My last post was before our flight to Barcelona. I am posting this as we sit on our flight back to Seattle from Amsterdam.

Barcelona is familiar to both me and Harneet since we traveled here separately. If you are curious about what I saw last time, comb through to my previous posts from here. But we always learn new stuff, right?

We spent time in Barcelona getting lost trying to interpret public transport directions and checking out Gaudi's amazing architecture again. We went back and did an audio guide tour of the Sagrada Familia. When I saw it last, so much of it was under construction. When I saw it this time, so much progress has been made. The first stone was laid in 1882 and it will be completed in 2026.

I am a big fan of Gaudi's architecture and so, immersed myself into the experience. Here are some quick peeks of what was captured - though a picture could just not do it justice.

We also checked out a bunch of other Gaudi sights including his casas by night, his gorgeous fountain and we went into the Palau da musica as well.

And of course indulged in more delicious Churros (Gran Via). These were different and smaller than the Granada Churros - thank heavens. And ate some more delicious food including some lovely tapas (Cerveceria Catalanya) for our anniversary. I also learned about a traditional catalonyan dish made with calicots (spring onions) - where the whole calicot is grilled and served with romesco sauce. You peel off the outer layer and dip the insides in a sauce. Now, it was a lot of work to eat but a fun discovery nonetheless.

And after all that fun, we headed back to Amsterdam, ate some more apple pie, tried out some Surinamese food and are now heading back home.

Some of the key memories from this trip were the new pieces of history I learned - they began with pieces of information from locals that led to me doing some research on the internet.

• Gaudi died when he was hit by a tram. He was so immersed in his work that he stopped taking care of his appearance. When he was hit, because of this and no ID on him, he was mistaken for a beggar and so no taxi driver took him to a hospital. A local doctor looked at him and considered it hopeless. Finally a policeman took him to a local hospital where he was given the minimal care afforded to poor people. Once he passed away, he was identified as Gaudi and the city mourned.
• The gypsies of Sacramento were originally from Rajasthan in India. They migrated through Punjab and then through a number of European countries before reaching Spain. The Romany language is a mix of Hindi with a lot of other languages mixed in. A lot of their history has been wiped out and little is known of what happened during the Spanish civil war.
• There are a number of Surinamese immigrants in the Netherlands since Suriname in South America used to be a dutch colony. Their food is a delicious ethnic mix of South American, Indian and African. This is because their primary populations are descendants of slaves brought from Asia and Africa.
• How the holy week before Easter is celebrated in Seville and the amount of practice that goes into the processions (see Seville post).

And with those historical tidbits, I'm going to sign off from this vacation. Looking forward to home and seeing Phoenix soon.