Day 30 -Final Day Missions

After my blowout the previous day of having spent the majority of it feeling revolting and barely being able to get out of bed, it meant that my last day in Spain was to be manic fitting in all the last things I wanted to see. This meant I had to set off fairly early to a.) beat the heat and b.) have enough time to squeeze my two days worth of sight seeing into just one day.

First stop on my mission was Casa Batlló (House of Bones). The building was owned by Josep Batlló Casanovas and he originally commissioned Gaudi to demolish the building and construct a new one but he changed his mind, instead asking Gaudi to refurbish the existing structure that had been built in 1875-77. The rounded edges, glittering colours and delicate facade detailing makes for an impressive sight - although the trees on the footpath outside don't make for an impressive photograph of it unfortunately.

Next stop about 20mins walk on is the infamous La Sagrada Familia is probably Gaudi's most famous work on show in Barcelona. Gaudi worked on the enormous Roman Catholic church for 40 years, the last 15 years of his life completely dedicated to it, and it still isn't finished to this day. The cranes working on the amazing stone structure are a permanent fixture, at least until 2026, the date of its scheduled completion.

Nico and Kelly had recommended I check out the hospital just up the hill from the Familia so I headed up to Hospital de Sant Pau and it was certainly well worth it. The hospital was designed by the Catalan architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Definitely the most amazing hospital I've ever seen and probably will ever see!

The final Gaudi mission of my day was to visit Park Güell where Gaudi has really outdone himself by creating a huge garden complex boasting incredible stone structures, beautiful mosaic tiling pieces and interesting buildings. Due to my time constraints I did speed around the gardens a bit (despite the killer heat) but was I was in complete awe of the place the whole time. The thing that surprised me the most was how people don't recommend the park anywhere near as going to see Sagrada Familia where I felt the gardens were something so incredibly different and amazing they are certainly a must see in Bareclona and I was glad I'd managed to make my way there despite my previous days efforts.

After a morning of traipsing around the city in the intense heat it was time to head down to the beach to meet Nico and Kelly for a last tan top up and a last frolic in the sea before waving goodbye to Spain. Our afternoon was very enjoyable and we had one last fill of olives and cheese and tomato baguettes before we had to drag ourselves away from the sunshine and head off in order to make our flight.

Our last hours spent in Barcelona were spent sitting in the airport cheering for our new comrades as Spain thrashed Russia in the euro2008 quarter finals, enabling us to end what had been a fabulous holiday on a high even if we knew we were having to head back to London.