Day 5 - Barcelona: The Big 35.

The big day arrived -- my big semi-milestone birthday. I began by waking up to my alarm... only to decide that I was still cansado y since it's birthday and I get to do whatever I want to -- I dozed for a few more hours, until I'd decidedly be able to get up w/o feeling tired. It was about 10:45am before that happened.

Showered, got dressed and moved forward w/ plans to make the day a Gaudí day (Antoni Gaudí -- a tour of Sagrada Familia (take 2) and of Casa Pedrera were the plans). Took the subway over to Sagrada Familia, grabbed a cafe americano and a muffin (which I discovered to be filled with yogurt?! Weird.) to sustain me for a bit, and when I went to buy a ticket -- they were sold out! Fail, otra vez. Apparently I need to buy ahead online if I have any hope of getting inside the place. That or show up early-early. The latter is not likely...

I did get a few additional cool shots of the exterior:

 

So, on to part two of Gaudí day: La Casa Milà, or Casa Pedrera. Hopped back on the subway back to Passeig de Gràcia, walked the few blocks and tour purchase success was attained. Spent about and hour and a half nerding out on architecture and history. That building has probably the best rooftop terrace ever:

Mind you this is about seven stories up. Some of the units in this Casa are still private residences -- crazy. I was amused listening to the audio tour -- apparently Gaudí started out designing for the proletariat before being wooed by those of the bourgeoise on account of his skills. And most all of Gaudi's great works were commissioned by aforementioned boug peeps. It was the Milà family that commissioned this design & construction (hence the name). And apparently I am a fan of the bouginess. (Europe, what are you doing to me? Ha.)

Finished out the Casa Pedrera tour and, with quivering calves on account of all the stairs after my consecutive days of overuse w/ the legs, I sought out some grub. Ended up doing my first sidewalk/curbside dining experience -- and had "pizza"! And beer. Happy birthday to me.

Came back to the room for a late afternoon siesta. 

Woke up, and... This is the part where I should write about how I went out and had this amazing night -- how I went out and had a bunch of tapas and bar hopped into the not-even-wee hours of the morning. Well true to my character, none of that happened. Went out for a nice long late evening/night walk. One thing that's great about Barcelona is that it's absolutely a walking city -- and like NYC, you can walk all hours of the day and night and it's generally fine. I ended up back at the beach at the Barceloneta. Birthdays always get me into contemplative mode, this milestone birthday was no exception. I eventually caught the subway back up to my hotel 'hood. All in all, a good, low-key day to help me slide on into my full-blown middle-agedness...