Today was our last full day in the city and the weather turned for the worst. It had been raining overnight, but was at least dry, if not that warm, when we set out of the Palau de Musica Catalana (the Palace of Catalan Music). We took a tour of this extremely ornate building.
When we reached the actual concert hall there was a full rehersal going on and the orchestra played the first movement of Rachmaninov's 2nd piano concerto while we sat and watched. We left early in the beginning of the 2nd movement to continue our tour. So we got a free concert included the price of our entry ticket.
After this we walked up Las Ramblas and Passeig de Gracia (the main shopping areas) to Casa Mila. This is a Gaudi designed apartment building that is also known as La Pedrada. While we were out on the rooftop of the building (which is at multiple different levels and covered in steps) it started to rain. The rooftop is closed when it rains so we were lucky to see it.
After this we walked, in the rain, back down to the seafront and had a late afternoon meal at a nice seafood restaurant. By the time we'd finished eating the weather had not improved and we were feeling cold and damp from all the walking in the rain that we'd done earlier. So we decided to take a cab back to the hotel and spend the evening warming up while we packed for our trip to the airport early tomorrow morning.
Our week in Barcelona has been lovely and just the right amount of time to get around everything we wanted to see without being totally exhausted.
Stay tuned for a couple more blog entries while I meet up with friends in London.
