Showing posts with label Spain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spain. Show all posts

Sunday, June 12, 2022

{EUROPE} Days Three & Four - Barcelona Day 3 + AT SEA

 Yesterday morning we had a bit of time before making our way over to the ship, so we decided to head over to the Picasso Museum first thing, as it was a short walk through the Gothic Quarter from our hotel...


We were surprised to find out that one of the churches we saw yesterday, on our (4+ hour) walking tour, was literally right behind our hotel!

We were also surprised to find another protest as we walked through St. James Square...


Once we arrived at the museum...


we enjoyed learning about the early years of Pablo Picasso and his art beginnings, painting mostly animals and landscapes...


Picasso began this work, Science and Charity, when he was just 15 years old!


It was neat to see how his style changed and started to morph into what we recognize today...


B recognized a painting from his Spanish textbook...


and I just loved this one, maybe because I think I recognize that as the Columbus Monument near the port, here in Barcelona...


We loved the beautiful building the museum is in, as well!


After walking back to the hotel, we reunited with Grandma and caught a taxi over to the ship.

We were all relieved to board the ship, 


As we got settled, we noticed that our ship is also a television set, as they are currently filming a new reality tv show, The Real Love Boat!


We grabbed some lunch...


took some time to explore the ship...


and to take a dip in the pool...


and then, we set sail at 10:00pm, saying "Adios" to Barcelona!


Hope we'll get to visit once more someday!

Today was a much appreciated "At Sea" day, and we took it easy most of the day, catching some filming here and there!


We caught the evening production show, which is always so fun...


But, the biggest treat was watching the sun set as we sailed through the Straight of Gibraltar...


Looking forward to tomorrow!

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Friday, June 10, 2022

{EUROPE} Day Two - Barcelona Day 2

 After a great night's sleep, we got up fairly early and walked over to La Boqueria...

for breakfast first thing...


It was interesting to see the market "waking up" as the merchants were getting set up for the day...


After breakfast, we dropped Grandma back off at the hotel and did a little bit of exploring on the side streets nearby...


before heading back to rest for a short bit...

Mid morning, the kids and I met up with a guide for a (4+ hour) walking tour of much of the old city of Barcelona, including some of the city's most interesting sights...

We covered sooo much ground that I was having some serious flashbacks from L's and my (3.5 hour) walking tour of Brooklyn (via the Brooklyn Bridge) back in March...NOT kidding...

Some of the highlights included...

a glimpse of Palau Guell...


and another quick stroll through a much busier La Boqueria to see the most expensive thing in there...


That would be three hundred and ninety euros!

Evidently, these Japanese cows listen to classical music and are massaged daily. Really?!?!? 

Shocking, I know, but I was not tempted and remain a vegetarian, still... Ha!

From there, we strolled around the Gothic Quarter and visited some more interesting sights...

an orange tree growing across the square from the Church of Santa Maria del Pi...


and an ancient palm tree and historic fountain situated in the middle of Casa de I'Ardiaca...


Casa de I'Ardiaca has been home to Barcelona's Municipal Archive for over 100 years.

From there, we saw the remains of the Roman wall and aqueducts on our way to another part of town...


While in the Gothic Quarter, we stopped only to grab some juice at 4 Cats, a bar favorited by Pablo Picasso back in the day...


I actually asked why it wasn't called "Cuatro Gatos" before realizing that "Cats" doesn't refer to the animals, but a shortened version of "Catalans" and, along with "4", means "only a few people"... Ooops! I was all proud of my Spanish translation skills, too... Ha!


The juices were just okay, but the old windows were beautiful!


From there, we trucked it, literally (remember, it was a 4+ hour WALKING TOUR), over to another part of town called the Ensanche.

Here, we found Casa Batllo...


and Casa Mila...


both designed by Antoni Gaudi.

We grabbed lunch at a tapas restaurant before catching a taxi (thank goodness!) out to Park Guell...


where we found a home where Gaudi once lived...


several pretty flowers...


and other sights...


including a beautiful view of the port and the Mediterranean Sea in the distance...


the longest bench in the world...


and a cool lizard fountain...


From there, we took another taxi (little did I know that this experience would come in quite helpful a little later in the day - foreshadowing, maybe???) over to La Sagrada Familia...


All I can say is, "WOW"...

because...

1) Touring the inside of this church has been something I've wanted to do ever since my last visit to Barcelona 20+ years ago,

2) I had absolutely NO idea the amount of symbolism and intent that Gaudi used in his architecture.

and

3) Our guide left us here (like, that's it, he's outta here) to tour by ourselves...

I mean, we've been eating with this guy, walking (a lot) with this guy, taxiing with this guy...


Okay, so 3) turned out not to be a huge deal except that I thought he'd be taking us back to where we met him originally (quite close to our hotel)...

Not the case...

So, I asked him how exactly I should go to get back to where we needed to be. We technically could walk the 45ish minute, or so, route (but seriously, who has any energy left for that at this point???), but he, instead, mentioned something about the subway...

Bless it... I was confident we could figure it out, but was just a little rattled as I wasn't expecting him to leave us in this big ole Spanish city by ourselves... Ha!

So, we went in and toured...


I mean... That light streaming in through the windows and reflecting off of the ceiling... Just, wow!


So, so beautiful...

We (read that as "I") decided to take a taxi back to La Rambla, as I did not feel like trying to figure out the Barcelona subway system today, AND I was feeling pretty confident about my taxi skills after taking a couple during the day (along with our guide)!

We made it safely back to the hotel and my waiting mother, rested for just a bit (4+ hour walking tour, remember???), and headed out for dinner at a restaurant just around the corner from our hotel...


What a day!

More excitement on tap for tomorrow!

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