Spanish Holiday III: Barcelona

I have been to Barcelona previously: about ten years ago with the family on vacation, and then three trips here for work: I visit the Universitat Autonoma in the suburbs for research collaboration with Tim Myers and his group. It is a very pleasant city, easy to see why it is so popular as a place to visit and work.

Veronica and I had the last week of our vacation here. We could have spent longer, although I have to say it was a relief to leave the place we were staying in. It was an AirBnb apartment, large and nicely set up, but with poor ventilation, mildew, and the new car smell "air freshener" to cover it up. At the end of the week I had to say goodbye to Veronica for a month and go back to work, but at least I can breath again.

Although I have been to see them more than once before, I was happy to go again to the Pedrera (Casa Mila) and the Sagrada Familia with Veronica. Even over the ten years since I first saw it, the Sagrada Familia has had significant progress towards completion, which they now list as 2026. These are both amazing places to see for the architecture and the details of the designs down to the door knobs. I would happily see them again! Besides these top tourist places, we had a day on La Rambla, a day at the beach, a day shopping (well, Veronica shopped and I lazed about near the apartment), and saw the Saint Antoni market near our apartment (not far from the Placa D'Espanya). This is still a market worth going to: the one off La Rambla (La Boqueria) has very little variety now.

We did a couple of noteworthy things in the evenings. We saw a European Cup game, between Barca and Eindhoven. The local team won 4--0 and we saw three beautiful goals by Messi. We also went to the Palau de la Musica Catala, a beautiful theatre where we saw a performance that was a mix of opera and flamenco.

Then our vacation wound down to a close. I went with Veronica to the airport to send her back home, and then moved out of the city to the Autonoma. I have the same kind of room I have had before, very nice for a visit of a month or two, and this time I scored a room on the top floor of the view side of the building and have a deck. 

I am not sure if the pictures do it justice, but it is a beautiful view. I can look at it while I type this at the big desk in the room, and out on the deck table which is great except in the heat of the day (29C today). I did a couple of rounds of shopping, for food and a few kitchen things that I "needed" that did not come with the room. I will be comfortable here, and hopefully productive. It is a soft entry back into work as they have a long weekend here due to the Barcelona holiday, La Merce.