The last time we were in Barcelona in November it was a dreary, cold, rainy day. Not today. It was cool, but there was brilliant sunshine. The perfect weather for exploring a city.

On our way out we decided to stop off at the Seabourn hospitality desk. It was the pre Grand Africa cruise Gala tonight, but we had no information about it. Where the Seabourn hospitality desk was yesterday, there was the Silversea hospitality desk. We looked around the ground floor of the hotel trying to find our hospitality desk, but no luck. Finally we asked the concierge and he pointed me in the direction of the Silversea desk. Hopefully they would know where their Seabourn counterparts were. Well. It turned out that THEY WERE the Seabourn people, just they had a Silversea sign instead of a Seabourn one. They were able to share the details of the gala tonight with us, and feeling confident that we knew what may be happening we headed off to breakfast at a nearby café, passing by some magnificent Art Nouveau buildings on the way.

I am a huge Gaudi fan, so our plan for the morning was to visit the Casa Batllo which was conveniently one block away from the hotel. We had driven and walked past this house many times, and marveled at its magnificent exterior, but this was the first time we had ventured inside.

It was well worth the price of admission. The house is a totally surreal magical place, where there is another amazing site around each corner. I was totally overwhelmed by it all.

We purchased the Gold  tickets, and our visit started with getting our amazing interactive augmented reality tablets, and then we were lead to the Gaudi dome where we had an immersive experience of color and light. There are more than 1000 screens depicting the  origins of Gaudi. ‘It is said to immerse you in the origin of a genius and his particular relationship with nature. It is meant to welcome you to the universe that inspired Gaudi, and it is accompanied by sound that has 21 audio channels and recreates the sounds of nature, and 38 projectors that flood this videoart installation with magic using volumetric projections. Well, that’s what the description says. I had not read that before going there, and although we were certainly bathed in music and light, I totally missed the connection to Gaudi’s childhood relationship with nature.

After that we explored the house floor by floor. Each floor was more bizarre and unique than the one before, and I was particularly obsessed with the small central lightwells, that helped provide light and ventilation to the building.

Unfortunately the back patio was closed for repairs, but we did get to take a prrk of ht ework bring done.

The roof is notable for its unique chimneys, and depiction of the dragon that St George, the patron saint of Barcelona, ended up slaying.

The final part of the visit is called the Gaudi Cube where you experience an immersive production described as a pioneering work of engineering in a 100% enveloping space capable of changing the perception of reality and allowing the impossible. It was amazing. Maybe that’s what being on a psychedelic drug feels like. It is certainly not for those suffering from vertigo.

With my head spinning we exited the house through the gift shop. I just had to buy a scarf so I could hold on to the memory of this experience.

We emerged back into the bright sunlight to walk to the hotel and deposit my scarf, before heading out on our afternoon adventure.

We took a couple of photos of our hotel room and then headed off to the Gothic quarter.

We had lunch at a great little Tapas restaurant near to the Cathedral. The Restaurant Catedral 1951. We though it may be an overpriced tourist trap, but the tapas were great, and it was very reasonable. Although the sparkling mineral water was rather nasty.

After lunch we wandered through the Christmas market in the square in front of the cathedral

And then did a walking tour of the Gothic quarter, frequently having to backtrack as I was having difficulties following the directions.

The narrow winding streets were quite a contrast to the wide boulevards close to our hotel.

One of the treasures in the quarter is the candle shop which has been there since 1761.

We loved this mailbox. It makes our green metal one at home look very boring.

Then it was time to dash back to the hotel and get all dressed up in our formal clothes for the gala at the Castell de Sant Marçal. There are 100 or so guests who are doing the 90 day Grand Africa cruise, and we all piled into coaches taking us on the long and winding road to the castle.

The castell itself looked lovely, but the long walk on the gravel path to the castle was quite the challenge for those of us in long dresses and high heels, but we all made it.

We were greeted with a rather yummy drink which tasted like a pisco sour but wasn’t, and then were herded into the reception room where we were serenaded by local musicians and 2 flamenco dancers.

The setting was really lovely, but unfortunately the music was really loud. This was an opportunity to mingle and get acquainted with our fellow travelers, but all we could do was nod at each other and smile. Brian and I gave up trying to be social in the end, and I grabbed a glass of cava and stood back listening to the music.

Finally the music ended and we were ushered in to dinner. Yay, it is quieter in here.

At dinner it was great that we were seated at the same table as our friends, and we had the opportunity to chat with some of our fellow travelers including one of the speakers and his wife. It really was a lovely evening, and this time the entertainment provided by a guitar orchestra and flamenco dancers was most enjoyable.

I fell asleep on the bus on the way back to the hotel, but had a burst of energy once we were back at the hotel and we went up to the bar on the 10^th floor of the hotel. The view from there is fantastic and we got to see out beloved Sagrada Familia. We will not get to see the building up close this time but will certainly see it on our next visit.

It was after 12:30, but the streets below us were still very busy.

It has been a really great day, I love Barcelona. But I can’t wait to board the Sojourn tomorrow!