Today was our last day in Barcelona. There were a couple of places that we hadn’t managed to pay a visit to that I really wanted to see. So I got up quite early and left around 8:45am to go and do a little solo sightseeing tour. I left the others in bed, although I think Mandy was up and about.

The first place I went to was Parròquia Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi, which was only a few minutes’ walk from the apartment. This is a 15th-century gothic church and was officially opened in June 1453. It was damaged in the 1428 earthquake and again in the bombings of 1714. And in 1936 a deliberate fire caused the church to be gutted. This church has the biggest rose window in Barcelona and houses the remains of many members of Barcelona’s nobility and the remains of the most Barcelonian of saints, Sant Josep Oriol, who was a priest at this famous church. It is believed that a pine forest once stood on this site, which is why the church is called ‘St Mary of the Pine’.

In the square by the church is a statue of the Catalan writer and poet Àngel Guimerà. He wrote a number of popular plays that helped in the revival of the Catalan language. He was nominated 23 times for the Nobel Prize in literature but never won it. He is buried at the Montjuic cemetery.

I carried on walking to the Plaça de Sant Felip Neri, which is presided over by the church of St. Felip Neri. The square is used as a playground for the school (to the left of the church) and has an octagonal fountain in it, symbolising life. Originally, the square was home to the Palace of Neri, built in 1752. During the Spanish Civil War, it became a makeshift orphanage. It was bombed, and 42 people died, most of whom were children.  The square marks the entrance to the city’s Jewish quarter.

As I continued on, I came upon a beautiful mural – El Món Neix en Cada Besada, or the ‘Kisses’ mural. This is a photomosaic mural composed of four thousand individual ceramic tiles, each with a photograph submitted by locals. People were asked to submit photos that showed what living in freedom meant to them. The mural is 8m wide and almost 4m tall. It symbolises the universal themes of love and freedom. A quote appears alongside the mural, which was created to mark the 300th anniversary of the  military seige of the city in 1714. It reads, “The sound of a kiss is not as loud as that of a cannon, but its echo lasts a great deal longer.”

Along the way, there was a lot of street art.

The next stop was the Roman Aqueduct. This used to be 11km long, bringing water into the city. The remaining part is only 20m in length and was only discovered in 1988. It was known to be in service in the 6th and early 7th century.

There were a lot of nice buildings and interesting streets around.

I walked past a memorial to Francesc Cambó. He was a wealthy conservative politician, lawyer, author, philanthropist, and Catalan nationalist. The statue was inauguration in 1997, 50 years after his death. There was some controversy as Francesc supported Franco during the Spanish Civil War.

Eventually, I came to the place that I had set out to visit – the Palau de la Música Catalana. This building is amazing and was built between 1905 and 1908. It is the only concert hall listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO. In the second photo below, you can see the original ticket box in the entrance pillar.

Outside of the building is a sculpture of a woman’s head known as ‘Carmela’. The sculpture is 4.5m tall and made from cast iron. The appearance of the face changes depending on your perspective and is associated with the concept of memory, compressing and representing it in its form. 

It took me a bit of too-ing and fro-ing to get a ticket as I went in the wrong entrance to start with. But I managed to sort it out, and then I went straight up to the main hall.

The organ has more than 3,700 pipes and was made in 1908.

There are 18 muses surrounding the stage, all of them playing instruments from different parts of the world – representing music without frontiers.

The stained glass ceiling is stunning and symbolises the sun. It illuminates the whole concert hall.

The centrepiece is surrounded by the faces of 40 singers. This concert hall is the only auditorium in Europe that is illuminated during daylight hours entirely by natural light.

There are over 2,000 sculpted roses throughout the music hall, which is why the building is often referred to as the ‘stone garden.’

Looking down to the stage, there is a bust of the composer Josef Anselm Clave to the left. He was a key figure in Catalan popular music and in the social drive behind choral singing. And to the right is a bust of Ludwigvan Beethoven. So they represent both folk and classical music.

There are also sculptures of winged horses in honour of Pegasus, a symbol of high-flying imagination.

On my way up to the top tier of the music hall, I visited  Lluis Millet Hall, which is a meeting area for music and society. It is made up of a number of mosaic columns, each one unique and representing nature.

The small hall itself contains several bronze busts of musicians related to the palace.

From the top tier, you had a great view out over the whole of the concert hall.

Even the stairways are very grand. The balustrades of the staircases, made from marble, are supported by unusual transparent yellow glass balusters.  The undersides of the staircases are covered in tiles.

I was really glad that I made the effort to visit this concert hall.

On my way back to the flat, I still had quite a bit of time before we were meeting for lunch, so I decided to take a look inside the cathedral – Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia.

The cathedral was built over 3 centuries, starting in 1298. It was built on the site of a former Romanesque chapel.

Inside, there are 25 side chapels.

The choir stalls are very regal and are where the Knights of the Golden Fleece gathered during the visit of Emperor Charles V of Germany in 1519. The coats of arms of the knights are pained on the backs of the choir seats.

There is also a pulpit, or high chair.

The highest point in the cathedral is 70m tall, up into the dome.

There are also some impressive stained glass windows.

The high altar is made of white marble and is around 3m long. Above the altar is the exhalation of the cross, which contains six angels and behind it,a seat carved from alabaster, dating back to the 14th century.

Beneath the high altar is the crypt of Saint Eulalia. Inside the crypt, there is a sarcophagus containing the remains of the Saint. Eulalia was a 13 year old Christian girl , a daughter of a noble family, who was persecuted by the Roman Emperor at the time who was trying to get rid of all Christians. Eulalia publicly confronted the governor over the persecution of Christians. The governor ordered Eulalia to be stripped and tortured – one torture for every year of her life. The tortures were: imprisonment in a tiny prison, being whipped, tearing her skin in strips, making her walk barefoot on burning embers, cutting off her breasts, rubbing her wounds with stones, branding her with cast iron, throwing boiling oil and molten.lead over her, subergong her in burning lime, locking her in a flea box, rolling her down a hill naked in a barrel full of knives, swords and glass and finally crucifying her. It is said that a snowstorm covered up her body. Her body was hidden in 713 during the Moorish invasion and only recovered in 878. In 1339, it was relocated to the sarcophagus in the crypt of the newly built Cathedral.

From the cathedral itself, you could walk out into the cloisters, a lovely and calm outside area with palm trees.

13 white geese are kept in this area, representing the 13 years that Saint Eulalia lived.

From the cathedral itself headed back to the apartment to finish packing and have a shower.

We were planning to go to the Colon Restaurant for lunch – you can’t book and have to queue. It is well known for its paella and is supposed to be the best in Barcelona. The restaurant was literally only a minute or twos walk from our front door, so Karen stood in the queue, and the rest of us quickly dropped the recycling rubbish off in the nearby recycling bins. The restaurant was due to open at 12:30pm, but it didn’t.

We were very hot waiting in the queue and Zoe wasn’t feeling great. At one point she fainted but luckily Mandy and I grabbed her and held her up while Karen managed to get a chair from the restaurant.

But we were one of the first in when it did open, and of course, we ordered paella. Zoe did go back to the apartment to have a lie down.  The paella was delicious and very filling.

For dessert, we shared Crema Catalan, which is similar to creme brulee. The difference is in the way it is cooked, and the Crema Catalan is flavoured with lemon zest and cinnamon.

Following lunch, we went back to the apartment to collect our bags as we were planning to go to the main street for a coffee before getting our taxi. The cleaners were due around 230pm. So we got all our bits together, left the keys inside, and walked down the stairs. It was then Zoe realised she’d left her bag with her passport in the flat. Luckily, after a little while, I was able to get hold of the owner, and she said the cleaners were on their way so they could let us back in. They arrived around 330pm, and then we were on our way to the airport.

Check-in and security went smoothly, and we had a little wander around the shops – I bought some vermouth to bring home. There was one food outlet that was completely automated – you put in your food order, and a robot arm picked it and dispensed it. I didn’t fancy it, personally.

And soon it was time to board and head home. We ended up having 3 seats between 2 of us, which is always good. As we came into Gatwick, the sun was setting.

We arrived a little bit earlier than scheduled and then caught the train into Redhill and a taxi from there back to Mandys. Karen set off home, but Zoe and I stayed the night, and I then dropped Zoe off on the way home to Langley the next day.

We were up slightly earlier than normal and headed down to the main road for breakfast at one of the cafés. The only one that was open was Flor de Norte, where we had eaten previously. I had iced coffee and a croissant.

We then got a taxi to Park Guell. Our entry time on the tickets was 11:30am but we arrived about an hour early – but luckily they let us in. We started at the top of the park – that way, we didn’t have to walk uphill in the heat.

The park is on the southern slope of the Turo del Carmel Hill. It is one of the largest green spaces in Barcelona, covering 17 hectares. The area open to tourists covers only a small part of the whole park. Gaudí was hired by Eusebi Guell to create a miniature city for the wealthy in 1900, but the project was abandoned in 1914 as the plots of land did not sell. Eusebi Güell died in 1918, and his heirs sold the park to the Barcelona Council. It became a public park in 1926. In 1984, Park Güell became a UNESCO World Heritage site for its historical, architectural and artistic uniqueness.

We started at the low viaduct. This system was built to capture and filter rainwater that is then collected in tanks.

We walked up to the middle viaduct where the columns look like natural caves. These viaducts act as buttresses and retain the wall for the hill.

And then we were up at the top viaduct with good views over the city.

Our next stop was Casa Trias. This house is located on one of the only two plots ever sold. It was built between 1903 – 1906 for Guell’s lawyer. It is still a private residence and owned by the same family. Initially, the plan was to build 60 luxury homes in the park. Each house was only to occupy one sixth of its plot, and the rest would be garden to ensure that nature was respected and preserved.

From here, we wandered down the steps towards Gaudi’s house.

The Gaudi house museum was the original show home and was not actually designed by Gaudí. It was designed by Francesc Betenguer i Mestres. Francesc was employed by Gaudí in his workshop for 27 years and was considered Gaudi’s right-hand man. He died in 1914.

Gaudí moved into the house in 1906 with his father and niece. His father died later that year, and his nice passed away in 1912. Gaudí continued living in the house, supported by the Carmelite nuns until just before his death. He moved into his workshop at the Sagrada Familia in late 1925.

The house is now a museum, featuring some of Gaudi’s creations.

Gaudí was a perfectionist and paid attention to detail. His designs evolved  over time, inspired by nature and leading to ergonomic designs.

From Gaudi’s house, we walked down a bit more, passing more artwork on the way.

And then we came to the centrepiece of the park – nature square. This is a huge terrace, surrounded on one side by the palm tree path.

Surrounding the square is an undulating bench decorated with a broken tile mosaic that looks a bit like a sea serpent. The design of the bench is such that it encourages social interaction.

This area was originally planned as an open-air theatre where shows could be watched from the surrounding terraces. Part of this square is dug into the rock, and the other part is supported by the columns in the hypostyle room. This area also doubles as a rainwater catchement area.

From the square, you could see Casa Larrard, a former mansion which, since 1931, has been a school. This house was already in situ when Guell bought the area, and he lived in it until his death.

You also got good views out over the main entrance of the park.

From the square, we walked through a passageway of twisted columns named the Laundrey Room Portico. It takes its name from one of the sculpted figures, as seen in the photo below. It looks like waves on top of slanted columns.

As we walked further, we saw a little bird in one of the holes in the wall.

And then we came to the Hypostyle Room. This has 86 columns supporting the square above and a beautiful tiled ceiling. It was originally intended as a market area. Some of the columns are inclined, which, once again, gives an undulating movement.

Then, we walked down the famous twin staircase past the 2.4 m long dragon / salamander mosaic sculpture. This is the most photographed image in the park. It was restored in 2007 but had one foot ‘bandaged’ when we saw it.

Further down is what looks like a serpents head and the emblem of Catalonia – the Senyera, a flag consisting of four red stripes on a yellow background.

And at the bottom of the staircase are some goblin like shapes.

Either side of the main entrance gates are the Porter’s lodge pavilions, otherwise known as ‘Hansel and Gretel’ houses. One of them was actually used as a porter lodge, with a waiting room and telephone booth, and is now a souvenir shop.

The other one is the porter’s residence, known as Casa del Guarda, and now houses a permanent exhibit of the Barcelona City History Museum.

This is a photo looking out on the square from inside the porter’s Lodge.

Shortly after leaving the park, we stopped for some cold drinks.

It was then a 20-minute walk to Casa Vicens, another of Gaudi’s buildings. This was the first important commission that Gaudi received, at age 30, and was created as a summer house for a stock market dealer and  broker. It was built between 1883 and 1885 and has an oriental moorish influence.It is structured on four levels or floors: a basement to be used as a wine cellar and storage room; two floors with living spaces, the first with a kitchen, dining room and various other rooms, and the second with the bedrooms; and the attic used for the staff quarters.

There are a lot of mosaic tiles, more straight lines than curved lines, tiles featuring local yellow flowers (carnations), wrought iron balconies and grilles, and wrought iron gates featuring palmetto palmetto leaves. The tiles have a modular measurement of 15 cm. The house was declared a world heritage UNESCO site in 2005.

We were all flagging a bit now, so got a taxi back to the marina. As we were all hungry, we stopped at a seafront restaurant for some lunch – mussels and fries and more tomato bread.

Following lunch, we walked back to the apartment, past a shop selling some interesting pastries.

We had a bit of downtime at the apartment before having showers and getting ready to head out.

It was a nice walk through the small streets again.

We passed the Basílica dels Sants Màrtirs Just i Pastor. The building of this church began in 1342, and it wasn’t completed until 1574. It was built on the site of what was a small roman temple or sacred site. Tradition has always associated the basilica with the meeting place of the first Christians and is believed to be Barcelona’s oldest church. The square in front of the church was used as a marketplace in the film Perfume.

We came across a tapas restaurant that we all liked the look of – Lonja Tapas. It was pretty empty as we were early by Spanish standard, it was only around 730pm.

After dinner, we were still a bit early for the Flamenco show, so we stopped in Placa de Jaume Sabarties. The back of the Picasso Museum is on this square. Jaume Sabartés was a lifelong friend and associate of Picasso, and the numerous pieces he contributed from his collection of Picasso’s work formed the kernel of the museum’s collection.

We had a variety of cocktails from Bubita Sangria Bar. I had a vermouth.

It was now time to head to the Flamenco show, we were only a 10 minute walk away.

The venue was quite small and felt very authentic. We had front row seats, which was great, as you could really see how their feet moved. It was a brilliant show, and surprisingly, the main dancer was male, which I wasn’t expecting.

I can’t say I particularly enjoyed the singing, especially as I didn’t really understand what they were singing about, but the dancing was amazing.

On the way home, we passed Santa Maria del Mar church again, but this time from the front.

We stopped off in Plaça d’Emili Vilanova for a nightcap. This square is named after the writer Emili Vilanova, who wrote a number of books and plays between 1868 and 1905. Whilst we were sitting there, a group of children were setting off fireworks. It was quite worrying as some of them were very young and the older children were holding the fireworks in their hands – and sometimes the fireworks bounced off the surrounding buildings. Guests at other tables also seemed to be concerned. We later learnt that 24 June is the feast of St John the Baptist, which is why they were celebrating.

We walked through Sant Jaume Square again and past a horror museum.

And then it was time for a peppermint tea and bed.

After a late lunch, we wandered down to the main road, Passeig de Colon, to get a taxi to the Sagrada Familia. On the taxi drive we passed some interesting buildings.

We arrived at the Sagrada Familia a little bit early as we had booked tickets for 5pm. We were just going to sit down for a drink when we noticed that Hard Rock Cafe was right opposite us – so of course I had to go in and buy a t-shirt.

As we sat in the square awaiting our time slot, we took some photos.

We got chatting to the ladies who were sitting behind us, they had already been inside. They took a photo of us, too.

And then it was time to go in. The Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia was Gaudi’s passion, and the details are amazing. The temple was commissioned by a conservative society that wished to build a temple as atonement for the city’s sins of modernity. Gaudí took over from the original architect, Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lorenzo, in 1883 and worked on its construction until his death in 1926. The temple Gaudí created was 95m long and 60m wide and able to seat over 13,000 people, with a central tower 172.5m above the transept. There would also be an additional 17 towers of 100m or more, representing the 12 Apostles, the Virgin Mary, the four Evangelists, and Jesus Christ. At Guadi’s death, only the crypt, the apse walls, one portal, and one tower had been completed.

As you walk into the building, you can see the Nativity Facade. This facade was completed before 1935 when work was halted due to the Spanish Civil War. Many of the plans for the temple were destroyed during this war. At the top of this Facade is a green Cyprus tree, providing refuge to white doves of peace.

The inside is just as dramatic. The plan is that of a Latin cross with five aisles. The ceiling is stunning and designed to look like trees and branches.

The nave with the stained glass windows was brilliant. As we went late afternoon, the sun was shining in through the orange and yellow windows, rather than the blue and green ones.

We walked through to the apse, the central vault of which is 60m high.  An organ was installed in 2010 and has 1,492 pipes.

None of the interior surfaces are flat – they are made up of abstract shapes and smooth curves.

We had booked to go up the Passion tower, which has the towers of the apostles James, Bartholamew, Thomas and Philip surrounding it. We went to queue for the lift. As we went to queue for the lift, there was a very old wooden door.

The lift took us up to the top of Philip tower, we then walked across to Thomas tower and took in the views before walking down.

From the Passion Facade, you could look out over some of the lower spires of the temple. These have chalacises with bunches of grapes and sheaves of wheat on top of them.

There were also other shapes and mosaics dotted around. And a shiny tower.

The top of the towers representing the Apostles have communion hosts on top of them.

As we walked down, you could take photos outside of the ‘windows’. The one below has the Torre Glories in the background. This is a 38-story cucumber shaped building, mainly housing offices, but with a viewing platform on the top floors. The lift covers 30 floors in 34 seconds.

From the viewing bridge between the towers, you could see the unfinished Gloria Facade. The central spire representing Jesus will have a cross at the top and will be 172.5m tall in total. The central spire is surrounded by towers representing the 4 Evangelists, which have their traditional sculptures on the top of the towers – winged bull for St Luke, winged man for St Matthew, winged lion for St Mark and an eagle for St John. The completion of the Jesus Christ spire will make the Sagrada Familia the tallest church in the world.

From the viewing bridge, you could get some nice views over the city, one with Montjuic Hill in the background.

I took some moe photos of the unfinished Gloria Facade as we walked down. This facade will be the largest of the three and will represent ascension to God but will also depict various scenes such as the seven deadly sins and the seven virtues.

This is the glory facade from the inside. This facade will be the main entrance to the building once it is completed.

Initially, the spiral staircase we walked down felt quite safe. But after a while, it became very narrow, and one side was completely open.

Back on firm footing, I took some more photos of the inside of the building.

We walked around to the crypt, which is the oldest part of the building and  is where Gaudí is buried. Gaudí was hit by a tram on 7 June 1926 and died 3 days later in hospital. He never married or had children and devoted his life to his work. It is also believed that he may have been colourblind.

We walked out via the Passion Facade. Here, the doors bear the inscription of the “Our Father” in Catalan.

The Passion Facade is based on Christ’s last days and his death and resurrection. It was officially completed in 2018. The main series of sculptures  include the Last Supper, the stations of the cross, and Christ’s burial. It is harsh and has lots of straight lines, resembling the bones of a skeleton and is intended to represent the sins of man.

At the front of this facade is a sculpture of Jesus being whipped.

There is a very old building right next to the church, which i think could have been Gaudi’s workshop.

As we walked away from the building, I took a few more photos. From this angle, you could just see the star at the top of the Virgin Mary Tower. This was completed in 2023.

The building of Sagrada Familia initially relied solely on private donations. Even today, it does not receive any funding from government or official church sources, but the ticket sales help to fund the work. It was consecrated as a church in 2010.

As we walked away from the church, we came across some street art portraying Gaudí himself.

We decided to go and visit Gaudi’s other buildings in the area and on the way we passed a beautiful neogothic church – Sant Francesc de Sales. This building used to be a convent housing Salesian nuns, but they left in 1936. It was originally built between 1877 and 1885 and was later converted into a parish church.

We also walked past the Palau Montaner, which is one of the few remaining mansions in this area. It now houses the central government delegation in Barcelona.

We passed a couple of other nice buildings, but I don’t know what they were.

And, at last, we reached Gaudi’s La Pedra, or Casa Mila. This building has 33 balconies and was built between 1906 and 1912 as a combined apartment and office block. The name La Pedra means ‘the quarry’ and reflects the uneven grey stone of the building. Mila is the name of the businessman who commissioned the building.

The outside looks like a cliff face sculpted by waves and wind, and the wrought iron balconies look like seaweed washed up on the shore. Gaudí reused waste glass and ceramics in decorating parts of the building.

There were some artistic lampposts on the street, too, that looked like they had been inspired by Gaudí.

The next Gaudí building we visited was Casa Batlló, which was built between 1904 and 1906. Again, there are very few straight lines and is inspired by marine life with blue, mauve and green tiles.

The balconies look like the bony jaws of some strange animal, and the nickname for the building is Casa dels ossos – the house of bones.

We were quite tired, so headed back to the marina via taxi. We saw the El Cap de Barcelona sculpture again. This was designed by an American artist and was designed for the 1992 Olympic games. It is 15m tall and looks different when viewed from different angles.

As we headed home, we walked past a shop selling Picasso art on clothes, etc. One of the paintings was  a copy of one of his first paintings using cubism – Les Demoiselles d’Avignon,”

We ended up back at Placa Reial and stopped at L’ambos Mundos for dinner.

And then it was home to bed.

We had lots of fruit salad and yoghurt left over, so we started the day with breakfast in the apartment.

We planned to do a bit of shopping, so we decided to head over to the El Born and Ribera area. On the way, we walked through Sant Jaume Square again and past the city hall and the Generalitat de Catalunya.

We also walked under Bishops Bridge again.

And past the amazing Cathedral.

We were all a little bit peckish, so we stopped at Cafe d’en Victor first for coffee and churros.

I also took another photo of the Roman Temple.

After refreshments, we headed off shopping, down the side streets, to El Born.

We passed a small chapel, the Capella d’en Marcús. This was built in 1166 and is one of the oldest chapels in Barcelona. It served as a refuge for travellers and also as a hospital. It was built on the ancient Roman road that led to France. The apse of the church was removed in the 18th century.

The trees in some of the streets were huge and went from one side of the road to the other.

After a bit more walking, we came across the Arc de Triomf. This is a memorial arch and was built as the main access gate for the 1888 Barcelona World Fair which was held in the Parc de la Ciutadella. The two pillars of the arch feature bats carved in stone, which were the emblem of King Jaume I, who ruled over a period of prosperity in Barcelona. At the top of the arch, the shields of the 49 Spanish provinces are presided over by the coat of arms of the city of Barcelona.

Along the side of the avenue are the courts of justice and some beautiful lampposts.

There is a monument at the end of the avenue, Monument a Rius i Taulet. This is dedicated to Francisco de Paula Rius y Taulet, who was a Spanish lawyer and politician. He was mayor of Barcelona in four different non-consecutive periods during the Restoration between 1858 and 1889. He promoted and supported the 1888 Universal Exposition. He died in 1890, leaving the government in heavy debt.

As we walked back to the shopping area, we passed the Laboratori de Natura. This is part of the Museum of Natural Sciences and was founded in 1882.

We also passed the Hivernacle, a greenhouse which is part of the Parc de la Ciutadella. It is an example of the iron architecture that took root in Barcelona in the late nineteenth century.

We continued through the side streets of the Ribera area and picked up a few more souvenirs.

We came across the Santa Maria del Mar church. The current church was built between 1329 and 1383, although it is believed that a church stood here as far back as 998 . It is built in the gothic style that was popular at the time and local parishioners helped build it. The total width of the church is 100 medieval feet, which is also equal to the maximum height of the building.

We had been on the search for somewhere to watch some authentic Flamenco dancing, and we came across a lovely place that had Flamenco shows – which we then booked for the following evening.

We saw a large sculpture, which was the entrance to the Moco museum, an innovative art centre. We didn’t go in.

As we headed towards home, we came across the lliures, feministes, i rebels mural. This was created by 8M, a feminist organisation who marched on 8th March, International Women’s Day, and whose motto is to be free, alive, feminist, combative, and rebellious. It features feminist rebels.

There was another mural next to it with dates and years, but I couldn’t find any information on it.

We passed a shop that had lots of different well-known people, squatting to take a dump, as small toys that you could buy.

We almost missed the Sinagoga Shlomo ben Adret, which is believed to be the oldest synagouge in Spain and one of the oldest in Europe, dating back to the 3rd century. Shlomo ben Adret was the officiating rabbi of this synagogue for about 50 years during the late 13th century. The synagouge is not used for daily prayers but is used to celebrate festivities. It was hard to get a photo because of the narrow streets.

We walked back through Placa Reial to get home and drop off our shopping.

Back at the apartment, we had some salad as a late lunch, which was very tasty before setting off for our visit to the Sagrada Familia.

We had a pretty lazy morning with a breakfast of fruit and yoghurt in the apartment. We bought some coffee as the apartment has a coffee machine – but it just tasted like flavoured water.

We all got ready for a beach day with our towels, books, and water.

On the way down to the Marina, we walked past the Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy. Our Lady of Mercy has been the patron saint of the city of Barcelona since 1687. The history of the Basilica dates back to medieval times when the inhabitants of Barcelona asked the Virgin Mary to protect them from the plague and pirates. Legend has it that the Virgin appeared to a merchant, Sant Pere Nolasc, and asked him to build a church in her honour.

Opposite the church is the Neptune Fountain, which originally stood in Bacelona harbour in 1826. In 1912, the fountain was moved to the Labrial Gardens on Montjuïc where it stayed until 1975. In 1983, after eight years in storage, it was finally transferred to its current location.

A lot of the pavements in Barcelona have a flower on them. The “flower of Barcelona” refers to a distinctive, four-petal flower-shaped design on a type of hydraulic cement tile called a “panot”. These tiles have become a symbol of the city. While there are other panot designs, the flower panot is the most well-known and iconic. 

Before we went to the beach, we stopped for a soft drink at one of the cafes so we could use their toilets.

At the beach, we hired two umbrellas and four sunbeds, which the guys installed for us – it was quite windy, so we didn’t want the umbrellas to blow away.

Barcelonetta Beach is one of the oldest and most traditional beaches in Barcelona and was artificially created as part of the city’s preparations for the 1992 Olympic Games. it is 1.2km long.

Mandy and I went for a swim. The water was still quite cold, about 14⁰.

It was a very relaxing day, swimming and sunbathing. The beach was very busy and there were a few people who kept us entertained.

A lady came around offering us a massage, and Mandy took her up on the offer.

After a little more swimming and sunbathing, it was time for a beer.

We stayed on the beach until late afternoon and then wandered back up to the marina. By this time, we were all quite hungry, so we stopped at a restaurant – La Gavina for some food and drinks. For starters we had tuna tartare salad and a prawn and avocado salad. And for mains, I  had a delicious gilthead bream. The food was amazing.

After all that delicious food, we didn’t feel like doing much, so we just moved to a table outside for drinks. We sat and chatted for a few more hours.

On the way home, we walked past the sculptures again.

Back at the apartment we had some drinks and we had our own little party until 1am.

The photo below is the view from our balcony. Most of the shutters down all of the streets have graffiti or street art on them.

We didn’t set any alarms and just got up when we were all awake.

We didn’t really have any food for breakfast in the apartment, so we headed out in the search for food. Before we set off, we took some more photos outside the apartment.

We walked through Placa de George Orwell. The writer Eric Arthur Blair lived in Barcelona between 1936 and 1937. It contains a surrealist monument.

We continued walking down to the main road, Passage de Colon, and stopped at a cafe for some breakfast. I had churros and chocolate with an iced coffee, and it was delicious.

Whilst we were eating breakfast, someone had a seizure on the street, not that far from where we were sitting, so it became quite busy with ambulances and paramedics.

There were some modern sculptures along the main street.

We crossed over a strange looking bridge to get over to the port side – we named it tge cling film bridge.

Just over the bridge, there was a Japanese fair going on. We decided not to go in and walked around the harbour.

You could look back to the Capitania General d’Espanya. This used to be a convent but has been used by the military since 1843. It is the residence and workplace of the captains general of Catalonia.

There was also a huge building housing the museum of the history of Catalonia. The museum is based in what used to be old trading warehouses and the sole building of Barcelona’s old industrial port that is still standing.

From here, we walked around the harbour to San Sebastian Tower, which is where the cable car goes from.  The tower is 78.4m tall. We all purchased return tickets and then got the lift to the top of the tower. We didn’t have to wait too long for the cable car to arrive.

The cable car took us from Port Vuel up to Miramar on Montjuic, a distance of around 1.3km. According to the sign in the car, it can hold 20 people, but we had 15 in ours, and that seemed quite crowded. The journey takes around 7 minutes.

We jostled around a bit to get some good photos out of the windows.

The cable car was designed in 1926 but not completed until 1931. During the Civil War, the cable car was closed, the cables were removed, and the towers became a strategic place for the defence of the port of Barcelona.

At the top, we decided to have a drink on the terrace of the cafeteria Miramar.

We had a wander round the Costa I Llobera Gardens. There are various statues in the gardens and gravel paths to walk along.

The trees are also a bit strange, with the roots looking almost like lava formations.

We walked around the gardens for a bit and then decided to walk to get the next cable car all the way to the top of Montjuic. It was a gradual hill up to the Teleferic Montjuic where we caught the next cable car.

This cable car climbs 84m along a cable line of 752m. It has a stop in the middle, which you can get off at on the way down to see the views (we didn’t).

At the top of the hill is Montjuic castle, which sits 173m above sea level. This is an old military fortress, with roots dating back to 1640. The original fort was demolished in 1751, and the current structure was erected.

The castle is infamous in Catalan history because of its role in the civil war from 1936 to 1939, when both sides of the conflict imprisoned, tortured, and shot political prisoners at Montjuic.

We didn’t want to pay to get into the castle, so we had a wander round at the top.

The castle was fortified with 120 cannons, some of which you can still see today.

We then caught the cable car back down to the start, over the park.

By this time, we were all a bit hungry, so we stopped off at Salt Terrace for some food – salad and chips. This cafe overlooks the Olympic swimming and diving pools, which were built for the 1992 Olympic games.

The Olympic stadium was not too far away, so we decided to pay it a visit.

Barcelona put in several bids to host the Olympics in the 1920s. The stadium was originally built in 1927 and hosted the 1929 World Fair. It was thought that the 1936 Olympics would be held in Barcelona, but it ended up being hosted by Berlin. And in 1936 the Spanish civil war started, and the stadium became a shelter for refugees.

The stadium was almost demolished in the 1970s but ended up being completely renovated for the 1992 games. It was renamed as the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys after the president of the Catalan government, who was executed by the François regime by firing squad at Montjuic castle.

The Olympic stadium looks very impressive from the front.

On the other side of the stadium is Palau Sant Jordi, which is an indoor sporting arena and designed by a Japanese architect.

The views out over Placa d’Europa were also very impressive.

Our next stop was the National Art Museum of Catalonia, but on the way, we came across the Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia monument. Francesc Ferrer was a freethinker and founder of the modern school. In 1909, he was shot in Montjuic after being convicted without any evidence by a military court as the instigator of Tragic Week – a violent uprising that took place  between 26 July to 1 August 1909. The week was marked by widespread destruction of religious buildings and symbols and ultimately resulted in a brutal crackdown by the state. 

The building that houses the National Art Museum of Catalan (NAMC) is really beautiful. It is housed in the Palau Nacional, a huge Italian-style building dating to 1929.

The Palau Nacional is a huge building, over 50,000 square metres, and has a great dome inspired by St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City in Rome, flanked by two smaller domes, and four towers modelled on Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, stand at the corners of Oval Hall.

The views down into the city were amazing.

Unfortunately, the Montjuic Fountain was not working as renovations were being carried out. When it does work, it sprays 700 gallons of water a second through 3620 jets to create its effect. The highest water spout is 170 feet.

Just by the Fountain, there were some traditional dancers dancing a Catalan dance known as Sardana. The dance is a symbol of unity and pride.

As we walked back into the city centre, we walked past the Venitian Towers. The towers are each 47m high and were built in 1929. They serve an ornamental function and mark the entrance to the exhibition district. There seemed to be an exhibition of old buses going on whilst we were there.

Placa d’Espanya is one of the city’s biggest squares and a junction of several major thoroughfares. The square was built on a site that had been previously used for public hangings.

Arenas de Barcelona was a former bullring. It was built in 1900 in the Moorish Revival style and has been converted into a shopping centre.

We walked down quite a main avenue and saw some parakeets, they are actually quite common in Barcelona.

We walked past Sant Antoni Market. The market was built in 1882 and was the first market built outside of the city walls. It is a very distinctive iron structure and still serves as a retail food market.

We stopped at a supermarket on the way home and picked up some fruit and yoghurt.

As we came out, we were just in front of the Sant Llàtzer church. This is a Romanesque chapel that was part of a hospital located in this area between the 12th and 15th centuries. Since 1997, it has been open to the neighbourhood and continues to provide support and protection for the poor.

At home, we all had showers and got ready to go out. We took a wander too Placa Sant Jaume, which is the city’s political centre and contains the Catalonia City Hall and the Palau de la Generalitat.

There was a summer Solstice festival going on in the square when we arrived, which involved people dressed up as Kings and Queens in very tall costumes.

Barcelona city hall originates from the medieval ages, where it also served as the governing body of the city. It was originally built between 1399 and 1402.

Opposite the city hall is the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya. It houses the offices of the Presidency of the Generalitat de Catalunya and is the seat of government. It is one of the few buildings of medieval origin in Europe that still functions as a seat of government and houses the institution that originally built it. 132 presidents have governed from here.

We walked around a bit further up and passed under Bishops Bridge. This Gothic-style marble bridge links the Palace of the Generalitat with the Casa de los Canónigos, crossing the narrow Carrer del Bisbe. Although it looks like something straight out of medieval times, it was built in 1928. According to local lore, there is a curse placed on this bridge in the form of a skull piercing a dagger.

As we walked on a bit further, we passed the remains of the Roman Temple, which dates from the early 2nd century, the golden age of the Roman Empire.

There were some interesting cannabis shops along the street.

We continued walking and passed a pretty square and Barcelona Cathedral – Cathedral of Santa Eulalia. I will write more about the cathedral later.

As we headed back to the square, we passed the Monument als Herois de 1809. This monument to the martyrs of independence protrays five martyrs who were executed following an attempted uprising against the French troops during the occupation of Barcelona in 1808.

After this, we headed back towards where we lived as we were hoping to have paella at Colon Restuarant, but there was a massive queue, and you can’t book in advance. So we went to Placa Reial, our favourite square, for a drink. Whilst we were there, we watched some young guys do a gymnastic performance.

We tried the Colon Restuarant again, but it was still an hour long queue, so we opted to eat at Ocana instead. This is an inclusive bar and restaurant and the maitre d’s were amazing.

I had a black rice paella, made with squid ink, and the others had seafood paella. It was all delicious.

We paid a visit to the toilets which had a nice view over the square.

Mandy and Zoe headed home, but Karen and I decided to have a nightcap at Bar 7, which is just over the road from where we live. It wasn’t that busy, and we got chatting to a guy from Argentina as we watched his bike while he went to the toilet.

After a couple of rum and cokes, we went home to bed.

I was in Birmingham for work on Wednesday and Thursday, so on my way down to Mandys, I picked Zoe up. Zoe kindly fed me, and I met her daughters, Millie and Nicola.

It was an easy drive down to Redhill, where Karen was already with Mandy. We chatted for a while before heading to bed.

It was an early start, with our alarms going off around 530am. The taxi picked us up around 620am, I had a last-minute panic as I couldn’t find my phone charger, but it was packed in my suitcase.

Check-in went smoothly – we had 2 hold bags between us. We then headed to the Breakfast Club for some breakfast.

While we were eating, I had a notification that our flight was delayed until 9:50am, originally 9:10am. It then was further delayed until 10:30 and then 11:20. We were all really tired and not looking forward to a long delay. But when we looked at the fight information board, it was saying to go to airline information. After a bit of walking around, we found the information place, and there were a few people asking about the Barcelona flight. Apparently, it was leaving on time, and we had to go to the gate – it was all very confusing. Especially as they had 2 flights with the same number on the flight information board – one saying go to desk and one saying delayed until 9:50am.

In the end, we left about an hour later than originally planned. I think we all had a little snooze on the plane, and then we had a small prosecco. Unfortunately, the prosecco was a bit warm, and they didn’t have any ice as the plane hadn’t been catered as it wasn’t expecting to fly.

At the airport the bags came through really quickly and we had arranged for a taxi to pick us up. On the drive in, we could see Montjuic hill and the castle.

Our apartment is down a small pedestrian street, not far from Las Ramblas, the main shopping street in Barcelona. It looks like a bit of a dodgy area, and our taxi driver did point out a club nearby that, apparently, is full of youngsters taking drugs! The photo below is our front door.

Once we had unpacked, we walked a very short distance to Placa Reial, a lively square near to our apartment. The original building on the site was the Capuchin convent of Santa Madona, which was demolished in 1835.

The square’s lampposts were designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí.

We sat down at a Tapas place and had some very nice tapas with beer and white sangria.

After a relaxing lunch, we wandered down Las Ramblas. This is the most famous street in Barcelona. The street itself is flanked by plane trees, and the middle section is a pedestrian boulevard.

The name La Rambla comes from a seasonal stream that used to run through the street.

We passed the theatre – Teatre Lice –  which is the oldest theatre in the city. It opened here in 1847 and functions as an opera house.

Quite close by was an unusual umbrella building with a lovely dragon light.

As we continued up the street, we came across Mercat St Josef La Boqueria.

This is a very large fresh produce market. The building it is housed in was built between 1840 and 1914 and is on the site of a former monastery. There is believed to have been a market on this spot since 1217. The iron gate was added in 1914.

There were some lovely food stalls. If we hadn’t just eaten, I would’ve  bought something.

There were also a lot of stalls down the side of the avenue – some selling some very unusual products.

After wandering around the market for a bit, we decided to turn off the main street into the side streets of Barri Gotic.

We walked through the Sant Josef Oriol Square. This square is named after the priest Josef Oriol, who was born in Barcelona in 1650, and he dedicated his life to looking after the sick and poor. The area where the square is now used to be one of the churches’ cemeteries. The photo is of the Palau Fivaller, which is now an Institite of Art , and dates back to the 16th century.

As we walked through the little streets, we came across a Christmas shop.

On our way home, we stopped at a small local supermarket and picked up some wine, beer, and other essentials.

Back at the apartment, we had showers and a bit of downtime. Mandy wasn’t feeling great and made the decision not to come out with us in the evening.

A couple of Karen’s friends were in Barcelona for a short while before going on a cruise, so we arranged to meet them at their hotel as it had a rooftop bar.

On the way to theirs, we walked past Palau Guell, which is a mansion designed by Gaudí. It was built between 1886 and 1888 and was originally designed for entertaining high society guests. It is very ornate and has iron gates at the front.

The Barcelo Raval hotel has an amazing 360⁰ rooftop bar, so after a quick hello to Jules and Jay, I walked around, looking at the amazing views.

The bar was really nice and we sat and chatted as we watched the sun go down.

The hotel opened in 2008 and has since become a prominent feature of the Raval landscape, contributing to the area’s rebranding and revitalization.

Back in the lobby, we took a couple more photos.

From the hotel, we walked into the gothic area and came across a nice looking bar. We missed the entrance and walked down a side street to try and find it. In that instance, Jay had his watch stolen – it was a Rolex and worth a lot of money. It was shocking how quickly it happened. All I saw was someone duck in among our group and then run off. Karen tried to grab the guy and managed to get hold of his t-shirt, but he was too strong and ran off. It all happened in a matter of seconds. We were all a bit shaken up and went into the bar, which was actually really nice.

After one drink, Jules and Jay decided to go back to their hotel, and we wanted to get some food, it was around 10pm. So we walked back to Placa Reial, holding on very tightly to our bags.

We decided to try Bar Tomato and had some delicious tomato bread with a sharing platter of cheeses and meats and a small Spanish omlette.

After dinner, we headed home to bed.

Today was our last full day in Sri Lanka, so we had planned to take it easy and not do too much.

We had a full buffet breakfast again. I tried a plain hopper, which is a bit like a crepe. It came with a very spicy accompaniment, which I didn’t eat.

As the weather was looking ok, we decided to head to the beach. A lot of the hotels in Colombo also own a stretch of beach, and they offer a free shuttle service to and from the hotel to the beach. The shuttle bus dropped us off on the roadside, and we had to walk across the railway lines to get to the beach.

The beach area was very quiet – probably because it had been raining and was looking like rain again. It was very pretty, though.

Mandy and I went for a swim. The lifeguard came down to check we were ok, which was quite funny as we are both good swimmers.

We stayed for a little bit longer, relaxing on the sunbeds, but after about an hour, we decided to head back to the hotel. There was a spider in the shuttle bus back – I was keeping an eye on it as it was right above me.

We made it safely back to the hotel and decided to make use of the swimming pool. We did some more posey pictures.

In the afternoon we had a drink – I went for a chocolate milkshake.

In the afternoon we all packed our suitcases, ready to travel home tomorrow. As we were having a very lazy day, and as it was pouring with rain, we decided to eat dinner at the hotel. I had a mixed seafood grill. It had lobster, prawn, squid, cuttlefish and other white fish and it was ok, but nothing spectacular.

It was a lovely evening but quite sad too as we were back to England in the morning.

After dinner, we headed to bed as we were up early in the morning, as we had a taxi booked at 8am.

We had breakfast at Colombo airport, along with a bottle of fizz. We also did a bit of shopping as we wanted to spend the last of our Srilankan rupees. The first flight to Doha seemed to go quite quickly. I watched the ‘Boys on the Boat’ film, which was really good.

We had a couple of hours stop over in Doha, which is a huge airport.

We had a cocktail at the only bar we could find.

The second flight did seem to drag a bit, but I watched a couple of other films and time passed. I also slept for an hour or so.  Some of the views out of the window were lovely.

We arrived back at Heathrow at about 10pm. Mandy had booked a taxi to take us back to hers and after a bit of searching we managed to find it. We were back at Mandys and in bed by midnight. Karen and Zoe weren’t so lucky as their taxi was late, and then they got caught up in a traffic jam leaving the airport.

Sri Lanka is a beautiful country, the food is delicious and the people are lovely.

We didn’t get up too early and met at breakfast. It was a buffet style breakfast, and they had a huge range of dishes, including traditional Srilankan and western dishes. It was almost too much to choose from.

After breakfast, we went upstairs to try out the pool. It is a lovely place and looks great on a photo.

The view on the other side wasn’t as pretty, though.

After spending some time sunning ourselves and chatting to a couple of the other guests, it looked like the rain was coming in.

But luckily the rain seemed to miss us.

It was a very relaxing morning, just what we needed after climbing Adam’s Peak, as all our legs were a bit sore.

For lunch, we just had some unhealthy bar snacks.

In the afternoon, we had booked onto the complimentary city tour provided by the hotel. So, after a quick change of clothes, we met in the hotel lobby and joined some other hotel guests on the city tour.  It had started to rain again, but luckily we were on a bus.

The first building we passed was the ‘Lotus pond’. This is a performing arts centre and theatres – both an indoor and open air theatre. The construction of the building began in 2006 and took four years to complete.

Our first stop was the Colombo National Museum, which was first established on 1 January 1877.

The first thing you see on entering the museum is a Buddha statue from Anuradhapura from the year 800AD. The statue depicts wisdom and boundless compassion.

There was also a statue of the Goddess Durga from the 9th – 10th century. Goddess Durga is a major hindu goddess associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars.

We learnt a little about the history of Sri Lanka. The Dutch settled in Sri Lanka during a long period of war, originally with the Portuguese (1638-1658) and then with the Rajashima II (1658-1688).  Initially, the Dutch were interested in the cinnamon trade, but they soon wanted to take over colonial power. In 1762, there was a rebellion,supported by the King of Kandy, and war broke out. In 1765, the Dutch destroyed and looted the palace of Kandy.

We walked past an earthen canoe burial dating back to 360 BC. For this type of burial, a pit is dug, and the walls are built with clay and then burnt. The body and burial goods are placed in the burial chamber and then ritually set on fire. Finally, the burial chamber is filled and covered with burnt lumps of clay.

We saw a standing statue of Buddha. This is a replica statue of an original held in the Marble Temple in Bangkok. Buddhism was introduced to SriLanka in the 3rd century BC. Originally, the followers were made up of two sections – forest dwellers and city dwellers. Over a period of time, large temples were built in the cities, and gradually, all villages had a Buddhist temple. With the bringing of the Dacred Tooth Relic to Sri Lanka in the 4th century BC, the practice of ritual worship was enhanced. Buddhism is the most popular religion in Sri Lanka.

An interesting item that we saw was the Royal Seat. This was donated to the King of Ceylon, by the Dutch, in 1693. Six kings used this seat, including the last King of Sri Lanka, King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe. He was captured by English soldiers in 1815, and the seat and other items were sent to England. The seat was sent back to Sri Lanka by King George V in 1934. The sword of state, sceptre, and other items were returned in 1936 by King Edward VIII.

We saw a few other interesting items.

After around 40 minutes in the museum, we hopped back on the bus and drove to our next stop – Independence Square.

It commemorates Sri Lanka gaining its independence from the British Empire in 1948. The exact location is where Prince Henry, the Duke of Gloucester, opened Sri Lanka’s first parliament on a special podium, bringing an end to almost five centuries of colonial rule and marking the beginning of Sri Lanka’s self-rule. The Independence Memorial Hall sits on the square and used to be home to the two houses of Parliament- the Senate of Ceylon and the House of Representatives of Ceylon.

At the entrance to the building is an imposing statue of D.S. Senanayake, Sri Lanka’s first prime minister, surrounded by four stone lions with protruding eyes.

The open sided hall was inspired by the “Magul Maduwa,” the royal court of the King of Kandy, the last kingdom on the island. It was at the Magul Maduwa that the Kandyan chieftains handed over the island’s sovereignty to the British throne in 1815. 

Ceylon was an independent country in the Commonwealth of Nations from 1948 to 1972. In 1972, it became a Republic within the Commonwealth and changed its name to Sri Lanka. In July 1960, Ceylon had the first female elected head of government in the world.

Opposite was another beautiful building which I later learnt was a shopping centre.

We then got back on the bus to visit another attraction. On the way, we passed the town hall. The foundation stone for the town hall was laid on 24 May 1924, and the building was completed in 1928.

The town hall is opposite Viharamahadevi Park, which is the oldest and largest park in Colombo. The park was originally calked Victoria Park after Queen Victoria but changed to Viharamahadevi Park in 1958, named after the mother of one of the Srilankan Kings. During WWII, it was occupied by the British Army but opened to the public again in 1951. There is a huge Buddha statue in the park – this replaced the previous statue of Queen Victoria.

Our penultimate stop was the Gangaramaya Temple. Which was completed in the late 19th century. Whilst this was a temple, it also felt a bit like an antique store as there were just so many statues and other items to see.

This is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Colombo, dating back to the 19th century. It is also a learning centre and cultural centre and houses a museum and library. There was a huge amount to see.

This statue seemed to be one of the favourites amongst the visitors.

The temple also has a Bodhi tree, grown from the tree under which Buddha gained enlightenment.

Just as I was making my way out, I noticed another temple area. This is the main sanctuary is a soothing room decorated in soft yellowish hues, housing a massive Buddha statue in meditation pose flanked by statuettes of heavenly creatures. The ceilings are decorated with vibrant pastel paintings depicting Buddhist stories, and the columns are  covered with traditional Sri Lankan art.

I also made friends with the monk’s do. He was really fluffy and soft and very friendly.

And then we were off to our last stop, Galle Face Green. This is an urban park in Colombo and stretches for 500m along the coastline.

The promenade was completed in 1859, and the area used to be used for horse racing, known as the Colpetty Race Course, and golf as it was a larger area than it is today. It is a popular area for families to come to and despite the weather, it was quite busy.

We walked down to the end of the pier.

The promenade was initially laid out by the Dutch for a military purpose. They used it as a means to enable their cannons a strategic line of fire against the Portuguese. A couple of canons are still on site today.

There was also what looked like a war memorial statue in the park.

Opposite the park was a very modern but interesting building.

And we could also see the Lotus Tower. This is just over 351m high and is the tallest self- supported structure in South Asia. The lotus symbolizes purity within Srilankan culture and is also said to symbolize the country’s flourishing development.  There is an observation deck at the top.

After a stroll in the park, we headed back to the hotel and got ready to go out.

We went to Floatz pub to try out their cocktails during happy hour.

This wasn’t our favourite place, so we headed out to the Sky Lounge at the Kingsbury Hotel. On the way, we had a tuk tuk blow dry!

The views from the Sky Lounge were really good.

We had some tasty cocktails at the rooftop bar.

And then we went back down to the steak restaurant for dinner. Three of us ordered Wagyu rib eye steak. I’ve not had Wagyu steak before, but it was absolutely delicious and just melted in your mouth.

The waiter had a massive salt and pepper pot.

There was live music in the restaurant which was really nice to listen to, and at times sing along to. We had a really lovely meal accompanied by a couple of bottles of Malbec. At the end, we thanked the chef.

Then it was time to head home.

We managed to fit all four of us plus the driver in 1 tuk tuk, I’m not quite sure how.

But we made it home in one piece and headed to bed.

We had all set our alarms for 145am, so we were up and ready to leave around 215am.

It was still dark, but luckily, the trail up Adam’s Peak is well lit, and there are a lot of stalls on the way.

At the start of the trail is an arch, known as  Makara Torana or Dragons Arch, where you are encouraged to sign a book and leave a donation.

Some parts of the trail were very well lit!

Not long after we started walking, we were joined by 3 dogs, who ended up walking quite a long way with us.

The start of the trail is okay and pretty manageable. The steps are widely spaced out, and it feels quite easy. There are a lot of stalls, rest places, and shrines along the way, and as we were there in the pilgrimage season (during Poya days in December and May), it was all lit up. There were, though, more people coming down the mountain than going up it initially.

We stopped at one of the shrines, which hadn’t yet been fully completed. We were all blessed by a Buddhist Monk and received a thread bracelet for a small donation.

We picked up some more water and snacks on the way.

Although we had been walking for quite a while by now, the top of the peak still looked a long way off.

And the climb was beginning to get steeper. At this point, Zoe decided that she wouldn’t be able to make it to the top as she still wasn’t feeling that great and hadn’t eaten very much over the last couple of days. So she decided to have a little rest before heading back down.

The rest of us continued upwards. At one point, we came across what looked like spider webs on the side of the path. Apptently Buddha had torn his robe in this spot and he had stopped his climb until he was able to mend the loose strands of his robe so they would not get caught on the brushes and rocks along the way.  In order to commemorate that moment, pilgrims take a long white string from this spot and carry it along the railing until the entire string has been unwound and released. It has also been said that pilgrims drew string along the path to demarcate the pathway down the hill.

There were also areas where what looked like pieces of fabric were tied to a shrine.  It is said that these are tied as a prayer and for protection.

It seemed like we had been walking forever, trudging up the steps. What was amazing, though, was looking at some of the other people climbing up. Many of them were barefoot or just wearing flip flops. A number of them were quite elderly and were literally hauling themselves up each step or being supported by family members. It was quite humbling to see.

I saw the sign for just over 4000 steps and realised I still had another 1,400 to go!

As we got closer to the top, there were quite a few people resting and sleeping on the side of the steps. At one point, Karen got really bad cramps in her thighs and had to sit down to massage it out. The boy next to her suddenly woke up and Karen just said ‘hello’, it was a very funny moment.

After around 3 hours of climbing, we were almost at the top. You could hear the monks singing and chanting over the loudspeakers, and there were a lot more people around.

Adam’s Peak is 2,243m high with a total of 5,500 steps to climb up (and down again). It is also known as Sri Pada or Sacred Footprint. There is a 1.8m rock formation at the summit that is said by Buddhists to be the footprint of Buddha. Hindus believe it to be the footprint of Shiva and Muslims, and Christans believe it to be the footprint of Adam after he was ejected from the Garden of Eden or St. Thomas A shrine to Saman, a Buddhist deity charged with protecting the mountain top, can be found near the footprint.

Once you get to the top and the temple area, you have to remove your shoes. You are then allowed to walk through the temple and pay your respects. There are no photos allowed inside the temple, and this is strictly enforced.

It was quite cold at the top, so it wasn’t pleasant walking around barefoot. I also dug out my hat and jacket to wear. There were a lot of people at the top waiting for sunrise, and it was difficult to find a spot.

Unfortunately, the sunrise wasn’t particularly spectacular as it was very cloudy.

But we did get some great views of the clouds amongst the mountains.

After a while, we walked back down from the temple area and put our shoes back on. We were going to start going down a path when Karen suddenly realised it was the wrong path. This meant we had to take our shoes off again so we could walk across the temple area to the start of the correct path. But it also meant we got the chance to ring the bell at the top. Everyone rings it the number of times they have made the pilgrimage, so we all rang it once. It is also said to wake you up so you can complete your descent safely.

It was then time to start the descent, once we had put our shoes back on.

It was a lot busier going down, and quite a few people were also on their way up. The views out over the reservoir and mountains were stunning.

We passed some shrines that we hadn’t been able to see clearly on the way up.

At one point, we passed some ladies who were getting ready to go tea leaf picking. The traditional woven baskets have been replaced with lightweight bags to make it slightly easier for the women to carry them.

We also passed some monks who were on their way up to the top.

We took quite a few photos on the way down.

We also passed the spider web area again

As we descended, we came across Sama Chatiya, the World Peace Pagoda. This stupa was built by the famous Japanese Buddhist monk Ven Nichi Fuji in 1976 and is maintained by several Japanese monks.

We also saw a chipmunk and some monkeys on the trail.

Towards the end of the trail, you could look back and see how far we had climbed. It’s around a 7km hike each way.

Once at the bottom, we walked across the river. A lot of pilgrims bathe in the river washing themselves with lime to cleanse themselves before starting the pilgrimage.

We paid our respects at the Buddha statues at the end of the trail, too.

We were all knackered when we got back to the hotel. It had been a difficult climb and descent, and my legs were definitely shaking when I stood still.

After a much needed shower, we headed to breakfast, which was a mixture of delicious buttered chunky toast, flatbreads, fried eggs, and sauces.

Zoe told us that she had met up with one of the three dogs again on her way down the trail. It was like a furry spirit guide.

We had considered spending the rest of the day in Nallathanniya and perhaps doing a short trip to one of the waterfalls. But the weather forecast said rain so Terry kindly organised a driver to pick us up and take us to Colombo, our last stop on this trip. We packed up and left the Mango Tree Hotel.

It was another 4 hour drive, but definitely the right decision as when we arrived it was lovely and sunny.

We had booked at the Marino Beach Hotel, and it is beautiful.

After a change of clothes, we went upstairs to the rooftop pool and bar to have some cocktails.

The sunset was amazing.

We were all quite tired, so we decided to eat in one of the hotel restaurants. We chose the buffet style restaurant so we could try different dishes. There was a huge amount of choice of both traditional Srilankan dishes as well as more western style food.

Shortly after dinner we headed to bed.