Barcelona and Gaudi

Last night we met Bill and Sandra in Bill's room to share the Bombay Sapphire gin that he had Sandra order for us. Then we adjourned to the dining room of the hotel for dinner. Everything in Barcelona was closed due to the holiday. Norma and I ordered the lobster paella. I can't tell you how good it was as I had no taste buds due to my cold. I was absolutely miserable yesterday. Norma and I slept for two hours, went on a hour and a half walk along the seafront before coming back to the hotel for another two-hour nap.
Woke up this morning after sleeping through the night, had breakfast and met our guide - an absolutely stunning young woman with excellent English named Zaida and our driver who drove us around in a navy blue Porsche. We went first to La Sagrada Familia, a magnificent church that is still incomplete. Due to admission fees from tourists like ourselves, it is due to be completed in 2026. We spent several hours learning about the meanings of the sculptures of the different facades and admiring the light coming through the stained glass windows. A highlight was taking the elevator to the top of one of the towers to see the views of the city and close-ups of the upper parts of the church. We then walked down the spiral staircase stopping along the way while our guide explained interesting anecdotes about the church and Gaudi. This is the first church that we have felt an affinity with - the emphasis on nature rather than sin appealed to us both.
From there, we went to the Park Guell where we enjoyed another informative tour. We wouldn't have got nearly as much out of our visit if we had been on our own. It was fascinating.
Then we drove to La Pedrera or Casa Mila. This home is noted for its roof, Gaudi even decorated the roofs of his houses. This one had chimneys fashioned in the shape of a chess board with pawns, castles, kings, and queens. We even got a chance to see an apartment laid out in the original design.
From there we drove to Casa Batllo on a street with three different styles of architecture in a row so that we could compare them.
Back to the Porsche for a drive to the Barcelona Cathedral where the skies opened. Our guide took us into a grand hotel there where she went over what else we could see. We waited in the Hotel Corona for almost an hour until the pouring rain let up then continued on through the medieval old town with its narrow streets that only allowed pedestrian traffic. Wandered by some churches and headed back to our hotel. We stumbled across the Antic Mercat del Born where we think the underground Roman ruins were displayed. We have to google this to confirm . It took us two hours of walking before we finally arrived at the Hilton Diagonal del Mar.
The rain had let up by this time so we weren't too soaked. Back to our room for a bit of gin, room service, wine, and now sleep. We board the ship, Mariner, tomorrow at noon.