The last we heard from Shiv and Lil’s awesome European vacation, the ladies were lying on the grass singing in Madrid and partying in Barcelona devouring tapas and paella and downing sangria! They had also watched the dancing waters of the famous Magic Fountain, but the ladies still have so many more must-see items on their list. In part two of their European adventure, Shiv and Lil go searching for the Olympic Rings, enjoy an expensive but very entertaining flamenco show, discover an old village, and of course, almost miss their flight to Rome!

So far it seems the ladies have been able to fulfill only 1 of their 3 simple goals! Having a blast has been easy to do with an amazing city like Barcelona, but let’s hope they’ll be able to stick with their budget of $2500 each (very unlikely after this week’s revelations!) and of course arrive home safely.

Let’s hear from the ladies to learn more about their adventures in Barcelona!

Tuesday, September 20th 2011 – Barcelona, Spain

After our late and tiring night out the day before, Lil and I decided to keep our last full day in Barcelona less hectic, which of course didn’t happen. Once having eaten the yummy breakfast buffet at our hotel, we went to check out the Olympic Park on Montjuïc, a hill overlooking the entire city. Let me tell you Lil is obsessed with the Olympics! Having already visited the Vancouver and Seoul Olympic sites, this trip makes it her third of many more to come.

Barcelona hosted the summer Olympics in 1992 and though it is now 19 years later, the city has done a great job of keeping the area very clean and beautiful. Since Lil and I both enjoy walking, we decided to make the uphill trek to the Olympic Park. It was truly one of the most breathtaking and picturesque walks I have enjoyed in a really long time, with beautiful trees and magenta flowers lining the curved streets as we ascended to the main stadium.

I’m glad I gave in to Lil’s Olympic obsession as the architecture around the park was pretty impressive and the elevation gave us a stunning panoramic glimpse of the entire city – it was breathtaking! If you’re into museums, there is a museum on site with all the key highlights from the ‘92 games, but we decided to forego this as we rationalized that we could save the 4 Euros and Google the info instead.

Eventually, we made our way down the hill – gasping for air – in search of the Olympic Rings but seeing that we’re not that good with directions, we failed to find them. It was a great workout though except I had made the mistake of wearing flip flops – NOT a good idea! I would suggest wearing very comfy shoes if you plan on making this trip. Along our way down we took some shots of buildings that we thought might be important.

With aching feet and our minds on another must-see item, we then visited Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllò, and Casa Milà. They really are unique and beautiful pieces of architecture that I could look at for hours. Lil and I considered going into the Casa Milà for 15 Euros each but decided against it in the interest of our budget. Perhaps I won’t mention that I spent a little more than that on a great blouse near Plaça Catalunya – the city’s central square. A girl’s gotta have her priorities!