7th October Barcelona - Private Tour

Today we had booked a private guided tour of Barcelona. Our documentation said that we would be picked up at our hotel at 8:30 but we weren't quite sure if that was correct. So at 8:30am we made sure we were downstairs waiting in the hotel lobby. At 8:45 I rang the local office (even though they didn't open till 9am) and was told that 'Enrique' had been waiting for us outside the main office, then the girl on the phone realised that we had booked a 'private' tour of Barcelona and that our booking had been entered into the system incorrectly. She said that someone would be by to pick us up from the hotel shortly. Half an hour later she rang back to say Fabian (pronounced Faarr-bi-en) would be coming to pick us up. Well another half an hour later Fabian indeed did arrive to pick us up...and he was worth the wait. He spoke 6 languages - his mother was French, his father was German, he had a Portuguese girlfriend (and he had studied for a year in Portugal), he was living in Barcelona so therefore spoke Spanish and Catalan and he learnt English at school. His English was excellent, in fact it was probably the best for a guide that we have had. So after a shaky start we headed out for a fabulous day expolring the city of Barcelona with Faarr-bi-en.

Our first stop was to get an overall view of the city of Barcelona from Montjuic Hill. It was very hazy which apparently it always is in the morning especially when they haven't had rain for a few days but it usually clears by the afternoon. Then we went to the magnificent Sagrada Familia. Now I know I said this place was amazing the first time I saw it two weeks ago, but today we got to go inside!!!!

When we came 2 weeks ago we were dropped off outside the Nativity facade and were then sent int the shops nearby. Today we went to the side of the Passion facade, which I didn't get to see the first time. Some critics are not a fan of the angular shaped figures depicting the scenes of the passion, but personally I did not mind them. Gaudi worked on Sagrada for over 40 years, living as a virtual hermit inside a part of the church. The building remained unfinished at the time of Gaudi's untimely death in1926, when the artist was run over by a tram on the Gran Via. He is now buried in the crypt of the Sagrada Familia. Construction stopped during the Spanish Civil War in 1935 but began again in the late 1950's. The estimated completion of Sagrada is 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death. Inside the Basilica is just as spectacular as the outside. I was blown away by how modern it was, it is more like something that would be designed today, not 100 years ago. The man was a genius, although I could not help think that if he had lived today, would we have thought such a mind and a recluse was suffering from mental illness. I am so glad that others at the time saw the genius of the man and financially backed him and commissioned him to create the works of art that are seen in Barcelona today. It certainly has added so much character to the city.

After Sagrada we were taken on a tour of the Gothic quarter, which we didn't get to do the last time we were in Barcelona because that was where they had had a demonstration earlier in the day. Fabian suggested some lunch spots and we chose tapas...best tapas we had in Spain. We had prawns, calamari, potatoes with a sauce not unlike the perinaise sauce from Nandos and a mozzarella and rocket salad....delicious!!! And we were starving because we hadn't had breakfast!

Lastly we went back up to La Pederera and got to have another look through, this time during the day. Again...everywhere you look in these buildings you see something new!

For dinner we had paella while we were watching Barcelona FC play Real Madrid. Fabian had warned us during the day not to go for the 'white team' (Real Madrid) while in Barcelona. He said he had been out for dinner with his Mum one night while these two teams were playing and Real Madrid scored and she cheered and the whole bar went silent and stared at them...he said it was VERY embarassing! Travelling in Spain we got to hear a little about these teams...particularly Renaldo (also known as "Look at me! Look at me!) who plays for Real Madrid. Being in Barcelona though...we had to cheer for Barcelona! The score was 2-2!

Here are a few pics...I have thousands more but finding it hard to upload on the ipad...so I am just giving you a taste!