The first evening we walked out onto the beach. They had these long rock piers where there were fishermen
The great thing about getting your luggage lost is buying new clothes. Luckily there was an H&M across the street from our hotel
Walking back from the beach I tried out some slow shutter speed
These cute kids saw me taking a picture and posed for me
Tapas- delicious, interesting food. I loved the Spanish tortilla's which are more like cornmeal and egg quiche and they have all kinds of stuff in them
I've never had a sink that I could brush my teeth and watch my toes wiggle at the same time. This was a Marriott
Our hotel overlooked this vast area of empty buildings to the left and you can see the beach to the right. There was so much fog it was hard to see the water
The next two dasy we took the hop on/ hop off bus and stopped where we wanted. That is one of our favorite ways to tour in any major city
The first stop was Gaudi's Familia Sagrada still under construction. It was his life's work
I had to pick up a Spanish fan
We took a funicular up to Mount Tibidabo. We had a great lunch there with an amazing view. You can see Familia Sagrado in the distance
Spanish Tile
Some of the most unique windows I have ever seen on a building
Another of Gaudi's buildings
The main square
Barcelona has a beautiful marina and beach front area
These are the empty building below our hotel window. One tour guide told me the government built them and they were a huge waste and not used for anything now.
Our hotel had an interesting roof top pool
This was better pizza than I had in Rome
There were lots of pedestrian streets all over with shops in the bottom and apartments above.
The Barcelona Cathedral is Gothic
We went inside on Sunday while they were having services. It's gorgeous
They had modern art all over the city
Even the graffiti was beautifully done
The west side of Barcelona
Overlooking the harbor. We really should be taking a Mediterranean cruise but alas, David can't spare the time from work
We took a tram up to the top of Montjuic
This is Barcelona's formidable fort- Castel de Montjuic
This is my favorite- Boys can't resist the big guns!
Overlooking the Mediterranean Sea
I love the new HDR feature on my Mark III
Lots of tourists here. The soccer stadium
Palau de Nacional or National Palace
An old bull figting ring they have turned into shopping. I guess there are still bull fights in Madrid but they are banned in Barcelona
Lots of bikes but mostly motor bikes
We paid big money to go see Tablao- supposedly the best Flamenco show in Spain. The buffet was Catalan food and it was really good
It was well worth the money
The dancers were amazing! The crowd is small so we got front row seating
Absolutely fabulous
The next day I took a 3 country trip while David was at the conference. It went to Spain, France and Andorra
First we stopped at the medieval town of Baga in Spain
It was wonderful
The poppies were out. It reminded me of Denmark but there weren't quite as many
Then we drive into Southern France
We visited the Fort of Mont Louis but they wouldn't let us in because it's a working military fort so I took pictures of the horses
From the fort area looking into Mont Louis
It seemed to also be medieval. This was the church
Driving through Spain
Coming into Andorra, a country I don't remember hearing about, but it is a small country between France and Spain
It's high in the Pyrenees Mountains and relatively isolated. It is a very small country- only about 180 square miles. It's a cheap place to shop for the French and the Spanish and so is thriving on tourism
Some of our group went shopping while the rest of us drove up the mountain to a beautiful lake. Andorra is independent but shared by France and Spain. One year they pay taxes to France and the next year to Spain. France takes care of their military needs and Spain other needs.
It reminded my a little of driving the Amalfi Coast
We stopped at a little restaurant by the lake
It was called "Lady of the Lake". And then it took us about 4 hours to get back to Barcelona because we got stuck at a gas station who's computers were down. I really enjoyed the tour though. I got to know everyone pretty well and it was a long day but a nice one
On the last day we took a tour which included a train ride up to Montserrat which means serrated mountain
We had some great views of the city below
There was a cute little girl sitting across from us taking pictures as we went up the mountain
Once at the top its a whole different world. It was originally a monastery that was raised when Napoleon came through as he was trying to destroy the culture
I thought this sculpture of Patron St. George fitting since I was born in St. George
Looking at the East end of the of the courtyard of Montserrat
On the West end they have the Benedictine Abbey, Santa Maria de Montserrat. Montserrat is now host to Europe's oldest children's choirs, La Escolania de Montserrat.
Inside is the "Black Virgin". Its an important pilgrimage site for Spain and people come from all over and wait in line to touch the Virgin. It was about an hour wait when we were there and so we opted out of that one.
Instead we took a hike on a trail that had some great views of the buildings
The end of this trail
Montserrat
David was freaking out right about now, but I don't have any issues with heights anymore. At least when I am not worried about little kids
There was wild Jupiter's Beard growing everywhere. It was awesome!
I bought some Montserrat cheese
You can actually drive all the way up and some people did
The scenery was awe inspiring
The last thing we did was visit La Boqueria which is the market in the middle of Barcelona on Las Ramblas
The had fresh fruit drinks. I tried the strawberry mango
Once I got home we feasted on the cheese I brought home from Montserrat and Andorra's famous cheese Caprice des Dieux
