Our Trip to Lisbon, Barcelona, the Cinque Terre, and Paris

My family and I recently returned from our 3 week trip to Europe. I want to thank everyone on the Forums that provided advice during my planning!
We began by flying into Lisbon June 12. We happened to arrive during the Santo Antonio Festival. It was an amazing experience to walk the streets of the Alfama, packed with people celebrating, drinking and eating. We then wandered over to the parade on Avenida da Liberdade. It was like nothing we've ever experienced. Lisbon is such a nice city, and we spent time walking the streets of the Baixa and Alfama. We enjoyed lunch one day at Time Out Market, which is great because you can try all sorts of local dishes from the various vendors, and went back for dinner another night. We went to Sintra to visit the castles and palace for a day trip, Very easy to catch the morning train at the Rossio station for the 40 minute ride to Sintra. We jumped on the bus that takes you directly up to the town and to the Palacio Nacional da Pena and took the tour through the castle. Luckily it was a sunny day so the views were amazing. after visiting the Quinta da Regaleira we went back to Sintra and enjoyed dinner on the outdoor patio of Cafe Paris, then returned to Lisbon. Our last night we celebrated our anniversary at Cervejaria Ramiro for a delicious seafood dinner. We highly recommend this restaurant for seafood!
We then flew to Barcelona on June 16 and spent two nights at the Catalonia Magdelenes Hotel in the Gothic Quarter. Such a nice hotel and the staff, Sergi and Adam, were extremely gracious and helpful. The location is perfect for exploring the Gothic Quarter and El Born neighborhoods, and it is only a block from the Palau de Musica, where we enjoyed a flamenco show! We walked to the Santa Catarina Market, which is a bit smaller but less crowded than the market on La Rambla. We booked a Tapas Tour through Food Lovers Tours in the El Poble Sec neighborhood, focused around Carrer de Blai which has many great tapas bars. Boris our guide was very knowledgable and we enjoyed it very much! After a couple of nights in the Gothic Quarter we moved to an apartment in the Gracia neighborhood. We would recommend renting from them (Bonavista Apartments) as we were on a smaller street with many bars and restaurants right outside our door! The interesting thing is that during the day all the bars and restaurants have their rollup doors closed, so you get a very distorted view of the neighborhood, but in the afternoon eveyrthing opens up, tables come out, and the whole place comes alive! We would recommend "Old Fashioned" cocktail bar right around the corner from our apartment. Very knowledgable bartenders and great drinks! And we walked the neighborhood, eating at several local places located around Plaza de la Vila de Gracia. There is a fantastic shaved ice place on the square, which came in handy to provide relief from the warm humid weather. The visit would not be complete without seeing La Sagrada Familia, and it exceeds expectations. Such a beautiful and magical place, and we were treated to the amazing glow of the afternoon sun as it streams through the west facing red, yellow, and orange glass on that side of the cathedral. Our last day in Barcelona we took the train to Sant Sadurni d'Anoia to taste cava at a place recommended by friends, Sola Raventos. What a special place and terrific cava!
I will finish up my report shortly where we travel to the Cinque Terre and Paris!