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Blogs from Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, Europe
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June 20th 2013
Off for the train to France and ultimately St Jean Pied de Port! 1st John 3:1 we must see what great love the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God's children - which is what we are! Grace and peace, Linda... read more
June 19th 2013
Today I plan to head out farther afield. I had my first French breakfast from the coffee shop EIGHTY STEPS (yes much less than China!) below us. Megan you would be proud of me - I had Cafe con Leche, but I did score it in decaf though. Drinkable - way more so than home. I got one of those flat donut peach from the fruit stand and then my con Leche and cròissant from the Cafe. The croissant was much better than home too. The roomie from Cali agrees that the reason Americans have a weight problem is the way we live and eat. Cesar and Yuni have 7 other apartments they do the B&B with. Cesar must go up and down all those stairs 10-20 times a day and probably several times in their ... read more
June 18th 2013
So much to tell - such an assault to the senses! So much so that now that I have had a chance to unwind and glass of wine in hand, it is rather overwhelming and a bit muddled in my mind. Let me just start with overall impressions. CHINA! OMG so much of this takes me back to China. From the train ride into town, to the way the apartments are built straight up in little squares around each other, to the 13 flights up to my B&B, to the lay out of the little apartment that I share with a father/son combo from California, pair of Italian girls I have only seen in passing, and the owner of the B&B and his French bullbog Pierre who wants to eat my good running socks. My expectation ... read more
June 18th 2013
More pics! The area around the cathedral is called el Gotic or someGotica. Don't know what the difference is - just as some call it a Rambla and some La Romblus??... read more
June 15th 2013
Today at Starbucks, I am Shaw. I dont even know if thats a name. Especially when the guy went to hand out my drink, he did a double take and frowned. I just shrugged like, yeah I guess thats me. Shaw. So today, due to the flat footwear and heavy camera bag Ive been lugging, i decided to go full tourista tackey and wear my running shoes. Yes thats right, like a downtown business gal on her lunch break. Who wears their running shoes thru Europe, yeah, this guy right here. I was slightly embarrassed for myself but my ankles couldn't take it anymore and I knew I'd be hiking a lot. First stop of the day, Montjuic. I take the funicular from Paral-lel station. From there you take the Cable car to the top where ... read more
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June 14th 2013
Well today at Starbucks, I am Charlet. I think I will keep going back to see who I am each day, its entertaining. So yesterday I shopped and spent some time in the barcelonetta district. Very cute area with narrow roads, and with its location so close to the ocean its got that beachy vacation vibe. I had gone down there to eat at Con Mojo, a place well known for their paella, but unfortunately it was full so I settled for another place that had a great patio on the beach. I had the pan con tomate, tomato rubbed bread. This was actully pretty good and the contrast of the crunchy crust with the tomato soaked bread was delish. I will come back to this neighbor hood when I come to the beach. So todays ... read more
June 12th 2013
Today I spent all of my time with Mr. Antoni Gaudi. Well obviously Mr. Gaudi is dead as he was hit by a tram in 1926, so figuratively speaking. I dedicated the day to seeing all his works of art finished and unfinished alike, and I started with Casa Batllo. But first a side note. A girl walks into a Starbucks and orders her iced chai latte. The woman asks her name, she says clearly"Shannon" as for some reason people tend to have issues with it. The woman doesn't hesitate and scribbles on the side of the cup. Well that was easy. Few minutes later a man is holding an iced chai latte yelling" Jennifer? Jennifer?" Seriously.... All the time..... But I digress, back to Casa Bastllo, is a "house" of sorts that Gaudi had designed, ... read more
June 10th 2013
Welcome to Barcelona! Once again I find myself tired, delirious and crampy after a long day of traveling. Especially on planes with crying children....I landed in Barcelona this morning and took the blue Aerobus into the city. for €5 its efficient and easy. I followed the directions I was given, (ok wait, I didn't follow them well, I got lost) to meet up with Matt, the owner of the apartment im renting. Matt is originally from Montreal which is handy as I could communicate with him and felt a bit more at ease. The apartment is small but perfect for one person. The bedroom has these great windows that give you 180 degree views and lets in a lot of light. The kitchen is functional with dishwasher and clothes washer. But the best part of ... read more
June 10th 2013
Barcelona day 3 OMG! Carmen nearly got arrested but more of that later.It was nice to sleep till late today, especially since it was storming, lighting & pouring down..reminded us off home...then the sun came out full strength Later...Today's tourist attractions were Casa Batllo...I am loving these Gaudy designs....I went to the house to check it out....Carmen went touring the streets....the house was amazing, the curves, views, the balconies, the colours, craftsmanship, and wow the roof top. The house was built in 1875 but it was thought with modern ideas...the theme of the house was the ocean....the house nearly took me 40 minutes to explore. Loved it....after that Carmen and i had lunch and she told me she found the other apartment made by Gaudy...see I knew it was good for her to walk around....seafood lunch ... read more
June 8th 2013
Whoa, Barcelona – who would have thought we could have added to our extreme weather experiences (snow, rain, sleet, sand)? Oh yeah, not just a thunder storm, not just lightning, and not just rain, but oh boy, the works! How weird could it be standing under the shelter (minimal) of a KFC shop opposite the Sagrada Familia Gaudi Temple, with no vision because of a blimmin tree and fog?? Wow, did it rain, and worse, was the distance between the lightning and the thunder instantaneous? Scary, very scary. My golf shoes are ruined, but that is ok, they are old. But we had to wade through ankle deep fast running water. Whoo – ee; pretty interesting stuff. Then, finally into the temple, and again, whoo – ee – as Davie says, this was expected, but it ... read more
