Barcelona Day 2


After the walking tour, no visit to Barcelona would be complete without seeing the La Sagrada Familia. After breakfast headed out to the cathedral and found a line that formed around the block to buy tickets. And when I say around the block, I mean all four streets around the cathedral. As hinted, La Sagrada Familia is extremely popular with tourists. After waiting for 30 minutes with little movement, the group opted to return after buying entrance tickets online. Ticketmaster sells tickets and buyers go through a separate entrance. More on this debacle later....
Walking around La Mercat
Since La Sagrada was a bust, trekked back to the La Mercat to buy ham! I flirted with the idea of buying more but restraint kicked in. Ham in hand, wandered back to the hotel. After depositing the pork, went out to the beach and swam in the Mediterranean Sea enjoying the last days of summer in Spain . The waters were not as clear as Hawaii but still clean looking. On the beach, there are numerous cafes/restaurants that dot the beach. A late lunch was easily managed at the nearest beach cafe.
Barcelona beach


After cleaning up back in the hotel, met with a colleague for dinner at Pez Vela Chiringuito. Located adjacent to the W Barcelona, the restaurant has amazing views as expected of a beach restaurant. The specialty is paella and the servings are a minimum of two people. Not only should you bring your appetite, you should also bring your credit card. The food was good enough but I enjoyed the paella in Seville more. The rice was saltier than my preference and I kept asking for bread. The only problem with asking for bread in Spanish restaurants is that it isn't complimentary. The bread basket was 1.50 euro a pop. So if you're a carb fan, restrain yourself unless you want to spend money on bread.

That's a really big paella pan from Pez Vela
So earlier, I had said that I bought tickets online via Ticketmaster to La Sagrada Familia. I had difficulty ordering tickets through the portal. After several attempts, the purchase went through and the email confirmation came. Six hours later, a new email came stating that my purchase was cancelled due to a technical difficulty. Not questioning the email, the new plan was to arrive as soon as La Sagrada Familia opened the next day and get through the lines fast! After returning from Spain, I received another email from Ticketmaster that they were having difficulty refunding to my credit card and a request for a "new credit card account or bank account." The lack of a signature plus the request for personal information drew major red flags. I promptly contacted my credit card company to report fraudulent activity. I ultimately believe that the website was hacked. For those contemplating the online route, it isn't always a safe place!

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