Wandering Barcelona

Today we took things a bit slower, or at least that was our plan. We started off visiting Sagrada Familia, we had planned to go inside but the line was ridiculously long and we weren't in a patient mood so we moved on, we'll go back.

We set up an event on CouchSurfing.com to meet some locals/fellow travelers so we went to the meeting place and enjoyed some beer while we waited. We were lucky enough to see the a mime show - he was really good, acting like a traffic director, interacting with people as they passed by. Just as the show was ending the two CS folks showed up, one a local and one a traveler from VA. After a few minutes of chit chat we decided to follow the local to a 'near by' park where a CS meeting was going on. Through a series of random events we got separated from the CS buddies but it worked out just find because there was a big festival going on in the park. It was some sort of organic, holistic type of deal. There was a drum circle, holistic healers and massage. There was one tent where lots of people were paired up with one sitting with their hands in a prayer position, eyes closed and the other opposite them holding one hand a few inches from a part of their body. There was food and vendors and amazing smells in the air. We spend a couple of hours wandering and shopping and had to force ourselves to move on.

When we eventually did leave the festival we went to Casa Botllo which is a house designed by Gaudi. If you aren't familiar with Gaudi you should definitely look him up, he's an amazing artist and architect, I equate him to a Spanish Frank Lloyd Wright. Barcelona was like his playground and his work is everywhere here which is awesome. The house looks a bit like the skeleton of a dragon from the outside and even more so inside. It's so hard to explain but it's so very cool. I don't know if I'd want to live there but I'm really glad we went in and saw it. There are several pictures up on Flickr and lots more on my camera to share when I get home.

For dinner we had our host, Herve, make us reservations at a restaurant he had recommended, Embat. Unfortunately when we arrived we found that their menu had zero vegetarian options and included items like suckling pig and pigeon. We asked if they could concoct a veggie option for us and they weren't so enthusiastic about the challenge so we opted to leave. By then we were getting quite hungry and it was raining so we found ourselves back at La Fonda. This time we decided to split things and ordered four different dishes, dessert and lots of wine. It was an excellent night ,

After more than a week of traveling our bodies are tired from walking miles and miles every day and our brains are tired from taking in all of the new sites so today we've given ourselves permission to sleep and rest. We had hoped to go to the beach and do this but of course it's cloudy out. :( We'll venture out eventually to go inside Sagrada Familia (also a work of Gaudi, still in progress nearly 90 years after his death) and find food but for now we're lounging and enjoying the smells and sounds of Barcelona wafting in through our window.