Spain

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Travel Time: July 11-15, 2014

I can’t believe we are almost to the end of our 2014 European adventure! Our second to last stop was Barcelona where we stayed with our great friends Siquem and Isa. Tj had stayed with them once before in 2009, so when we mentioned to them that we were coming to visit, the insisted we be their guests. For our first night out, we had authentic Spanish sangria and saw the fantastic light show at the Magic Fountain of Montjuic. Commuting through Barcelona was fairly simple due to their more modern metro system. It was a great way to start off our experience of the city.

The next day, we all went out in the ministry. I accompanied Isa on a Bible study while the brothers went out door-to-door. That afternoon, our friends had some prearranged plans, so Tj and I went out on our own. We took the metro to the Barceloneta train station. We were close walking distance to a lot of food, shopping, Las Ramblas and the beach. Tj and I decided to set up on the sand and take in the view. The water was perfection. Tj purchased a pair of goggles at the beach and went out for a swim. Sure enough, he found some fish! We had such a great time. After spending the day roaming around, we went back to the house for a bite to eat and called it a night.

For Sunday, Tj and I opted to visit the English congregation. It was our final meeting while in Europe before returning home so we really enjoyed it. That afternoon, we just took it easy and had a nice early dinner before it was time to watch the World Cup with our friends. It was interesting because initially, when landing in Frankfurt at the beginning of our trip, we saw several people who were cheering for Germany to win. We had seen part of the playoffs in Berlin, Slovakia, Athens and now here we were watching the finals in Barcelona. It was Argentina versus Germany. Neither of us were really into soccer, but now that we had been following it in every country, we both were excited to watch the game. All in all, it was a fun night.

The Metro stops

Tj, Asia, Isa and Siquem

The next day, Siquem and Isa had to go to work so Tj and I did a little more touring on our own. We went to see the famous Sagrada Familia (http://www.sagradafamilia.org/en/), a huge basilica designed by famous Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi. He began working on the church in 1883 and it is still not finished. It is an iconic piece of Gothic architecture and is estimated to be finished around 2026. We then went to the Casa Batllo (https://www.casabatllo.es/en/) and took a tour of the Casa Mila (https://www.lapedrera.com/en/home). I really enjoyed the tour because you were able to grasp a better understanding of Antoni Gaudi and his work. I appreciated how he acknowledge that nothing we do is actually ‘created’, instead everything is inspired by the Creator himself. That explained the overall ‘skeletal’ feel in a lot of his work. Tj appreciated how all of his work was ergonomically design, meaning he catered to maximizing activity and minimizing discomfort. We both had a new appreciation for his work after our tour.

After our tours, we went back to La Rambla, a street in the center of Barcelona filled with shopping and several places to eat. It is a very popular tourist attraction, so be prepared to be surrounded by a crowd of people. There are also areas nearby where you can tour paintings of Pablo Picasso. The Museu Picasso in Barcelona actually holds the most extensive collection of artwork from the artist. We finished off with some great tapas and one last trip to the beach. Overall, there is plenty to do in Barcelona. We definitely enjoyed our visit. And of course, we were so thankful to our friends for offering up their home and spending time with us.