Barcelona, Spain: Some Sights and a Ride

We began our day with an accommodation change to the lovely flat of a couch-surfing friend of Anna and Kassie's.  We then headed over to check out the Barcelona Cathedral, an 11th century Romanesque church that had a Gothic facade tacked on in the 19th century.  Though it is currently under extensive renovations, it was still lovely, and worth a stop.

After the Cathedral, we set off to find a tiny and hidden (but highly recommended) churrascaria: a churro shop!  We were successful, and also elected to try some of the other delicious pastry offerings, the whole of which we took to a plaza (see above) and consumed with gusto.  We ate them so fast, in fact, that we didn't get any pictures...at least we captured the plaza!

We then took a quick look at Barcelona's distinctive Torre Agbar, which houses the water company.  One could imagine that it has many nicknames (!!), but we thought it looked like a cucumber in the sunlight, and since we had purchased a cucumber for a lunch, we thought a joint photo would be appropriate.

We rented bikes!  In addition to it being great fun, it allowed us to get way out into the suburbs of Barcelona and ride much of Barcelona's coastline.  It was Kassie's first time on a bike in over ten years, but she rode like a pro after the first ten minutes or so, and we all had a fantastic time!

Before returning our bikes, we locked them for a bit, and spent a few hours on the beach.  The wind kept it from being too hot, which allowed Kassie to take a nap, and the water was cool and refreshing, which allowed Anna and I to take a 45-minute swim out into the ocean and back.  What a great day!