Dias diez y once

We took a two day trip to Barcelona leaving very early on the Ave which is a high speed train. It travels at 300kph which is about 186mph. It was fast ad took just over 2 hours to get there. We stayed in a nice hotel on the Ramblas which is one of the main streets in Barcelona. The Picts below are slightly out of order as we went to the Sagrada Família the first evening when the main cathedral was closed. However the crypt was open and had mass. The security guard let us in and told us where to find the tomb of Antoni Gaudí which is below. 

The Ave train in the Atocha Station

The tomb of Antoni Gaudí in the crypt of the Sagrada Família 

Sagrada Família 

A friend of María's brother Rafa who lives in Barcelona recommended a great little restaurant called Paco Montego. We had several mini or little dishes which is very common in Spain. Below is a dish of rabbit :) it was tasty. 

A view from our hotel building looking up Ramblas. 

Maria and I up in the passion towers of the Sagrada Família 

Catedral de Barcelona 

Views from the top of the catedral 

The Sagrada Família from the top of the catedral 

These are the two founders of the catedral 

From the front 

Plaça del Rei. The plaza of the king. This is the very spot that Columbus presented his findings from his journey to the Americas to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. These two also lived in the alcazar de Segovia and there are pictures of their chairs in the Segovia pictures. 

El Museo Frederic Marés. The pictures above are the exit from this museum. This museum is mostly underground and shows the actual excavations of the roman buildings in Barcelona as well as the Visigods and the Moors. After the Moors the French occupied Barcelona. The history of this place is amazing. 

The Romans had a very intricate system of trenches for sewer, water, and wine. 

Roman mosaic tiles 

Now we are up at Parc Güell which is a small mountain in the middle of Barcelona. It has amazing views of Barcelona and is also famous because Gaudí designed most of it.  

Casa Milà La Pedrera by Gaudí

Casa Batllò

And now, our visit inside and up to the top of the Sagrada Família. Brilliant. Amazing. Beautiful. Wonderful. 

We went up in the two towers on the right. There are 8 all together. 4 of the passion and 4 on the facade. 

From the tower

This was a design process Gaudí developed in order to build arches and curved ceilings. He used gravity and physics to figure out the weight placements. In the middle picture you see the design through the mirror which is the top of the building. The bottom picture you can see the domes more clearly.