Barcelona, Spain - Day 1 & 2

Comox to Vancouver, Vancouver to Newark, Newark to Barcelona - arrive in the morning and try to stay awake until bedtime - here, not at home!  It was a tough first day, but we managed.  Staying at a cute little B&B called Chez Moi, 369 Avinguda Diagonal.  We have two full days before boarding the  ship, so got a two-day ticket on the Hop-on-hop-off bus with tickets to the Temple Sagrada Familia and Park Güell.  So much to see along the way too - a great stop being the Montjuïc Castle with a great view of the city.  We finished the day at the Temple Sagrada Familia - last time we were there it felt like a construction zone so we had to go back.  It is still a construction zone and apparently will be until 2026, but we had a much clearer view of the interior with most of the scaffolding being on the exterior this time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montjuïc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiA7sNiWSOY

Day 2 - Forgot to mention my favourite café - el Fornet!  Dinner at the fancier restaurants starts at 9pm - obviously that doesn't work!  El Fornet is a local chain, upscale - but not too pricey - and yummy too.

On to the day's activities.  Back on the bus, formally known as Barcelona Bus Tourístic - on the red route.  We had a long stop at the Telefèric de Montjuïc for some stunning views of the city.  At the top we visited the Montjuïc Castle, which is an old military fortress, with roots dating back from 1640.

Standing on a vantage point 173 metres above the port, Montjuïc Castle commands stunning views of the city. Now a peaceable place, the memory of this fortress endures in Barcelona as a symbol of repression but also of the city's struggles during different periods in its history. The top of Montjuïc is the ideal place for a bastion of defence, with 360º views of the city below. However, this military enclave wasn't built until the Reapers' War in 1640. In 1652, the fortress, which stands on the site of a watchtower, came under royal ownership and, some 50 years later, was one of the key defence points in the War of the Spanish Succession, between 1705 and 1714.

And then we went to Park Güell around 7pm and had some great lighting for our photos.  It doesn't look like anything has changed since we were last here, just construction in different areas.  Nice to see again and appreciate after learning more about Gaudi.

https://erasmusbarcelona.com/10-things-you-must-see-park-guell/