I was inspired this morning.  I had some places I would like to visit, but until this morning I didn’t even plan on visiting the Gaudi sites.  I checked the Rick Steves guidebook that recommended three Gaudi sites: Casa Batllo, Casa Lleo Morera, and La Pedrera. During breakfast I made the decision to buy my tickets online to avoid the crowds.

I bought a ticket for Casa Batllo for 9:30am.  I then got a ticket for La Pedrera for 11:30am. I tried to get a ticket for Casa Lleo Morera but it seemed to be unavailable online.

I arrived at 9am at Casa Batllo and the ticket taker was kind enough to let me in early.  Casa Batllo was an apartment building retro fitted with Gaudi design. Gaudi prefers not use straight lines and instead uses organic design.  Edged are curved. It reminded me of Alien, but in a nice way.  The audio guide goes into great detail about the design including use of natural light.

The real jewel of the site is the roof where Gaudi dressed the smokestacks with his trademark organic theme.  There is a cross at the top as well. I really enjoyed the site and took several photos.

Next just up the street I visited La Pedrera. It is a Gaudi designed site from the ground up.  I was a bit early, but the ticket taker let me in early.

We took the elevator to the very top, which was by far the most visually stunning part of the site.  The smokestacks were tan and very similar to how the Star Wars cantina bar was seen. Rounded edges. Unearthly. I spent a lot of time on the roof taking several photos.

Next after finally finding the exit door I followed the audio guide to the attic. The interior was designed like a snake skeleton.: Arches of varying height with a central backbone on top.

I went through the exhibits including an apartment setup with period furniture. I exited through a gift shop.

Next I tried to visit Casa Lleo Morera, but it appeared to be closed.

I had lunch at McDonald’s, not because I like McDonald’s but because it was easy. I ordered via kiosk and picked up my order. As I ate I bought tickets for Palau Guell. The only thing is that I didn’t pay attention to the date. I reserved my ticket for Friday instead of today. Same day tickets are not available online. I had some trouble downloading and opening the PDF ticket, so I took a screenshot of the barcode from the website.

When I got to Palau Guell the ticket taker tried to enter the code, but it wouldn’t work.  She asked if I bought the same day. I said yes. She said same day tickets are not available, but that she would radio my name and ticket number to the front office to have it corrected to allow me to enter.

The interior is even much less Gaudi’s organic design, but still unique. The audio guide gave a lot of information even much more than I’ll remember.  The numbering system for the audio guide was confusing.

The roof was the jewel of the site. Gaudi changed the design of the smokestacks into organic design with glass mosaics. It was visually stunning. I took several photos.

Next I decided to try to find the Santa Maria Del Mar. With my phone’s battery running low I began to stress if I could find it and get back in time for my train to Madrid. I walked in the general direction and stopped in some souvenirs shops on the way. All had the ugly iron on logos which would fall apart during the first washing. I did find a collared shirt I liked but didn’t buy it, thinking I’d get it on my way out.

I arrived at Santa Maria Del Mar, and paid my entry fee of 8 euros to have access to the church plus a special roof tour which was starting in 5 minutes.  Paul, our young tour guide arrived. I could tell that some of the member of our tour group did not use English as their first language.

Paul described how the church was not built in the traditional cross style layout. Rather it was built with a design where there is opened in the Sanctuary.  The church took 54 years to build compared to 400 years for the Barcelona cathedral. It was burned during the Spanish civil war.

We walked up to the roof.  It had a good view of the steeple of the Barcelona cathedral and Sagrada Familia. We also saw the bells. Our tour guide said the bells were baptized.  I think he meant “Christened,” as baptizing a bell brings to mind a weird moment. Won’t the rust?

At this point I began to worry if my train was at 19:25 (7:25 pm) or 17:25 (5:25pm). I worried I might not make it back in time.

After the roof I stayed only briefly and found my way to a metro station where I got back to my room to find it was 19:25 or 7:25pm. So it was 5pm and I had time for supper. I decided to get kfc, which was just around the block from my hotel. I got the 5pc chicken fingers with fries. Not as good as Zaxby’s but it’ll do in a pinch.

While I was watching a young man came to each of our tables asking something in Spanish. I only picked up “dinero.” So I figured he was asking for money. The couple at the table to the side gave him a piece of chicken. I felt sorry for him and realized I could have given him some fries which I would not finish. He finished up and thanked the couple who shared their food and left.

Back at my hotel room I packed and charged my phone. I got directions from the front desk clerk who said I should leave at 6pm. As I checked out I was told I owed a .65 euro tourist tax. I gave him was I had in change, but he said that was OK.

I rode the L3 train to Sants Rail station. I got off the metro and asked some rail workers for directions to the train station. My bags where scanned in the x-ray machine, something I hadn’t seen before.

I tried to go to the platform but the did not open the gates until 20 minutes before departure.

So right now I’m riding my train to Madrid at 258 km/hour. Not sure how fast that is in miles.  I expect to make it to my hotel late tonight. Tomorrow I will visit Toledo with a train ride at 7:45am. I’m.looking forward to it.