Plaça de la Vila de Gràcia

Another day of sightseeing in this enormous city, with so much to see and do! Early start for Shandos today as we'd decided on doing separate things for a change. She left the apartment around 8am to catch an early train for the Salvador Dali museum, in another city about 70 kilometres north.

I relaxed in the apartment for a bit, spent some time on Skype then headed out for a few hours. Main stop for me was the Hospital de Sant Pau, which is world heritage listed (of course), being designed by the same Catalan Modernist architect as the concert hall from yesterday (Luis Domenech i Montaner). Caught the metro there which was relatively simple, but even though the station was right under the hospital it was a little difficult to find, since it's an enormous block and the old part is on the far side.

The hospital itself was quite beautiful, a large campus style development which was revolutionary at the time it was built (1905-1910). It was essentially a series of Catalan Modernist pavilions scattered around a central area with courtyards and gardens for the sick to convalesce, while the workings of the hospital were hidden in subterranean tunnels. Only a couple of parts are still in use, while the main workings have shifted to a more modern building next door.

The buildings are all beautiful, with lots of gorgeous tiling, mosaics, stained glass and intricate design. But the workings of the hospital are prioritised above all else, which is interesting. I took my time around the site, filming and photographing, though I was done within an hour. I'm glad I went, but the 14 euro entry fee felt a bit steep for what was on offer. If we'd both gone and paid a total of 28 euros it would've felt like pretty poor value.

By now it was 1:30pm, and not knowing what time Shandos would return (and neither of us having a way to contact the other), I decided to play it safe and head back home. Headed straight back and then took Schnitzel out for a walk while I grabbed lunch - more empanadas from the gourmet empanada place, which has been great every time.

Back home to edit video and wait for Shandos, who arrived back around 3:45, tired but happy with her expedition. We spent the next couple of hours relaxing before our final appointment of the day - La Sagrada Familia.

Probably Barcelona's biggest tourist attraction, this is an enormous basilica dedicated to the Holy Family. Although the original design was by Gaudi, the world heritage listing actually only covers his work on the underground crypt, and the enormously impressive Nativity Facade. Since you have to book timed entry tickets, we walked over a bit early and took some photos and explored the vicinity.

It's kind of crazy to think construction started in 1882 and it's still basically only half built! They've finished the interior, two of the four facades, and eight of the twelve Apostle towers. They still need to build two more facades, four more towers for the remaining apostles, a huge tower dedicated to Mary and an even bigger one to Jesus, plus three of the four sacristries. Current projections have them finishing around 2026, or the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death.

Anyway, the nativity facade is very impressive, as it's a huge wall-sized sculpture of the Nativity stories (immaculate conception, flight to Egypt, adoration of the Magi etc) in Catalan modernist style. The interior is beautiful and again very Catalan Modernist. The pillars supporting the roof spread out upwards like trees in a forest, and due to the use of light, space and colour you never really feel like you're inside.

Stayed here basically as long as we could, including paying our respects at Gaudi's tomb in the basement. Headed straight out for dinner where we couldn't quite decide on what to have, so ended up with a mixture of things. A couple of tapas items at a vermouth bar, empanadas from the empanada shop, and a couple of drinks in a craft beer place. Back to the apartment very full and very tired!Read more