Barcelona

[SandiF]

I'm back home after spending the past 3 and half weeks in Barcelona. I had a great time... took lots of pics... ate some of the best food every day... ran most days... made 3 business contracts while there... made love every night... drank wine every night... stayed up 'til 3am most nights... canceled segue to Paris and Istanbul after much deliberation and so much more.

Life is about enjoying the things that you love and enjoying it with the people you love. Will try to post pics...

[Peasie]

Re: Barcelona

[kia027]

Re: Barcelona



cant wait to see pictures

[Nunya]

Re: Barcelona

YES!!!!!

[Jazz]

Re: Barcelona

[Cultcha]

Re: Barcelona

Glad to hear it was a great adventure.

Yes. pics please!!!

[SandiF]

Re: Barcelona

I'm having a love affair with Spain the country. I've made 4 trips to various areas of Spain in the past 2 years and have not ruled out a return trip to Spain. Barcelona is Catalunya (and not Spain). You will hear this sentiment echoed throughout Barcelona as the city strive to separate its culture through its history, its language, art, and architecture. The city is much different from Madrid and Malaga. Very, very diverse as it is a melting pot of various ethnic groups. Migrants from the mighty African continent, India, Pakistan, Turkey and the middle east have made up the cultural mix of people that I see in Barcelona. It is a very easy to navigate city, so similar to NYC with an underground subway system, buses that run on time and you can easily (almost) walk Barcelona. We stayed in the tourist area and 2 blocks from Las Ramblas and this made getting around Barcelona touristy and non-tourist areas very easy. If Spain is in a recession it is certainly not shown in Barcelona with its high-end shops, the gastronomy at the world class restaurants are some of the best and being there you can tell it is a high (class) destination city.

It was early Saturday morning, a date which I can no longer remember I arrived at the airport in Barcelona. It took forever to find my luggage and I made my way through the arrival gate. My travel partner flight had already arrived, so I knew the wait time would not be too long. At long last, it was hugs and cheek kisses. You look great! You have lost weight. Your hair... wow... I love it! You are getting grey. I swear you look younger each time I see you! The smiles, twinkles in the eyes and laughter were all the same. The pleasures of seeing a dear friend in a fabulous city and we had lots of catching up to do.

Here are some pics from Barcelona

La Sagrada Familia is Barcelona's most recognized Catholic church that is still under construction 129 yrs after construction started.



That's me... (strangers getting a photo opt)


The line of people waiting to get in to the cathedral was way too long. We settled with viewing it from the outside. We met a group of Jamaican women right at this point...they were from NY and NJ on a cruise ship tour. Stopped and chatted with them for a while.

[SandiF]

Re: Barcelona

Gaudi's museum Casa Mila, better known as La Pedrera was another stop and a tourist trap. I wasted 18 Euro to see the interior but the best view is from the outside. Gaudi's architectural design is all over Barcelona.



Walking along the streets of Barcelona .. the weather was perfect... nice warm sunshine.





I can't remember the name of this cathedral but it was on the route towards Las Ramblas

[SandiF]

Re: Barcelona

The bicycles on the rack are all rental bicycles. You can just put in your charge and take one for a ride around town and return it to any location where it is available. I think this is a trend across Europe.. rent a bicycle.


I was out for an afternoon walk on my own. This was taken at Las Rambla. Ramblas is a central street in Barcelona and it is very popular with tourist and locals. The street goes towards the waterfront on one end and stretches further for over 2 miles. On both sides of Ramblas are shops/stores from high-end stores to small shops. The monument ahead is that of Cristobal Columbus at Port Vell. Columbus is pointing in the direction of the Americas.



Here is a better pic


street sign for Pl. Portal de la Pau.This is no more than 1/4 mile from where I stayed


Lions adorn the monument


and the waterfront is there for ferry ride around the harbour. A huge mall towards one side and from there you can see the boats and expensive yachts anchored.
[img]http://friesonline.com/Barcelona2012...s/P1000354.jpg

People frolicking...mostly tourist and there were so many of them, including myself lol!

[SandiF]

Re: Barcelona

Barcelona is a city of beautiful people. Black, white, brown ... you name it. lol! The men are fine to look at and of course, I'm a woman, I cannot keep my eyes off a great looking man. The better looking women I saw there were definitely women of African ancestry. The city is very diverse and culturally mixed and I could not overlook the many pairing of olive-skinned men with their dark-skinned women. Beautiful indeed. Barcelona is also a popular vacation destination for people from the East, Middle-East and Africa, as it is with other Europeans, British and Americans.



Another Gaudi wonder.. the home or museum or garden (a mix of all) that is decorated with Gaudi's architectural and art work. Very beautiful place! A long climb to get there..and many steps to climb.


This is like looking at an adult's toy house but in some ways it was Gaudi's toy for his work.


I liked this ... kinda had similar idea for an unusual house.


See the woman with the basket on her head?


more of Gaudi's garden and museum

[SandiF]

Re: Barcelona

tomorrow i'll try to do more... gotta go now.

[Peasie]

Re: Barcelona

beautiful

[CeaBee]

Re: Barcelona

[Stormmey]

Re: Barcelona

Beautiful, just love Spanish Architecture.

[Jazz]

Re: Barcelona

WOW - I am already blown away!