Last day in Barcelona (and arrival to Zurich)

We had a busy, fun, and bittersweet last day in Barcelona.  We met up with Lorena and Elena on the road in the morning and then drove on to Passeig de Gracia, where we eventually successfully parked in minuscule spots in a parking garage downtown.  Think Austin powers and 20 j-turns to visualize Simon’s parking efforts.  

Upon surfacing from the parking garage, we turned the corner to see Gaudi’s impressive Casa Battlo and its neighbor.    

We then continued on and stopped in the Lego Store so we could all play and see some massive models.  

We then continued to the Placa Catalunya.

Then, we proceeded down La Rambla to get to the Boqueria Market, where we saw hundreds of vendors of delicious wares in a packed marketplace off La Rambla. 

We enjoyed refreshing and perfectly fresh fruit juices to get some energy back and then took the metro back to Passeig de Gracia for lunch. 

In late afternoon, we drove across town to Park Güell, ended up finding parking after a long search, and then climbed up with the boys to see the Park, which was also designed by Gaudi as a surreal, three-dimensional play-place for adults and kids on a hill overlooking the city, providing tremendous views of Barcelona and the sea.  

The boys were especially excited to find the welcoming dragon, which they’d read about in their book about the city. 

After exploring the Park, we drove back to Viladecans intending to have dinner at Lorena’s family’s restaurant.  However, bad traffic coupled with a required early bedtime for the boys due to our early flight today necessitated a change of plans.  Lorena’s family generously packed a dinner for us to pick up and take with us back to the Castelldefels apartment.  We met them at the restaurant; said our goodbyes (for now!) to Elena, Lorena, and Lorena’s parents; and then drove back. 

Finally, we ended the day eating the incredible dinner packed for us by Lorena’s parents - with jamon, toasted bread with tomatoes and olive oil, manchego cheese, fantastic marinated pork, and some fries.  They made sure we did not leave Barcelona hungry!  We then packed and went to bed. 

We will miss our incredible family in Barcelona, are grateful for their love and hospitality, but know we’ll see them again!

This morning, we woke EXTREMELY early and drove to meet Lorena to drop off our keys before continuing on the airport to drop off our rental car and board our flight to Zurich.  We just landed in Zurich and will soon meet Rennie.