Last night seemed like a faint memory walking down the nearly vacant Las Ramblas. Aside from an occasional streamer, all indications of last nights mayhem were gone. We spent the day exploring Gaudi’s park at the top of Barcelona. The park was absolutely beautiful. Gaudi had originally designed it to be a private neighborhood, but the project never took off and the property was turned into a public park. The park is far from a failure though. Its a beautiful mix of nature and architecture with roman columns, mosaics, intricate tilework, and winding paths through the parks flora. One such path leads to an incredible vista overlooking all of Barcelona. Panoramic Picture to come. The park offers live entertainment in several squares offering everything from didgeridoo players to human statues.
After the park we went with Ali’s friends to the Picasso museum which offered free admission after 3. The museum was great and with free admission there wasn’t any pressure to stare intently at every painting or read every plaque and sign. Picasso’s early work was very interesting. The beginning of the museum showcased several of Picasso’s early paintings which were incredibly lifelike.
Following the Picasso museum, we got gelato on the way back to our hotel. After some naps and freshening up, we met up with Lulu’s family on the Barcelona seaside for some dinner. Lulu is another 5 year old that Sophie made friends with on the cruise. The meal was great, we had calamari, some sort of cold fish dinner, seafood paella and traditional Barcelona tomato toast. I found out later the meal was somewhere in the ballpark of $180, which was definitely overpriced, despite the great meal. After dinner Kiana, Ali, and myself met up with his friends for a quick night cap before bed.
I had a great time with my family today and it was reassuring to meet Lulu’s family and know that if anything happened while I was in Spain they would be more than happy to help Kiana and myself out.
