Upcoming Magnet/Travel Opportunities

Whenever we travel to new places, we purchase a souvenir magnet to go into my cubicle at work (see picture @ right). This wall is quite the ice breaker/conversation starter! Below are some upcoming travel/magnet gathering opportunities.

• Florida in December

• Las Vegas in February

• Possibly Spokane in March (but this one really doesn't count)

• Rome in July

• Mediterranean Cruise in July after Rome - See itinerary below
  

Newhart-Inspired Airline Travel

While I'm not going to mention any specific airline here, there was one that I traveled on that was, well, interesting. In fact, it was reminiscent of the Bob Newhart comedy bit called "Mrs. Grace L. Ferguson Airline and Storm Door Co."

http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=8214&start=0&sid=1665694e03f93c3b223ce38d321dc347

What's a Funicular?

A Funicular is a type of tram or railway that moves people from place to place. We rode one of these to travel up the hill to the buildings at Montserrat.

Sunday in Barcelona

Since it was Sunday, many museums & shops were closed. We visited the Barcelona Church when Mass was in session. We also walked around the Parc de la Ciutadella.

Then, we toured around the southern part of the city & saw some of the 1992 Olympic venues, museums, etc. The southern part of the city wasn't quite as scenic as the other parts were, but it was still a fun day.

On Monday, Lori flies home. Hopefully, her luggage will fly to the same destination this time. Joel will attend and present at the IT Forum conference.

Click on the picture below to view pictures and captions of today's activities.

Sunday in Barcelona

Wine, Mountain Tops and the Sea

We spent the day outside of Barcelona on a tour to a winery, a big mountain/basilica and a seashore party town.

Our first stop was at the Torres Winery. This is the largest winery in Spain. Not being real big wine drinkers, we'll say that this part of the tour was "educational."

After that, we drove to Montserrat. This is a mountain that is composed of magnificent rock formations. There are buildings about 5 kilometers up the mountain. These buildings include a monestary, museum, boys choir/music school, hotel and more. A train/tram took us up to the monestary. This was quite impressive!

An hour's drive from Montserrat was the town of Sitges. This is a resort town right on the Mediterranean Sea that is known for its restaurants, shops and night life (think Bourbon Street in New Orleans or Pleasure Island in WDW). This town was just "coming to life" as we were leaving at around 8pm tonight.

It was a long day & the weather was a bit cooler than it has been during our time here.

On a side note, language has not been an issue throughout our entire time in Spain. The local folks we have encountered has spoken some dilect of Spanish and English. Many have also spoken German.

Click on the picture below to view pictures and captions of some of today's activities.

Montserrat

Gaudi's Modernista-Style Projects

We spent today visiting two of Antoni Gaudi's Modernista-style "projects."

Sagrada Familia is a cathedral that Gaudi began in 1883 and has yet to be completed. There have been artists and construction workers working on this church since it began.

After touring the lower level of the church, we went up into one of the turrets (and no one got sick doing so this time). Click on the picture below to view the pictures and captions from our visit to Sagrada Familia.

Sagrada Familia

Parc Guell is where Gaudi lived and has tons of intricate mosaic sculptures. We did tons of walking today! Click on the picture below to view the pictures and captions from our visit to Parc Gruell.

Parc Guell

Meals in Barcelona

From our limited observations, the people in Barcelona seem to have the following eating patterns:

• Breakfast: Coffee & some form of carbs (pastries)
• Lunch: This is the "big" meal of the day. It's more of an event.
  
• Dinner: Light meal very late at night (tapas, etc.)

It's been challenging to find something other than pastries for breakfast here so far.

First Full Day in Barcelona

Click on the picture below to view photos and captions of our 1st full day in Barcelona. After you have clicked on the picture below, click on the Slideshow button to view the photos and captions.

First Day in Barcelona

Lost Luggage

After an initial delayed flight out of Seatac and racing through an airport to get to a connecting flight, we both finally made it to Barcelona. Unfortunately, my luggage decided to spend some extended time in Copenhagen.

The lost luggage will be delivered to the hotel (hopefully, our hotel) sometime tomorrow.

Fortunately, Sephora is international!

Hotel in Barcelona

There's less than a week to go before we travel to Barcelona!

Here is a link to the hotel we plan to stay at: http://www.hotelrivoliramblas.com/