Parc Guell and Gracia

Today we ventured to a huge park in Barcelona called Parc Guell. After that we went to Gracia, a more artsy and bohemian part of the city. It was a fabulously relaxed Sunday. We watched the FC Barcelona game at a local bar in Gracia. These people LOVE FC Barcelona! They beat Getafe, a team out of Madrid, 3-1. Wahoo! Success in both Football and Futbol this weekend :).

George at the top of Parc Guell:

You may have seen Carles Puyol playing for the Spanish national team in the World Cup this summer. He was the one with the curly mullet-like hair... you really can't miss him. I figure he has to be uber cool to sport that hair and be their team captain, therefore he is my favorite.

We walked by a playground today and spotted this little red and white elephant. It was too tempting to pass by... so we harassed it a little bit.

The Fanny Pack

What a stud.

I'm not going to lie, I have never been a fan of the fanny pack. I don't necessarily hate the "style" it exudes, but I do hate looking like a tourist. There is no way you can wear this without shouting "I am from America." It has been growing on me though because George is so proud of it. I have a weird feeling that it will make its way into his everyday wardrobe.

Roaming Around The Eixample

After the beach we headed up to The Eixample district of the city. It is "uptown" - above the Old City. It is filled with beautiful Modernista architecture from the 19th century. Antoni Gaudi is the most famous Catalan Modernist artist and his work can be seen throughout this area (he also did Sagrada Familia). Even though we are not the biggest architecture buffs, it is cool to see because of how unique and detailed the style is. A good majority of vacationers come to Barcelona just to see this.

Casa Batllo:

Casa Mila:

Barcelona Beach

Because it has been so unexpectedly warm here, we decided to go to the beach today. The Mediterranean is BEAUTIFUL – super clear water and sailboats all over the place. The water was quite cold, but it was plenty warm for a swimsuit (or lack of one if you are wild). The crowd consisted of families, urban campers, students, vacationers, and a lot of hippies.

They do have a slight problem with roamers trying to sell stuff to beachgoers. We were offered everything from scarves and coconuts to beer and cocaine. Nuts, I know. The Pakistani drug man literally sat down with us and would not leave for about 10 minutes. Stories from “Locked Up Abroad” started flashing through my mind. We listened to his sad story and finally convinced him that we really were not interested. When he left, George turned to me and said “I feel really bad for that guy. I think I am going to go give him a euro.” WHAT?!? I am usually the one that gives in to people like this, but this man just tried to sell us coke! He quickly agreed this was probably not the best idea. For once, I was the voice of reason.

(Fact: Barcelona did not even have a beach before the 1992 Summer Olympics. The city dredges sand from the ocean every year to make the beach.)