of H&M after Jenn had tried on half of the store and purchasing the other half we headed back to our hotel. We decided to hit up the hotels cafe to relax a bit after our long journey and I enjoyed a nice cappuccino while Jenn enjoyed her hot chocolate. It is times like sitting in the cafe talking about the trip that truly make trips memorable and to sit back and talk with Jenn about this entire trip over some nice warm drinks was a perfect end to the afternoon.

Jenn never leaves anywhere empty handed.

We ended up heading back to the room to rest for a few hours while we awaited the Opera that we had tickets for this evening at 8pm. I decided to take a power nap while Jenn played a bunch of games on her iPhone. When 7:30 rolled around we left the hotel and walked down to the Gran Teatre Del Licue (5 minute walk) to see La Fille Du Regiment. We had bought tickets a few days prior but at the time tickets were extremely limited so we purchased what they called "limited view" seats and boy were they not kidding. You literally had to hold your neck under or over a railing to see 1/2 to 3/4 of the stage. In the end it really didn't matter to much the Opera was of course in Spanish and it was immediately apparent that neither Jenn or I had a clue what was going on and that wasn't going to change whether I was in the front row or the back alley. The experience however was what we came for and that is exactly what we got. It is truly amazing that people are so gifted with such amazing voices to carry in such a large theater and to captivate an audience. The theater itself was spectacular, not as pristine as that of which we saw in Paris but it was gorgeous all the same. Although I couldn't tell you what the Opera was about (besides what the program said) nor could I say what happened at the back left part of the stage, but what I can say is it is one of those things that you have to do when your in Barcelona and I know Jenn and I are glad we did.

Our partial view of La Fille Du Regiment at the Gran Teatre Del Licue

Gorgeous Ceiling at Gran Teatre Del Licue

Beautiful atmosphere for an Opera

Taking in all of the sights at the Gran Teatre Del Licue

After the Opera Jenn and I headed back to the hotel for our last meal in Barcelona once again at the Cent 111 Once. I once again went with their set menu this time though I had a potato soup with almonds and parmesan cheese, chicken a la chilidron, and truffle served in a glass with tangerine and strawberry ice cream. Jenn being Mrs. Consistent went with the filet of beef and vanilla ice cream. It was a superb final meal in Barcelona and one that lasted for over two hours with us talking about the trip, the opera, and of course our upcoming journey back home. It is hard to put into words how great our final day in Barcelona ended up being, but I will say this we are leaving Barcelona having seen and done everything we wanted to do, and that is all you can ever ask for our of a trip.