Barcelona - Day 3

On our 3rd day in Barcelona we woke up a little bit earlier (10am), knew our way around a little bit better, and understood the public transportation system!  We were finally getting the hang of this Spanish business:)

We had a fun day planned and were looking forward to seeing some new sights.  In the Frommer's book (again - huge life saver - we couldn't have survived this trip without it - and I may or may not have tabbed out 100's of things with a color coding system....) it suggested 'if you have extra time' go see these things.  So we figured let's give it a shot - not expecting much.  To be honest - this was one of our FAVORITE days!  I even wore a longer skirt (might not look it in the pics but it was able to be pulled down right above knee length) so we planned on taking the adventure back to the Cathedral to get in!

We first grabbed some breakfast, Spanish style, a croissant and cafe con leche (coffee with steamed milk - strong and small - I loved it... Derrick likes his black but even with he said no leche she gave him a funny look like who do you think you are changing up our way - and gave it to him with milk anyways - never once on our whole trip could he get it black, it was like they refused to conform to him hahaha).

Anywho - we were head to Parc de la Ciutdella and opted to walk because it was so close and we only bought 10 trips on the bus and yesterday we used 4 of them because we were so lost hahahaha.  On our walk we turn the corner and see an amazing sight - Arc de Triomf!  No wait a second... we thought this was in France.

Me - not so happy with how long it takes Derrick to focus the camera:)

Turns out there are a lot of them all over the world - we saw the Spain one.  It was beautiful.  Snapped some pics and then ventured into the Parc which was also beautiful.  It was cloudy and comfortable the whole day so we really got to enjoy being out in the open in the park.  We then hopped on the bus and headed to the Funicular.  We weren't sure what to expect but I had read that you ride it to the top for skyline views - awesome!

Derrick is up in the right window:)

We take the bus, get off, get on another bus (thank god we save those rides), hopped off, and then hopped on a trolly car that took us up up up!  Got out and thought - this is it?  But no... we then hopped on this cool like almost roller coast ride thing that was fully enclosed and up we went to the tip top.

When we got out it was beyond breathaking.  First off-  there was an amusement park at the top with a carousel and rides!  The views were outstanding and there was a cathedral we had our eye on since we arrived and we were finally able to see it up close.  It was amazing.  We opted to hang out up here for a long time - drinking 'grande cervezas' and the one time I leave Derrick to order the food without me we got 3 olives and .... anchovies - like huge anchovies - instead of just olives.  I tried them - yuck!



 

We headed back down and went to the Cathedral - so excited to see it!  'NO - NO SLEEVES!' - Caught again.... what the *&%^??!?  Apparently you not only can't wear short things - but you also have to have your shoulders fully covered.  I wasn't even wearing a tiny tank top!!!  I was so frustrated at this point I thought I'd 'get back at them' by not going - yea show them!  But, smart Derrick convinced me to walk back the 10 minutes to get my cardigan and walk back so we could go in - we'd regret it.  And regret it we would have.  This was by far the best Cathedral on our whole trip.  The audio guide was amazing - again learning so many secrets and history - but the actual Cathedral was just amazing.




Lastly - for our last night in Barcelona we opted for a real Spanish night - tapas.  Derrick had the idea of 1 drink and 1 tapa and then go to another place.  We had found a cool strip of tapas restaurants and decided on that.  It was amazing.  We had sooo much good food!  Finally - enjoying the food too!

We had to get up early the next day to head to the train station and catch our train to Valencia - we finally realized Derrick's Blackberry clock operated without service so we were able to set an alarm - whoo hooo!  Another successful day!