The Anniversary Waltz

Today is our 41st anniversary! A special day, but unfortunately Jeff has gotten a nasty cold and wanted to stay in bed and sleep. Realizing his last night I emailed a tour guide here and arranged to go on a morning tour in the Gothic Quarter and the Jewish museum. So I sadly left Jeff and set off to meet the guide and two other couples.

Francesca is an architect/guide who is very knowledgable about Barcelona and its Jewish history. We walked near the main Cathedral and found some walls created with Jewish grave stones and we could read the Hebrew inscriptions. We visited th Sinagoga Mayor which is now a museum. The site was found in the 1970's and became a landmark and opened to the public in 1997. Afterwards I went to a tea shop and then the City Museum. This building has elevators that take you several floors below ground to see excavated areas that you view from catwalks. So interesting.

I walked home to find Jeff up and dressed and feeling a little bit better. We had tickets to visit the Pedrera, a Gaudi designed apartment house, and we walked a few blocks to get there. Using their audio guides we saw the amazing rooftop the attic and a furnished apartment. Unbelievably we saw an old Trenton friend, Nancy Teich Frost while walking around. Such a small world.

We then stopped for some sangria and tapas and now we are back in the hotel to rest up for mañana.

Photos at a model of the Pedrera, the outside of the old synagogue, excavations at the City Museum and meeting our old pal, Nancy.

A Walk on the Wild Side

After our siesta we decided to walk the entire Ramblas and started out about 5 pm. We started out on the adjacent street Portal de l'Angel and found some crafter's booths. One guy had adorable Italian felt bags and I found one made to fit my iPad. It is purple and green, made just for me.

Next we walked through medieval streets that now house stores and cafes and then crossed back to the Ramblas at the flower market area. La Boqueria was a block down and it is a large food market with stalls selling everything from quails eggs to goat heads with the eyes intact. Fish, fruit and vegetables of every variety were displayed as well as chocolates and nuts...

The Liceu Opera house was next and then we saw Placa Reial to our left. It is a large square with palm trees and restaurants around the edges. There are two early Gaudi light posts in the center and a fountain. Going back to the Ramblas we crossed to the other side and found the Palau Guell, an apartment building by Gaudi, done in his early days.

We finally got to the bottom and the waterfront with the Columbus column. After taking some pictures we started to walk uphill and decided to eat back at Placa Reial. No amount of planning could have gotten us such an entertaining evening. We were seated at an outdoor cafe at a tiny table next to another couple. They immediately began a conversation and we sat there for a few hours enjoying the food and company. Jeff had paella and I had a terrific salad with avocado, smoked salmon and cheese. Sarah and Adrian are both British and have apartments in Barcelona. Such interesting people and we talked and talked. The funniest thing is she is a Tom Lehrer fan and we had fun talking about that and cars and lots more.

We finally left and continued our walk with a stop for gelato. Now we are ready for bed and another adventure tomorrow.

Unfinished Symphony

The second part of our tour was to the Sagrada Familia or Holy Family Church. Almost 100 years and still not completed. They hope to finish in 2026 to commemorate. 100 years after Gaudi's death.

The structure is amazing for the architecture all built with arches and no buttresses or support from the outside walls. There is no decoration or art inside, only stained glass windows and glass lights fashioned for each of the gospels. The altarpiece was bizarre looking like something from Cirque du Soleil. Jesus looks like he is about to leap upwards from the crucifix. The church will hold 10,000 and the choir loft 1200. The outside is truly amazing with stories and figures from the Bible. You could spend a long time looking and learning here. Good thing we came on a tour as the line to get in went around the block, but well worth the wait.

Sunday in the Park with George

Alright it isn't Sunday and there was no George, but you get the idea. This morning we took the Gaudi tour and discovered his genius. Our guide explained that everything came from nature and then we began to understand. All the supports for the roads are made to look like trees. The rooftop with seating is over what was to be a shopping area. This park was built to be a gated community, but only two homes were sold and it was a flop.

Today it is a public park and you walk the paths and marvel at the architecture and creativity.

Barcelona

Okay, I have been patiently waiting to use this song title from the show "Company" by Stephen Sondheim. We have arrived and it is another glorious day.

We loved our time share in Cambrils, but decided it was too far away from the action. So we left this morning and had a lovely breakfast in an outdoor cafe overlooking the sea right near our place. We are getting pretty good at ordering food and luckily I remembered huevos for eggs. I pointed to a picture of sunny side up and Jeff motioned for scrambled and we got exactly what we wanted.

We called a hotel and reserved a room and then set off. Jeff dropped me off at the hotel, Hotel Continental Palacete, and then he left for the airport to return the rental car. I unpacked and learned all about the hotel. We are in a great location just two blocks from the Placa de Catalunya which is the central square and main tourism office. The hotel is a former mansion built in the 1880's and looks like a mini Versailles. I'll attach a picture of the breakfast room with chandelier, mirrors and gold trim decorating the walls. Our room is comfy with enough storage space and a mini fridge and microwave. Best of all they have an all day buffet where you can get breakfast items and later salads and desserts. I just finished a frozen fake ice cream with chocolate sauce. And all the hot and cold drinks you want 24/7 without buying a soda card like on a cruise. Jeff just got back from the airport and we are sitting by an open window and relaxing with our free WiFi. Such a lovely place.

I ventured out to the tourism office to get us some tickets all by myself. I wasn't sure which way to turn, but got it right and had a nice walk. I arranged for a Gaudi tour tomorrow morning and got lots of information. Now we will take a siesta and then go out on the town later.

Just back from dinner and a pleasant stroll on the Ramblas. I thought the word came from the root ramble, but Jeff says it comes from the Arabic meaning stream where the sewerage ran through town. Ugh! Anyway we had a delightful dinner at a cozy, well decorated restaurant. I had a velvety mushroom soup with three fresh croutons made from sweet peppers and onions. My main course was a duck spring roll with a tiny salad. Jeff had a lamb shoulder that was a hunk 'o meat on the bone. He really enjoyed it. We rambled home and now we are playing/using our iPads and Jeff will read from his Kindle until we fall asleep. We are getting up early to take our Gaudi tour at 9.

The photos are Jeff in the fancy breakfast room and the main lobby with many steps. Spain has not heard about being handicapped accessible in public buildings.

Lemon Tree

Today we made delicious lemonade out of lemons. It is Sunday and the original plan was to train to Barcelona and start seeing the sights. I had a terrible night and barely slept and Jeff slept well. We did not set an alarm and when we woke it was 10:40. OMG! We had missed the train we wanted and decided to drive instead. Tried to park at the airport train station which is supposed to be free, but never found the lot. So we drove into Barcelona which is not a car friendly city.

There are wide boulevards with separate lanes for taxis and buses which is nice. We found the main TI, travel information center, and I ran in while Jeff waited. The representative made a few suggestions and told us parking is free on Sundays. Well that is wonderful, except we never saw one available spot. We drove all around and saw the Sagrada Familia and drove up into the hills to find Parc Guell. One street was so steep that Jeff said it was at least a 20% grade and he would believe 30%. All this time we are looking for parking and really wanting to eat. At last we gave up, but enjoyed the tour. We will return sans car and will spend three nights staying in the city which will be more convenient.

So now we are really hungry and decide to take a two lane highway home and see some small towns. What a beautiful ride through wine country with grape vines growing in fields and on terraced hills. Lots of neat old stone buildings and every tiny town had an impressive church with a high steeple.

We got near to Tarragona and drove along the Meditteranean coast with cute little beach towns. The poor weekenders going north were in huge traffic jams reminding us of Jersey shore traffic. We were famished by this time and stopped at a busy McDonalds that advertised WiFi. Our luck the WiFi was not working, but we had good chicken wraps. Lots of campgrounds along the beaches and we stopped in one town to admire a Roman funeral tower that has recently been named a UNESCO World Heritage site. Finally we reached Tarragona and walked along the promenade. The town is an old walled city with magnificent views of the sea and an old Roman amphitheater among other antiquities. Beautiful fountains and statues are everywhere. We got yummy gelati and sat at an outdoor cafe watching the world go by and thought how lucky we are to experience all of this. I think a lot of Spaniards come here, but few foreign travelers.

We continued back along the dark coast marveling at the massive industrial sites all aglow. Passing through the town of Salou we saw very upscale hotels, a conference center and golf course. Lots of pedestrian streets with restaurants and shopping. Finally got to Cambrils and rode along our waterfront and home about 8:00. We are tired and happy.

On the Road Again

This time we have crossed the "pond" to sunny Spain. We left home Friday to take a leisurely 2 pm flight to Atlanta and expected a two hour layover for our direct flight to Barcelona. Well, as good 'ol Will Shakespeare says, "Alls well that ends well." Our dear friends Jan and Harvey dropped us off and we found our fight was delayed and then delayed again so we started to get nervous. In the end the plane arrived and we sat on the runway for a while before taking off and finally got to Atlanta and our gate with about 25 minutes to catch our connection at a far away terminal. We ran through the airport like the old OJ Simpson commercials and arrived at the gate gasping for breath. Luckily the lovely gate agent where we got off our Savannah flight called and they were expecting us. We were the last people to board, a first for us as we are always careful to be way ahead of time. Our seats were waiting and we had a good flight and I was able to sleep after watching Mamma Mia for the upteenth time. Poor Jeff was not able to doze off.

We arrived in Barcelona and somehow our luggage was there too. Got our rental car to head south to our time share. Found the place after exploring two other towns by mistake and settled in for naps. Now we are kind of rested and ready to set out in search of food.

As we drove off to Tarragona we discovered that our little town of Cambrils is delightful. It is a seaside vacation area with lovely beaches and marinas. There is a wide promenade along the water with nice looking people strolling and bicycling. Across the street are lines of outdoor cafes with folks enjoying wine and tapas. We parked the car and walked until we found the most beautiful restaurant with lush geraniums in window boxes surrounding the eatery. We ordered a large bottle of water with ice after perusing the English menus. The Spaniards don't eat dinner until 8 pm or later, but we are Americans and ravenous. Large green olives were brought to the table and a yummy order of bread loaded with olive oil and a tomato spread. I had a fish called Hake covered with shrimps in a cream sauce. The shrimps were like butter and melted in my mouth. The dish was very good. Jeff had honeydew with jambon (prosciutto) and only ate half. He had spaghetti bolognese for the main event. He took the rest of the melon home for breakfast. Afterwards we strolled along the promenade watching the sun go down and admiring some interesting sculptures.

Tomorrow the touring will begin.

That's me on the promenade with an interesting sculpture that looks like two giant shrimp. The main drag with cafes lining the street. Jeff with his melon. The front of the sculpture showing a fisherman bring in the catch.