Hop-On Hop-Off - Part 1

After logging in 8,000-13,000 steps each day (about 6-9 km), we decided to splurge on the Barcelona Touristic Hop-On-Hop-Off bus and give the old guy a much needed break! It cost 25 euros each, about $37, and you get a 4 hour tour of major areas in Barcelona. Our plan was to first see Park Guell, a 30 acre park that Gaudi was designing as kind of a gated community. Only 2 houses were built as work was interrupted by World War I but there are still some remnants of Gaudi’s mosaic works. I tried to buy advance tickets but Visa put a freeze on my card for suspected fraudulent use (straightened that out at the end of the day). So we took a chance and hopped/hobbled off the bus at the Park Guell stop, unaware that there was a 20 minute uphill hike to the park entrance. Unfortunately, tickets were sold out for the day but we were still able to walk through the forested areas, just not the Gaudi work that we came to see. The paths are paved and there were buskers so it was a nice break from the city. The rest of the day we just rode on the upper level of the double decker bus and enjoyed seeing parts of the city that we likely wouldn’t have gone to. It was sunny and the temperature was 21, so a perfect day for sightseeing.Read more