Off to Barcelona During the European Heat Wave

For months, we anxiously awaited a visit from our dear friends and Westfall neighbors, Nikki and Chad Richardson. Finally, in mid-July, the time had come. They would arrive the next morning. "Not so fast," said American Airlines at JFK. "We will delay you by 24 hours." We were all surprised and thrilled that their luggage arrived with them.

So, we condensed our time in Cascais a bit. After lunch by the cliffs, Nikki and Chad got all dressed up and went off for a photo shoot with the photographers who did such beautiful work with Ana and Matt last fall. I only got a couple of photos of Nikki but I can attest that Chad looked pretty damn good, too.

The next day we went into Lisbon for a whirlwind tour of the highlights. We stopped in Belem at the Navigators Monument (still my favorite) and got the mandatory pasteis de nata (cream tart that is the national pastry) in Belem. They scored some gifts for their boys at the official futbol (soccer) store. For lunch, we went to the Time Out Market. This is a cool place with more than 25 restaurant booths to select from. You place your order, get a pager, and find seats in the middle of the extremely crowded hall. Each of us got something different but it was all really good. This is located by a farmers' market that had fallen on hard times. A couple of chefs got together and came up with the idea of locating restaurant booths in one of the main halls. One rule they have for the restaurant tenants is that they have to buy all their fresh foods from the still active market next door. We were all impressed by this mutually beneficial plan that has turned into a huge success.

Our next stop was Barcelona. Getting there went very smoothly. You have undoubtedly heard about the heat wave covering Europe. Barcelona was no exception. It was really hot and humid. We started with the hop on hop off sightseeing bus. After roasting in the sun on the upper deck, we finally moved down to the lower deck. We did see a lot of the main sights in the eastern side of the city. After that, we discovered the joy of having happy hour in the hotel's roof top pool. Our hotel was situated in the Gothic Quarter which is a labyrinth of small streets and alleys with lots of shops and restaurants. We enjoyed meandering and had some really wonderful meals.

Our second day in Barcelona was Gaudi day. One of Barcelona's favorite sons, Gaudi was a modernist architect. We visited two of his most famous works. The first is Casa Battlo which is a mansion that Gaudi renovated on behalf of the owner. It has been beautifully restored and the visit includes two different immersive experiences and a good audio guide.

Note: The photo of the exterior is a stock photo. When we we visited, there was a long queue and it was too hot to walk to the other side of the street.

From there we went to Gaudi's masterpiece, the Basilica of Sagrada Familia. Construction started in 1882 and continues today. COVID slowed the construction progress but it might be finished in the next few years. We saw the outside when we visited last fall, but this time we got tickets to go inside. The interior is breathtaking. After leaving the cathedral, it was back to the rooftop pool and then off to another wonderful tapas dinner.

On day three, we went to the Picasso museum. This is a comprehensive collection of his work. It is fascinating to see his progression from a highly skilled traditional painter to the abstract work most people are familiar with. Walking back through the Gothic Quarter, I spied a nice pride display in one of the alleys. Then we logged more pool, sangria, and tapas time.

On our last day, Nikki and Chad opted to go to the beach and get some shopping done. Will and I went to the National Museum of Art of Catalonia. We had only a quick visit last fall and were anxious to spend more time. Perched at Mont Juic, the museum in in the national palace. There are several large collections but we concentrated on modern art. We saw more Gaudi doors and a beautifully displayed collection of other Catalan work. We had the museum almost all to ourselves which was just wonderful. We had a lovely lunch at the museum restaurant with a panoramic view of Barcelona below. We then climbed down to the bottom of Mont Juic and returned to our hotel in time for....happy hour at the pool.

For our last dinner, we met up with Paula and Dustin, who used to live in Westfall. They are traveling through Europe this summer and hope to move here next summer. It was so nice to catch up with them and tell them about our expat adventure.

Upon our return to Cascais, we rested, hung out, and enjoyed a sushi dinner by the cliffs. We are really looking forward to our next visitors.