Monday — primary activity was Sagrada Familia. We started off actually going to Lidl — a little grocery store close to our AirBnB. My dad, Jess and I went to pick up coffee and milk but my love for foreign grocery stores and the economical prices of cheese, meat, and wine kept us wandering around the aisles and filling our cart for longer than a coffee stop.

Fast forward to Sagrada Familia — after a TSA-style security line (totally understandable) and huge crowds, AND Niko’s questionable climbing gear — especially chalk were confiscated for collection upon his depature, we were in and found our tour group. We booked the tour as having an actual guide is really helpful in comprehending the bigger picture and staying engaged in the experience. Unfortunately we all had headphones to pick up the mic on our guide, but there were a lot of technical difficulties so we did have a hard time hearing at times. Otherwise it was incredibly educational and our guide, Andres, was great.

After wandering around and taking some additional photos, Marisa and Niko split off to explore Barcelona on their own. Steve got a Five Guys milkshake (huwat?) just to top off the experience… Jess, Rich, Steve and I had plans to do more exploring as well — grab some lunch, head to Parc Guell, and of course, more tapas!!!

For lunch we ended up at a little restaurant on the corner near the AirBnB — although the food wasn’t the most amazing we had in Barcelona, the Sangria was the best (we think) that we tried during our time there. The waiter was also super nice and made recommendations for us.

After lunch… we were off to Parc Guell for more Gaudi and some outside/exercise. We decided to take the bus which was crowded and offered a bit of local flare. I really enjoy seeing a city from a bus as you get to see the city streets from a different perspective and you’re not looking at a map or trying to find your way so it frees you up to just observe.

A strange note… we had dinner at Llamber, a very beautiful gastro-experiencial restaurant in the Born district. When I walked in and sat down I remembered that I had been here before, definitely a sense of deja vu, but literally, I was sitting at the same chair, at the same table, in the same restaurant a little over two years later. I quickly searched my phone for a photo to confirm my memory, and was able to pull this: