You can't come to Barcelona without being bombarded by Gaudi on every step. So, today was our Gaudi day. Started with the visit to Park Guell, designed by Gaudi. All the buildings are built in his "melting wax-like" style. Even the walls and sidewalks were deprived of straight lines and sharp angles. The park was infested with tourists, to the point that it was difficult to move around.
As we didn't have enough Gaudi for one afternoon, we went to see his cathedral Sagrada Familia, which has been under construction for over 110 years. Suckers as we are, we paid 10 Euros entrance fee to see the inside of the contruction zone, scaffoldings, bricks and tarps. I am not sure which side is the front and which is the back, but there's a very modern looking side which was an eyesore for me, and there was a much more stern looking side, even scary, but definitely more church-like and easier to digest. I'm glad I saw it, but I don't think my life would be empty if I didn't!
On the subway back toward La Rambla a man with a suitcase was leaving the train when a gang of dirty looking pickpockets appeared. One of the gang hid his hand behind a newspaper and had his fingers in the men's back pocket when Maggie of all people, grabbed his hand and started shouting "Don't do that". All of a sudden several other men started shouting at her and I held the thief's arm, afraid that he might try to hit her. Then several of them started swearing at us and spitting at us, and I decided it's the best if we leave the train on that station, so I walked by them and Maggie hopped behind me and out to the station. Sadly, none of the native Barcelonians moved to back us up.
After two bad episodes of pickpocketing in 3 nights, we were badly shaken and were thinking about re-locating our vacation to Madrid. Then we read about similar and worse episodes of pickpocketing in Madrid, and decided to stay in Barcelona, but be constantly on guard for the pesky small criminals. Thinking about buying a pepper spray for Maggie.
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