Barcelona is a beautiful city with interesting architecture and a decent beach along the Mediterranean Sea. We arrived early one morning after a smelly, rather uncomfortable overnight bus ride from Pamplona. While in the city, we took a bicycle tour of the central area, hiked around one of the parks, and simply explored the city. Though everyone here speaks Spanish, Catalan is the preferred language, but I couldn't quite pick it up in the two days we had there. Also, we mistakenly booked a train ride for the wrong day and almost missed a connection to Madrid where our flight would be leaving the next morning, but we were able to find a late night bus ride that allowed us to catch our flight back to Atlanta.

 

The Arc du Triomph, Barcelona style. Though not as big, recognizable, important, or French as its Parisian counterpart, we still felt that it was picture-worthy.

Jess playing bocci ball at Parc Guell. (Obviously, those rocks would be way too big to use for a game of bocci/lawn bowling, and therein lies the "joke"...there, was that really worth it?)

The Mediterranean beach. Sorry, there are no topless women in the picture. Trust me, I've looked.

Another view of Parc Guell, on the Northern side of the city, one of Gaudi's many contributions to Barcelona.

The numerous fountains of Parc de la Ciutadella taunted us as we rode thirstily through the city on our bike tour.

Can you spot the tourist? This is Robbie walking along Las Ramblas, one of the major streets of the city.

The spot where Columbus returned to be greeted by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabela after exploring the New World, presumably sometime shortly after sailing the ocean blue.

Mike and Jess at the top of Parc Guell, with the sprawling city in the background. (La Sagrada Familia can be seen to the left of Mike's award winning smile)

Mike and me at La Sagrada Familia, a perpetually unfinished cathedral designed by Gaudi.

The façade of La Sagrada Familia. With incredibly intricate designs, it is understandable why it remains unfinished.