Emily and Russell's Travel Blog

Finally ditching those pesky kids On Tuesday, with mixed emotions, Emily and Russell took a fast train to Barcelona.

Still not feeling great, we did not much more than have lunch, relax, and have a Barcelona-style late dinner.

Our residence is a cozy shoebox in the Born, a pleasant if touristy neighborhood in an old (like medieval old) part of town, right by the water: narrow winding streets with lots of bars and cafes. Because Russell’s congestion seemed to rebound, he saw a doctor and got some antibiotics while Emily continues to cough and sneeze. Still, the beautiful city and the comfort of sort of speaking the language, kept our spirits up.

On Wednesday, we headed to Park Güell. It was originally designed by Antoni Gaudí in collaboration with his benefactor Eusebi Güell as a kind of modernist upscale community with sixty triangular plots for wealthy families in booming Barcelona. Gaudi moved in, but only two plots were purchased and eventually the whole thing was donated to the city. It’s amazing.

In the afternoon, on the way home from Park Güell, we ran into massive crowds celebrating a Barcelonan holiday, La Mercè. We could not get close enough to get good pictures, but we did get close enough to be redirected by many street closures. We found the old Jewish quarter near our residence, with a few medieval ruins and a small local museum.

We were pretty tired after that, so we went back to our residence for siesta. That revived us enough for Russell finally to get back to writing, making good, cheering progress.

Finally, in the evening, we traveled a bit north to a restaurant on the beach, Can Fisher, with well-reviewed, yummy paella. On the walk home, we were treated to fireworks for the festival.

Despite the health challenges, we are loving Barcelona.