Flight to Spain

June 13 began by finishing our packing, making a quick stop at Target to exchange the travel pillow Rebecca had bought the day before, as it was missing the supposedly-included night mask, and then lunch at J. Alexander's. Then we were off to O'Hare for our six hour flight to Dublin on Aer Lingus. The overnight flight was less than enjoyable due to a screaming toddler who kept everyone awake by yelling every five minutes (and his brother who ran up and down the aisles). So we were all pretty cranky by the time we arrived in Ireland. We passed through security quickly, thankfully, since we had a tight connection and then had to take a bus to the auxiliary terminal. We sat on the tarmac for an hour due to high winds and had another screaming child on our two hour flight from Dublin, but eventually made our way to Barcelona airport, where our luggage was waiting for us.

The car service we had hired from Viva Transfers was waiting for us after we cleared security and customs and our driver rushed us through the streets of Barcelona to our hotel. We thought he was going to run some people over in the streets of the Old Town, where the tiny streets and pedestrians who walk down the middle of them make for an interesting mix. We checked in at the Hotel Barcelona Catedral and dropped off our luggage since our room was not ready.

Barcelona Cathedral

The first stop for us was the Barcelona Cathedral, conveniently located next door to our hotel. The Cathedral, whose offical name is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia was designed in the Gothic style from the 13th to 15th centuries, although the neo-Gothic facade, complete with gargoyles, was not added until the 19th century. The castle sits in a large courtyard where local vendors were set up selling their wares. It was nice that there was no pressure to buy anything, they just let you look at their stuff without harassing you, unlike some street markets in other cities.

Cathedral Interior

We purchased our tickets and went inside the beautiful cathedral. We had heard that many people overlook this church because La Sagrada Familia is much more recognized, but most of us enjoyed looking at the art and architecture. Rebecca is not really interested in ancient art, so she was a bit bored, but that's a teenager for you.

Rooftop

Included in our tickets was an elevator ride to the top of the Barcelona Cathedral, where we had a beautiful view of Barcelona, including La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's famous church.

Cloister

We made our way out through the cloister, a secluded garden where geese were frolicing in the fountains.

Tapas

We were hungry by now so we found a small tapas place in the old town, Bona Tapa, where J. R. sampled the local cerveza (Estella Damn, which was damn good) and Janie had a refreshing sangria. We ordered Tapa Jamon Iberico (selection of Spanish meats), Pan Con Tomate (tomato bread), Chipirones Fritos (fried squid) and Surtido de Quesos (cheese plate). The tapas were mostly good, except for the fried squid, which was a far cry from the delicious calamari we had at J. Alexander's the day before.

Barri Gothic and Las Ramblas

We walked around for a while on the side streets, with Rebecca spotting a Real Madrid store (in Barcelona, no less) and she went in to drool at the Ronaldo jerseys. (She had forgotten to pack the one Janie had bought her in Madrid because she wanted to stand outside Camp Nou in it. But we never made it to the FC Barcelona stadium anyway).

By now our room was ready, so we claimed our luggage and went upstairs. Our room was rather spacious, which surprised us given our experience with European hotels. The bathroom was as large as ours at home, with a huge shower and rainforest shower head. Rebecca changed into her swimsuit to visit the rooftop pool while Janie took a quick nap. J. R. chose to explore more of the city, walking up to Placa Cataluna and down Las Ramblas. When he returned to the room, both girls were asleep, so he went downstairs for the evening reception and had a glass of wine and some cheese. The ladies had awoken when he returned and they heard about wine and cheese and headed down for their own. As Janie sipped her wine (and Rebecca's), Becca and J. R. walked next door to the Chocolate Box, a gelato shop. Rebecca opted for a frappe and we went back to the hotel to drink it while Janie finished her wine.

More exploration was on tap as we all walked up to Placa Cataluna, where Rebecca was freaked out by the incredibly large number of pigeons that populated this open-air plaza. Having had enough of that, we strolled down Las Ramblas, stopping into a supermarket to buy some sodas and candy for the evening before returning to the hotel and turning in early, as it had been an incredibly long day.