Flat Marley does Barcelona

by k.

Barcelona you're a beautiful, charming city...Te amo

...and so does Flat Marley!

A group of folks from work took a long weekend and went to Spain's second largest city and the capital of the region of Catalonia.
The benefit of having a Flat Friend is that you can stash her in your carry-on and she flies free!
Here she is with new pals Claire and Sinead.

Saturday morning (okay, afternoon) saw us all getting on the open top bus to see the sites. Flat Marley loved all the architecture - especially the buildings designed by Barcelona's famous son: Antoni Gaudi. His Casa Mila above.


Flat Marley in front of Gaudi's Casa Batllo. The building was designed to remind people of a dragon - the roof looks like scales!!

Gaudi left his mark all over the city, but his biggest splash is easily Sagrada Familia, a cathedral under construction since 1882, expected finish date in the next 20 years. This place is jaw-dropping, y'all. One photo can not do it justice. It is straight out of some surreal fairy tale. It is so spectacular that even your own EYES, when you see it in person, can hardly take it all in. Facades on top of facades, spires on top of spires, giant stone snails crawling up towers....
I direct you to the website if you want more info and photos.

Flat Marley loved this magical place so much she wanted to climb the cranes and start helping the workmen, but we were afraid she'd blow away so we kept her on the bus.

But we did get off the bus for another of Barcelona's famous Gaudi sites, Park Guell, showcasing more weird and wonderful examples of his genius. Meandering around this park feels a bit like walking through a life-sized Candy Land board game.
Here's Flat Marley with the entrance to Park Guell and all of Barcelona behind her.

More of Park Guell's playful fantasticalness (is that a word?)

Lest you think all Flat Marley and I saw was Gaudi architecture....here's the port where we had lunch on a lovely afternoon, then stretched out in the sun and people watched while we digested.
And the gothic quarter were we wandered in the evenings for the charm, the food and the fun.

Flat Marley even met some strange Flat Friends that were just her size at a restaurant. They are looking a little on the skinny side though - maybe they should try some of the tapas? F.M. recommends the pattatas bravas, the manchego cheese and some olives.

Flat Marley made fast friends with the work crew and we all took turns looking out for her, showing her around Barcelona, rambling up the central street of Las Ramblas, dressing her up (and piercing her ears!) bringing her for late-night tapas dinners and taking her out dancing till dawn. F.M. has 9 new Irish Aunties and Uncles that just adore her and were all so happy she was part of our holiday.

Love you Flat Marley - and hope ya had a nice trip.