Spring Break part 3

The last big excursion we took with SHAPE Trips and Tours was a day in Barcelona. I do wish that this would have been put earlier in the week, so we could have gone back if we wanted, and I would have wanted. The city is spread out, so a bus tour would have been long, like we did in Rome, but it would have been fun.
We were able to go to Park Guell, which was designed for a wealthy family by the architect Antoni Guadi. It was just beautiful, he worked with landscape artists to design the gardens so they would fit into the environment well. It was kind of Texan looking with the plants that were chosen. He designed a few houses in the park as well as an absolutely gorgeous seating area. The seating area is done with mosaics all around and the colors were beautiful. I would have hated to been the mason that had to lay all the little pieces of tile to made the designs, especially, on the under part of the area.  Park Guell could be something that could take you a small amount of time to enjoy, or the better part of the day. We didn't have beautiful weather, and we only had 90 minutes, but I made the most of it. To live in a city where a park this beautiful is available to wander around in anytime of the day would be wonderful.
The next big thing we got to see/drive past slowly, was the Sagrada Familia, another one of Antoni Guadi's famous works. The cathedral is still unfinished, though it has been under construction for 100 years. Guadi died before it was finished. The cathedral is being built with donations and public funds, so who knows how long it will take to be completed, but for what was charged to go inside and the LONG line in the middle of April, it looks like there's a steady flow of money.
We ended our day at La Rambla, a pedestrian shopping/market area. Lots of pickpockets in the area and it was quite crowded, but it was a great place. The weather was yuck, so we did find a place off the main place to eat inside. There is also a huge open air market there that was amazing. The fruit stands alone had the most beautiful, colorful fruit. I bought a huge container of fresh fruit for snack and it only cost 1,50 euro. I wish I would have had the camera to take pictures of the fruit stands, really, the colors were too amazing to be true.
At one end of La Rambla, there is a statue of Christopher Columbus, pointing west. It's a nice statue and a great way to know which way is which.
Barcelona is definitely a place that I'd love to go spend some more time. The city is huge and is worth more than just an 8 hour day trip.