I thought 50F or 15C was a lot warmer than it was. The sun in Barcelona was warm, and the weather was definitely warmer than the UK, but coats were assuredly needed.

We landed nice and early on Thursday. Flight was only 2 hours, and we were lucky enough to get seats next to each other. We made a somewhat foolish decision to NOT read the paperwork the travel company had sent us, so we wandered around the airport trying to find our shuttle to take us to the hotel. We walked right by a guy with a sign clearly reading 'Evelyn Curry'. After a rude guy at the info desk told us he couldn't be expected to do his job efficiently if we couldn't even be bothered to read the clear, English instructions given to us; we walked over to the only large horse statue in the airport where (as our instructions stated) the shuttle driver was waiting for us. Moving swiftly on from that embarrassment. The hotel was in the north of the city, but still very accessible to the tour bus stops.

It was quite straight forward to navigate our way around the city, with the help of tour maps provided by the hotel. After setting in to the hotel, we walked up the street to a small cafe and had seafood paella, and some sausages. We walked our late lunch off and made our way to La Pedrera. We didn't go in, as there wasn't enough time, but took photos of the outside. Lovely structures. We then made our way to Sagrada Familia, the famous Gaudi cathedral of Barcelona. Oh, it was so beautiful, even half covered in construction. Apparently it will finally be completely cleaned in 2050. The afternoon light hit the west side of the cathedral highlighting the scenes of the Passion of Christ. The sculpture was angular and almost abstract. There wasn't enough time to go in, so we just walked around it. The height of the building was enough to give me a neck ache for the rest of the day. Standing beneath it, doesn't do the cathedral justice; one needs to walk a distance away to absorb the full structure, without getting neck cramps. The east of the cathedral was designed completely differently: the figures were much more traditionally carved, more realistic. The scene depicted Jesus' birth and life. Gaudi said he wanted the cross at the top of the cathedral to be the first thing sailors would see as they came into the port to welcome them. Lov