{"id":1076,"date":"2025-07-09T07:41:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T07:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/?p=1076"},"modified":"2025-07-09T07:41:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T07:41:15","slug":"croissants-cathedrals-catalan-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/2025\/07\/09\/croissants-cathedrals-catalan-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Croissants, Cathedrals & Catalan Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After a quick coffee and croissant on-the-go we made our way down to Sagrada Familia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the moment it first comes into view is a special one. To be honest trying to put into words the beauty and majesty of this building is not going to do it any justice so I am not going to try. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were guided around the church by a passionate Carmen who was able to not only guide us through the physical elements of the church but give us insight as to what this building means to those that call Barcelona their home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though we had booked the first tour of the day (always the way to go) by the time we were able to pull ourselves away, peckishness had set in. So we made our way to Mercat de la Boqueria. As crazy busy as it was, and as touristy it has apparently become, it was a worthwhile experience and we were able to taste various local delicacies as we navigated the many aisles of the market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a short walk down Las Ramblas and another museum visit we made our way back to our hotel for our now regularly scheduled siesta before making our way down to Placa de la Merce where we met our guide from Eating Europe Food Tours, Sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sky took us on an amazing walk through the Gothic Quarter, El borne and Barcelonetta Districts all the while stopping and tasting the local cuisine. Is there a better way to spend 3 hours getting to understand history and culture of a city? Highly recommended, and Sky’s blend of knowledge and genuine enthusiasm made it special. We were especially proud of our mastery of drinking out of a traditional Catalan porr\u00f3n. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As much as we would have loved to continue the evening, a full day and equally full bellies, meant that after a short walk around the harbour we made our back to our hotel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another day we will remember for a long time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Arriving at Sagrada Familia <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The view towards the altar <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Sensory overload. More interior views <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Light is an integral part part of the design<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Our guide, Carmen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The reconstructed school for the original construction worker’s children<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Sampling food at Mercat de la Boqueria <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
We did not embarrass ourselves and kept our clothes dry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Mastering drinking for a porron<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
About to dig into a traditional bombeta<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Come around for a braai sometime and we’ll explain…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Our awesome guide, Sky<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
On our way home after another great day <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a quick coffee and croissant on-the-go we made our way down to Sagrada Familia.  Much like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the moment it first comes into view is a special one. To be honest trying to put into words the beauty and majesty of this building is not going to do it any […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1080,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9,91,6],"tags":[101,102,97],"class_list":["post-1076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royandnikki","category-spain","category-travelogues","tag-barcelona","tag-eating-europe","tag-spain"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_3155-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Ocy4-hm","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1110,"url":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/2025\/07\/11\/voulez-view\/","url_meta":{"origin":1076,"position":0},"title":"Voulez-View","author":"Roy","date":"10 months ago","format":false,"excerpt":"A slow morning was necessary and a little sleep-in was just what the doctor ordered.\u00a0 With virtually nothing planned today, we went through things still on the list to do and decided to visit\u00a0 Montjuic.\u00a0 We landed up walking our way up the little mountain-hill after Google Maps let us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Roy & Nikki"","block_context":{"text":"Roy & Nikki","link":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/category\/travelogues\/royandnikki\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_3429-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_3429-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_3429-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_3429-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1094,"url":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/2025\/07\/10\/goodies-gaudi-and-a-grand-finale\/","url_meta":{"origin":1076,"position":1},"title":"Goodies, Gaudi and a Grand Finale","author":"Roy","date":"10 months ago","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning was spent transferring weight. From the bank account into our luggage.\u00a0 We made our way to Placa de Catalunya where after avoiding the pigeons (we both had bad\/good luck with them in Amsterdam), Nikki partook in some retail therapy (I also had to get a few necessities).\u00a0 In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Roy & Nikki"","block_context":{"text":"Roy & Nikki","link":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/category\/travelogues\/royandnikki\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_3315-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_3315-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_3315-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_3315-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1066,"url":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/2025\/07\/08\/a-ferry-happy-birthday\/","url_meta":{"origin":1076,"position":2},"title":"A Ferry Happy Birthday","author":"Roy","date":"10 months ago","format":false,"excerpt":"Another early start today! We had a ferry to catch from Mallorca to Barcelona - another new experience for us. Despite being a long journey, we were comfortable in our pullman seats and it went remarkably quicker than expected. Barcelona immediately had an appeal which excited me(us). We navigated our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Roy & Nikki"","block_context":{"text":"Roy & Nikki","link":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/category\/travelogues\/royandnikki\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_3105-2-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_3105-2-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_3105-2-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_3105-2-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1130,"url":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/2025\/07\/12\/adios-barcelona\/","url_meta":{"origin":1076,"position":3},"title":"Adi\u00f3s Barcelona","author":"Roy","date":"10 months ago","format":false,"excerpt":"Today was a farewell to Barcelona. Our train was only to leave late in the afternoon so we spent the morning down at Barcelonetta beach getting every last minute of our time in this fantastic city.\u00a0 Our train trip to Madrid literally whizzed by, at times at 300km\/h.\u00a0 Straight away\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Roy & Nikki"","block_context":{"text":"Roy & Nikki","link":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/category\/travelogues\/royandnikki\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_3544-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_3544-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_3544-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_3544-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1003,"url":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/2025\/07\/04\/test\/","url_meta":{"origin":1076,"position":4},"title":"A whole new language","author":"Roy","date":"10 months ago","format":false,"excerpt":"Today was a travel day. Those always start with at least a touch of dread. Making our way to the airport nice and early meant no stress, even after we hit a small road(rail)block. As much as we thought we were prepared for the Mallorcan heatwave leaving shelter of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Amsterdam"","block_context":{"text":"Amsterdam","link":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/category\/travelogues\/royandnikki\/amsterdam\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_2853-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_2853-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_2853-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_2853-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1188,"url":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/2025\/07\/17\/porto-in-a-day-challenge-accepted\/","url_meta":{"origin":1076,"position":5},"title":"Porto in a Day? Challenge Accepted!","author":"Roy","date":"10 months ago","format":false,"excerpt":"Today was our one and only day in Porto. So we set out relatively early this morning to maximise our time here.\u00a0 After a quick breakfast we made our way to Livraria Lello bookstore; one of the world's most beautiful bookstores and possibly an inspiration for JK Rowling when writing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Portugal"","block_context":{"text":"Portugal","link":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/category\/travelogues\/royandnikki\/portugal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_4030-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_4030-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_4030-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_4030-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1076"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1092,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1076\/revisions\/1092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}