Barcelona, Day 4

One of the things Matt really wanted to see in Barcelona was La Sagrada Familia, a Catholic basilica designed by Gaudi. Construction on the church began in 1882, and is still not complete to this day. We wanted to tour the inside, but the website stated that there would be no loud noises, or running and horseplay. Our kids wouldn't be as sedate as that, and I am not going to be THAT parent. But we could still walk around the outside.

So we grabbed a few pastries and ate them on the way to the Metro station. The train dropped us off right next to La Sagrada Familia, and it was the most crowded landmark we saw the entire time we were there. I would definitely recommend buying tickets in advance if you ever plan on going. The outside is beautiful and intricate, and I would love to go back sometime to view the inside. And it's interesting to see the yellowed facade of the oldest parts, compared with less weathered sections of the new.

There were lots of souvenir stands set up in this area, and Matt and I decided that our souvenir would be a small piece of art. We didn't mind that it was mass produced; we just wanted a little something we liked as a memento.

After circling the church, we wanted to do more exploring, so we started walking in the general direction of our hotel. We stopped at a small restaurant for lunch, and that helped keep us happy.

Making shadow puppets

Hey, look, I was there too

After lunch, Matt led us to Placa de Catalunya, which is considered the city center. There were a few vendors selling snacks, water, and bird feed for the thousands of pigeons. (I'm really bad at estimating, but it seemed like thousands to me.) The kids chased the pigeons, and it was by far their favorite part of the entire trip. 

Clara had to get in on the action, too.

Then Matt bought a bag of birdseed for the older kids. They got a bit nervous when the birds flocked around them.

She kept shrieking, "Pidgey!"

Miles said he wanted to hand feed the birds, but did this immediately upon receiving the food

Placa de Catalunya is at the north end of La Rambla, so we just wandered down until we found La Boqueria, which is a large public market. There are various stalls selling fruits and vegetables, meats and fish, cooked foods and treats. We didn't see everything, because the kids were getting tired and wild, but it was a cool place to visit.

The kids had ice cream here, and Matt and I each had a snack (I had an empanada, he had some kind of fried chorizo ball). We took home a couple more empanadas, and some cactus fruit for the kids.

We rested back at the hotel for a while, then ventured out to let the kids pick out souvenirs.  Lily chose a flamenco dress, and Miles chose a stuffed poo. We tried to encourage a different choice for him, but he did not want anything else.

On the way back to the hotel, Matt grabbed some takeaway (some kind of Turkish wrap or something), and we settled in for our last night. The kids were pretty wound up, and didn't want to leave, so bed time was horrible. We were worried that no one would sleep well, since it was Saturday night and Carnaval was going on. And there was much more noise on the streets, but somehow the kids slept.