Hablo muy poco español.

So after an amazing time in Rome I couldn't wait to head to Barcelona! We checked into the Aparthotel Mariano Cubi which had a lot of space and a beautiful bathroom… and the front desk spoke English! It was also really well located and we were able to walk to Las Ramblas where there are tons of shops, artists and restaurants. There are a number of things to do in Barcelona but the number one thing to do is to check out everything Gaudi!

Who is Gaudi? Antoni Gaudi was an architect whose work was influenced by the four passions in his life: architecture, nature, religion and his love for Catalonia. Gaudi’s best known work is The Sagrada Familia, a large Roman Catholic Church in Barcelona. The Sagrada is number one thing you need to see! It is an amazing structure with spires sprouting up from the middle of the city. There is so much symbolism at every turn… so for detailed explanations of the history and symbolism you have to do the audio tour! Even if you’re not a religious person there is so much beauty to appreciate. The construction of the Sagrada began in 1882 and Gaudi came in took over the project in 1883… the construction of the Sagrada is not funded by any government agency or official church… private donations and funds generated through ticket sales is how the construction is continued… so I HIGHLY recommend you go not only for the you to experience it but also to help continue the construction. It has an anticipated completed construction date of 2026… the centennial of Gaudi’s death. Something I also recommend is paying extra to take an elevator that goes up one of the spires! The weather wasn’t great when we went so this feature wasn’t available when we went. Also, take the time to really explore the museum with rare Gaudi drawings and sculptures.

The second must see in Barcelona is also a Gaudi work: Park Guell. This is an amazing Wonka-esque wonderland where you can over look the city and see all the way to the Mediterranean. In trying to explain this park I can’t come up with words that would adequately describe its beauty. The sun dances on the landscape and warmly plays on the stone and mosaics. Allot yourself a good amount of time to explore every inch of the park!

Another must see is the Mediterranean itself! We only got to spend a day at the beach on New Year’s Eve… and it was cold in December… but it is beautiful. We had an amazing 7 course meal at Opium Mar a restaurant/club located on the Med. The food was great and the atmosphere was a great mix of the hot and happening who’s who of Barcelona… we definitely were not in a tourist place!

A really cool way to see the city is on a walking tour… we chose the Gothic Architecture tour. We had a small group of about 12-15 and got to see a lot of great buildings and hear the history behind them. Our tour guide gave us a ton of great advice… the best piece being to check out the Santa-Caterina Market. There we found the Cuines Santa-Catarina restaurant… a beautifully Scandinavian inspired mixture of wood and foliage. We got there a little before 1 (when they open) and there was already a line… which multiplied quickly! Our lunch was delicious and was a favorite of the trip!

Like in Rome we really didn’t have any language problems. The majority of people spoke basic English and we knew enough Spanish to get by… We ate several times near the Sagrada Familia and everything we had was excellent! If a restaurant you go to has a tapas sampler you get to try a lot of things… but the Paella is a MUST! It was probably the best thing that I ate our entire trip… well, that and Sangria! For transportation we walked a ton and took taxi’s when necessary.

Tu parla inglese?

Honestly, in my wildest dreams I never could have envisioned what the past year has had in store for me… in my personal life… career and most of all to the places I would travel. I have always wanted to travel and had always focused my itinerary more domestically… for many reasons… there are so many amazing, historical and beautiful places to see in the US and well, the thought of going to a foreign country made my anxiety level peak into dangerous levels.

So when my husband started hinting around at our week long trip scheduled between Christmas and New Year’s I was excited but nervous. I was glad he had taken the planning reigns and I just got to go along but for about two months I didn’t have a clue where we were going… then told me… ROME and BARCELONA! Of all the places I had speculated us going it hadn’t even crossed my mind that we’d be going to Europe… partly because my husband told me we were going somewhere warm! I tried to keep my anxiety in check but the fact neither of us spoke Italian and my Spanish (even after 5 years is at Sesame Street level) was nerve wracking!

The long plane ride over (leaving out of Orlando, a layover in the really nice airport in Amsterdam, flying into Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino airport in Rome) was much better than I anticipated. We flew out at 8pm and were able to sleep the most of the way… the lights in the cabin were mainly turned off and everyone slept. After getting off the plane and navigating our way through the baggage claim there is a fairly organized taxi system to get you into a cab and into Rome… if I remember correctly it was about a$50 ride and took about 30-45 minutes. We stayed at the Hotel Milton which is just SW of the Coliseum and is only about a 10 minute walk to the Coliseum… after we checked in we went out to explore and stumbled right onto the Coliseum… you have to see it at night at we did it’s amazing! The room at the Hotel Milton was a good size, clean, had Internet, had air conditioning, the concierge spoke English- extremely helpful in a hotel for the million questions we had!!, and a fantastic continental breakfast was included! The first night we walked around until we found a place with that was a big, heated, tent outside the main restaurant and ate real, Italian pizza and wine… followed by finding the closest Gelato! The restaurant we made a point to go to was La Rosetta (their site is in Italian but here is a review) an amazing place specializing in seafood. Everywhere else we stumbled into and everything was great! With a good map you can pretty much find all the landmarks you’ll want to go find… the Pantheon (which is really close to La Rosetta), Coliseum- pay to go in and get the audio tour!!, Piazza Navona, Arch of Constantine, pretty much everything. The things that were a little further out that you might want to taxi to are the Vatican City and the Borghese Gallery. They are coincidentally the two things we wanted to tour but didn’t have time. The line for the Vatican tour was extremely long so you should go first thing in the morning or get tickets before and the Borghese Gallery was sold out for something like the next 8 days so I’d get tickets before you leave. We did get to see the Vittoriano Museum but not go inside and tour the Van Gogh exhibit like we wanted. We had paid for one of those sightseeing tour buses and once we found the stop they included headphones and would give you historical information but the stops were really hard to find and I think we only used it once so I really wouldn’t bother. Overall, the language barrier wasn’t really a big problem. The majority of the people spoke English and many of the restaurants had English menus or translations on the menu. We were there when the temperature was about high 50’s-60’s during the day but it dropped dramatically at night to the mid 40’s. We had heard about a lot of homeless people but we didn’t see a lot in the city maybe because the temperatures were so low. Also it wasn’t as crowded with tourists as we had heard also probably because of the temperature.  We’d heard the taxi’s were expensive but didn’t find that to be a problem at all… do not do pre-booked transportation via travel sites like Orbitz they have a lot of rules. Do tell the taxi driver where you are going and ask how much it will be!! No taxi should over $50, even from the airport!

I think we hit the high points of Rome in the short time we had but still left a few things to do for when we go back… spend a day or two in Rome then head to some outer cities like Florence!