Spain
Hi All,
Diving into the blogging world again. I hope everyone is doing well.
This first post is going to be our first few days in Spain. I wanted to go into a little more depth then Facebook really allows. Some of the photos will be repeats but there will be more detailed descriptions and more photos. I hope you enjoy.
We arrived in Barcelona at about 9am. That would be 12 midnight in Arizona. We had 17 hours of travel time. Since we did not get much sleep on the plane we had been awake for about 24 hours by the time we got into the city. We decided to just stay up as long as we could for the day and go to bed, hopefully waking up the next morning somewhat like normal.
After a few snafus with the car rental, (I do not even want to relive this, so I will not share it here) not finding parking, and not finding our host Daniel for a while, we decided to forgo the sightseeing we had planned and just walk to a tapas place Daniel recommended. By the way Daniel was an amazing guy, he missed some of his work day to meet us, help us find parking, and make sure we were settled in. We could not thank him enough. The atmosphere of the walk was amazing. Many of the streets were just big enough to get a car down one way and there were every imaginal specialty shop you could think of. They all seemed to be locally owned and sold everything. Meats, cheese, coffee, fruit, pharmacies, banks, etc..... I think this is something sorely missed in the states. Just about everything you need to survive is within walking distance from your home.
After a good dinner and the walk home, we had a fitful night of sleep. Imagine trying to go to sleep at 9am Flagstaff time, 6pm Barcelona time.
We got up early the next morning and decided to take the bus to Old Town Barcelona and do a walking tour described in the Lonely Planet guidebook. Since out grasp of the Spanish language left a lot to be desired it took us a bit of time to figure out the buses. We then just jumped in with both feet and headed off.
One of the things I was really excited about seeing was the Picasso Museum but when we got there the line was way down the block. After a few minutes of watching the line not move, we decided not to go in.
The streets were just beautiful.
One of our favorite places was La Catheral, this giant church in old town.
It was built in the 12th and 13th centuries and the architecture and art work was amazing.
This was one of my favorite statues. I have always had a special place in heart for Mary Magdalene. So many conflicting stories but the one I like the best and I think rings the most true is she was probably the wife of Jesus and because this made Jesus more human like the rest of us and less "God" like she was demonized and made into a whore.
One of the things that stuck me and this was true on most of the churches we went into was the many, many scenes of suffering and violence. It created an atmosphere of sadness or dread. Maybe this was the idea but it did not seem like a place I would want to go and give thanks.
We were able to go onto the roof, which provided many fantastic views of the city.
Another cool thing, Gargoyles on almost all the churches.
The gardens in the Cathedral were amazing.
The walk ended at Mercat de la Boqueria, a giant market and plaza filled with shop, stands, and restaurants of everything you and a tourist could think of having or buying.
We ended up backtracking our route a bit to a restaurant that had caught our eye. We ordered a liter of wine for around $3 and had a great meal.
Maybe a little too much wine. (Or maybe just enough) Thanks Janice.
Is that for me? Thanks my love.
On the way back to the bus we started seeing a big police presence. Lots of cops and police vans and cars. We had heard while you toured the market you should keep a very close eye on your wallet and purse because of the petty crime but the police presence seemed a bit excessive. As we turned the corner we got our answer. All around the bus stop there was a protest going on. Mostly young people wanting independence for Catalonia from Spain. It was kind of cool. We decided to walk right thru the middle.
We then made it home and fell into bed.
Next post will start out in Montserrant.
Geoff Stroud-Settles
Diving into the blogging world again. I hope everyone is doing well.
This first post is going to be our first few days in Spain. I wanted to go into a little more depth then Facebook really allows. Some of the photos will be repeats but there will be more detailed descriptions and more photos. I hope you enjoy.
We arrived in Barcelona at about 9am. That would be 12 midnight in Arizona. We had 17 hours of travel time. Since we did not get much sleep on the plane we had been awake for about 24 hours by the time we got into the city. We decided to just stay up as long as we could for the day and go to bed, hopefully waking up the next morning somewhat like normal.
After a few snafus with the car rental, (I do not even want to relive this, so I will not share it here) not finding parking, and not finding our host Daniel for a while, we decided to forgo the sightseeing we had planned and just walk to a tapas place Daniel recommended. By the way Daniel was an amazing guy, he missed some of his work day to meet us, help us find parking, and make sure we were settled in. We could not thank him enough. The atmosphere of the walk was amazing. Many of the streets were just big enough to get a car down one way and there were every imaginal specialty shop you could think of. They all seemed to be locally owned and sold everything. Meats, cheese, coffee, fruit, pharmacies, banks, etc..... I think this is something sorely missed in the states. Just about everything you need to survive is within walking distance from your home.
After a good dinner and the walk home, we had a fitful night of sleep. Imagine trying to go to sleep at 9am Flagstaff time, 6pm Barcelona time.
We got up early the next morning and decided to take the bus to Old Town Barcelona and do a walking tour described in the Lonely Planet guidebook. Since out grasp of the Spanish language left a lot to be desired it took us a bit of time to figure out the buses. We then just jumped in with both feet and headed off.
One of the things I was really excited about seeing was the Picasso Museum but when we got there the line was way down the block. After a few minutes of watching the line not move, we decided not to go in.
The streets were just beautiful.
One of our favorite places was La Catheral, this giant church in old town.
It was built in the 12th and 13th centuries and the architecture and art work was amazing.
This was one of my favorite statues. I have always had a special place in heart for Mary Magdalene. So many conflicting stories but the one I like the best and I think rings the most true is she was probably the wife of Jesus and because this made Jesus more human like the rest of us and less "God" like she was demonized and made into a whore.
One of the things that stuck me and this was true on most of the churches we went into was the many, many scenes of suffering and violence. It created an atmosphere of sadness or dread. Maybe this was the idea but it did not seem like a place I would want to go and give thanks.
We were able to go onto the roof, which provided many fantastic views of the city.
Another cool thing, Gargoyles on almost all the churches.
The gardens in the Cathedral were amazing.
The walk ended at Mercat de la Boqueria, a giant market and plaza filled with shop, stands, and restaurants of everything you and a tourist could think of having or buying.
We ended up backtracking our route a bit to a restaurant that had caught our eye. We ordered a liter of wine for around $3 and had a great meal.
Maybe a little too much wine. (Or maybe just enough) Thanks Janice.
Is that for me? Thanks my love.
On the way back to the bus we started seeing a big police presence. Lots of cops and police vans and cars. We had heard while you toured the market you should keep a very close eye on your wallet and purse because of the petty crime but the police presence seemed a bit excessive. As we turned the corner we got our answer. All around the bus stop there was a protest going on. Mostly young people wanting independence for Catalonia from Spain. It was kind of cool. We decided to walk right thru the middle.
We then made it home and fell into bed.
Next post will start out in Montserrant.
Geoff Stroud-Settles
Comments
Post a Comment