Tagging Along on a Work Trip: Barcelona

A lot has happened since I started this blogpost back in June, but I don't want to miss blogging about this trip while it's still fresh(ish) on my mind, so this will be a quick highlights post of our time in Barcelona....  

MAY 2022

NOTE:  Here's Part 1 {Amsterdam} and Part 2 {Lisbon, Portugal} from this trip.

We arrived late morning on Monday, May 16th and made our way straight to Parc Guell.  Parc Guell was one of the highlights my visit to Barcelona in 2016, so I was very excited to introduce it to Glen . 

It was pretty hot that day and it ended up being more of a hike from our hotel than it looked like on the map, so we were quite tired by the time we got there...

but, fatigue notwithstanding, we did very much enjoy the Gaudi architecture and still ended up hiking to the top of the hill above the Parc. 

  Kristina, Adam, Spence, and I had trekked up there on our trip in 2016 and LOVED the 360-degree views of Barcelona from up there!    

Once again, we were not disappointed with the views! 

I don't remember exactly what we did after that point, but I know we found food and wandered a bit more before settling into our hotel for the evening.   

The next two days were Glen's work conference, so I ended up wandering around town one of the days with Glen's co-worker's wife, Vanessa, and one of the days by myself.  

It's quite an experience exploring a foreign city all by yourself, but I was pleased that I felt confident and not at all fearful about being by myself.   

 Sadly, it's been long enough that I don't remember all the names of the places I / we visited, but here are some highlights...

In the evenings, Glen's company took us on private tours and fed us fancy food!   One of the nights was a walking tour of Old Barcelona and a private tour of Casa Battlo!   

I had seen Casa Battlo from the outside a few times in my Barcelona explorations, but being able to see some Gaudi architecture from the inside was quite a treat!   

I loved hearing about how he used light and color as an integral part of his designs.   I'm someone who thrives on having lots of natural light in my indoor spaces, so it intrigued me to see the clever ways he introduced natural light into what otherwise would have been dark spaces.   

We also enjoyed seeing how no detail was beyond his notice and even the roof was beautifully executed! 

After the tours were done, we headed to Torre D'Alta Mar--a Michelin star restaurant--for the fanciest dinner we'd ever eaten before!    The restaurant was located on top of this tower....

The location meant that the views overlooking the city were pretty spectacular...  

This dinner was a true European experience that didn't even get started until 9:00pm or so and didn't finish until after midnight. Overall, the food was good, but totally not our style. 

There were several courses, but Glen being allergic to shellfish and me to gluten, meant that we were getting fed alternate dishes at most of the courses, so who knows what we would have thought of the food if we could have eaten what everyone else was eating.    We went back to the hotel that night totally exhausted!  

 

The next day's adventures included a private tour of Sagrada Familia, which was super cool.  

I'd read so much about Sagrada Familia and had seen it from the outside several times, so being able to see the incredible details in person was a truly unforgettable experience!   

Gaudi put sooooooo much detail into every aspect of the design and it's mind-boggling to think they've been working to make his vision come to reality for over 100 years now! 

There is so much religious symbolism...

Look at that detail!   And it's even more incredible in real life!  

We ate another very late meal {paella} that night...

The next day we headed home, happy and exhausted.  

My stomach was upset for days afterward, so we think I may have accidentally eaten some gluten somewhere along the way.  Overall, though, it was a great get-away before our family trip to Hawaii and what was soon to be one of the craziest few months of my life.  

 DISCLAIMER:   These pics may or may not be in the order they actually happened.  Trying to recreate a trip three months after the fact, is proving to be more difficult than I imagined.