Hola!

Over the Pyrones and into Spain, Barcelona is the next two night stop on our tour. The Spanish have a very laid back way of life. They work from 8am to around 1pm, have a siesta in the afternoon where all the shops close, then open again around 5pm to 8-10pm. They have dinner late, usually after 8pm. It’s all very nice and everything, but it makes being a tourist rather tricky. One has to adjust to their timetable to make Spain work. Barcelona is a fascinating city but with nearly 40% unemployment, the presence of seller’s on the street can be overwhelming. Largely from Northern Africa these people took advantage of the fact it was pouring with rain while we were out with the group sightseeing. Every second person was trying to sell you an umbrella.

The Sagrada Familia, the biggest and most iconic building in Barcelona was the first stop on our sight seeing tour. The building has been under construction for well over one hundred years, they don’t expect completion for at least another fifty. The buildings vast array of architectural themes its mind boggling. Melting arches, bowls of fruit on spires, geometric blocky figures, scenes depicting many biblical storeys with carved statues. The building gets its brown colour not from the stone, but from the pollution from the city. There are currently 20 architects working on the building, 19 are from Spain, 1 is from New Zealand.

Other sights on our tour of Barcelona included the Palace of Ferdinand and Isabella and the Olympic stadium. An afternoon strolling down Las Ramblas then a Flamenco in the evening competed our day in Spain.