Getting Lost in Translation

Waking up is hard.

On a daily basis, I leave myself enough time to snooze at least two times. 

The morning we were to disembark from the ship was a weird feeling. I really really didn't want to get out of bed. I did not want to end this trip. Read More...

We once again had a half day in Barcelona before leaving for the airport. We had done the whole city driving tour so we decided to do one thing we really wanted to do: visit the Sagrada Familia. 

On a cruise, when you have a half day in port, it's either the morning or the afternoon (much nicer). For our last day, we docked in the early morning and were able to watch the sun rise as we got ready to leave our cabin for the last time.

(It was very cozy)

We drove into the city and got to walk the streets before heading to the main attraction. 

We walked by Casa Milà, or La Pedrera, one of Gaudí's last works. 

It was originally commissioned by a rich family in 1906 and had caused much controversy as not everyone was a fan of the stone and ironwork.

We did not get to go in, but I liked the ironwork.

I'd live there.

I said hello to this little dog on our walk over the Sagrada Familia. 

Just kidding, but I did accost a dog walking by (it was very fluffy).

We soon had our first glimpse of Gaudí's famous Roman Catholic church.

I have to be honest- I found the whole thing a bit bizarre.
Really awesome- but bizarre.
I felt like I was in some sort of creepy fairy tale.

The leaves carved into the walls left me feeling like I was lost in an enchanted forest that happened to have religious statues in it.

I had a great time wandering around and admiring everything, although for the most part I was a bit confused.

This was not all Gaudí's fault though.
When we signed up for the tour, the cruise ship was not actually offering it in English. After trying to get us to take it in German ("it's the most similar to English!") we decided to just hop on with the Italians.

So while everyone else was listening to the history of Gaudí's masterpiece, my mom and I were just wandering around as we all know I do not understand a word of Italian (besides pizza!).

I did quite enjoy the stained glass. It was the perfect time of day to appreciate it, too.

Maybe one day it will be done, although not a single person we spoke to was optimistic.

We then went to see another Gaudí landmark, the Casa Batlló, or House of Bones.
Once again, we had no idea what was going on, although I was pretty sure we had skip the line passes.

Do you see why they call it the House of Bones?

At least I hope so, as we definitely skipped the line.

Once again, it felt like a bizarre fun house of colors.

I was actually kind of glad we ended up on an Italian speaking tour of Barcelona. I was starting to feel incredibly sad that our week was reaching the end, so pretending to listen to the Italian guide and laughing with my mom helped take the edge off. 

Would I go on a cruise again? Absolutely!

Would I go somewhere absolutely boring and sit on the floor for a week straight with my mom? Absolutely!

So was this cruise amazing because it was a great cruise or was it amazing because I got to spend it with my favorite person in the world?

I'll never know.