barcelona

Barcelona was fun. Good energy, good food, color, sunshine.  We spent lots of time walking, wandering, as usual, through Barcelona's wide promenades and narrow side streets.  

Arch:

 Window shopping:

Overlooking the city from hilltop parks and the hotel roof:

 Watching construction of the Sagrada Familia cathedral:

 

We saw two fantastic photography exhibitions:

 Yea, Claude Cahun! This was a special treat to stumble upon.

Vegan eating can be a bit tricky and tiresome while traveling, but Barcelona was an exception. I feasted. Twice we spent our evenings at Sesamo, a vegetarian restaurant, and enjoyed a seven course tasting menu, with descriptions of the yummy, seasonal dishes, from the amazing chef. Our first night here may have just been the best dinner I've ever eaten, ideal all the way to the cozy atmosphere. Pumpkin , macadamia, miso soup; organic brown rice risotto with mushrooms and white truffle oil; beer-soaked mushroom tart with rosemary and pistachio cream; eggplant curry, warm pecan-stuffed figs with mushroom powder...I'm making myself hungry.
 

Gopal was our other go-to eatery, vegan burgers and bakery. I had donuts, and cake, and even a cinnamon roll! On day we grabbed our burgers and ate them on the beach.

We had a great morning walking through the Park Guell:

Enjoying lots of Gaudi:

One of my favorite parts was spending a day at the beach.

We went for a long run along the boardwalk, and after spent the day watching the waves, and warming our faces in the sun.

The sun was great after the past rainy week, and felt extra special being warm in November.

We also stopped into a few cathedrals, mandatory in European cities I think...

Our final morning we saw the magical interior of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia cathedral.

The morning light was glorious.

Details from the exterior:

We also saved enough time before our flight to (yup, grab burgers one more time) and take a walk through the Olympic park, By up the stairs to the enormous art museum-which will be on our list for our next visit- past Mies van der Rohe's reconstructed pavilion, and through beautiful gardens.

After some tight scheduled site-seeing for our last few hours, we were off to the airport, and back to Geneva.

¡hasta luego, Barcelona!