I came across these bronze plaque in the sidewalks outside of some of the buildings. Not sure if they are talking about the buildings or the various streets. They are all the same except for the gold part in the middle.

We had to get the the cruise ship by 2:00, so the hotel called a taxi and we were off to the next part of our adventure. Our hotel was only a few blocks from the waterfront so it was a short taxi ride. I was reallllly sad to be leaving Barcelona, but excited to begin the cruise.

The Barcelona Cathedral. I copied some info about it from the internet:

Its origins

The earliest origins of Barcelona Cathedral date back to a basilica with three naves, destroyed by Al-Mansur in 925. The remains of this basilica can be seen at the City History Museum. Around 1046, Bishop Guislabert pushed for the construction of a new cathedral. There are hardly any references to this cathedral. It is believed to have occupied part of the Gothic building but all that has been preserved is Romanesque.

The basilica today

Building work began in 1298, when Bernat Pelegrí was Bishop and Jaume II, known as "The Just", was on the throne. The Santa Llúcia Chapel, built in a late Romanesque style, already existed. Construction was very slow: the Crypt of Saint Eulalia and the choir-stall are from the end of the 14th century; the cloister from the 15th century and the retrochoir and the organ from the 16th century. The façade was finally finished in the early 20th century, by the architects Josep Oriol Mestres and August Font i Carreras, based on an early 15th century design by the French architect Mestre Carlí. Rather than Catalan Gothic, the style is Nordic Gothic The façade is 70 metres high and crowned with an image of Saint Helena, by the sculptor Eduard Alentorn.

In the cloisters, for Corpus Christi, there is a typically Barcelonian custom, l'ou com balla: an egg (ou) is put into the jet of water in the cloister garden fountain to make it "dance". There is also a pond with thirteen white geese. Always thirteen, because that is how old Saint Eulalia was when, according to legend, she was martyred.

Another plaza with outdoor seating for a couple of restaurants.

Here is a government building of some sort on a plaza. I love the Spanish architecture!

Day three in Barcelona. It is raining this morning. I got up early and went for a walk while Barb stayed in bed (I guess; I was out exploring so I'm not sure what she was doing!). ;-)

There was so much other beautiful Gaudi buildings, etc. I didn't have a chance to see them all, or to photograph all the ones I saw. They are truly unique, and to my mind, beautiful. Barcelona is so beautiful. Everywhere you turn the architecture is stunning. There is lots of open space, in the form of plazas... outdoor dining, wide tree-lined streets, tiny narrow streets and a beautiful waterfront.

A detail of the iron work on the gate.

The gates at the entrance to Guell Park.

Detail of ceiling.

This was a sort of "plaza", with beautiful stone work on the floor and mosaics on the ceiling.

A view out over the entire city of Barcelona, out to the Mediterranean.

Here I am at Guell Park, which was also designed by Gaudi.

Here I am on what I call the "gothic" side.

Each of the 4 sides has a different style.

Temple de la Sagrada Familia. Construction was started in, I believe, 1888 (or something like that). They are projecting that it will be done in about 26 years... hummm, we'll see. It is Gaudi's masterwork.

A close-up of the iron work on the balconies.

La Pedrera

A pastry shop. This is where we had breakfast. Now - off to see some of the amazing Gaudi architecture Barcelona is famous for.

Okay - day two! Here is the window of a candy shop.

Here's Barb showing off our dinner on our first night in town.

Various street scenes. I'm not much of a photographer so I didn't take photos of everything I saw. Some of the street were only about 6' wide. I guess back in medieval days they only needed to be wide enough to get a horse through. Beautiful architecture. My photos don't do it justice.

Okay - that's the end of our first day. We were exhausted (after staying awake for 28 hours). We found a lovely little restaurant with outside seating (on a plaza) and had dinner (paella) and a glass of wine and called it a night.

More photos of our second day soon! :)

We came upon this street with beautiful light fixtures. It was daytime, but we decided we'd come back at nighttime to see the lights. We came back the next evening, but unfortunately the lights were not on. Perhaps they were for Christmas? Not sure.

A fountain in the plaza.

An example of the iron lighting fixtures that were everywhere.

We out for a walk and came upon our first plaza! What a lovely, civilized way to add public space to a densely populated city!

My Vacation:

Hi everyone. I am back from my vacation. Had a great time! I am in love with Spain!

My friend Barb and I decided to take a cruise from Barcelona to Florida (why do things half way?). We flew to Barcelona on Oct 31. Left Seattle at about 2:30 pm and arrived in Barcelona on Nov 1 at about noon (with a stop in Amsterdam - didn't see a thing except the airport).

We hired a taxi at the airport and arrived at our hotel (H10 Raco Del Pi (Del Pi being the name of the street). I found the hotel by doing an on-line search. It was wonderful. Clean, friendly (English speaking) staff, free pastries and coffee/tea, and fresh fruit available at the front desk. Would definitely stay there again! Right in the middle of the Gothic Quarter; the old medieval part of the city.

We were terribly jet lagged but decided to go out and check of the area. The first photo is the street our hotel was on, the second is the hotel.

Kate, Cohen and Phaedra came to visit a couple of weeks ago. Kate stayed for 2 days and then went on to Seattle to have some adult time with her friends and brother. Cohen and Phaedra hung out with Grandma Jo and Pa for two more days, then we all went to Seattle to meet up with Kate.

Phaedra calls me "Jo" instead of Grandma Jo. It's kinda cute.

Here are some photos from their visit.

Miss Phaedra having breakfast.

We stopped at the reptile place in Monroe on our way over the pass. Cohen and Phaedra got to pet the iguana. You can't see Phaedra in the photo, but she said "pretty" and "nice". Pretty and nice indeed. I should have adopted Mr. Iguana for the kids to take home... ;)

Cohen at Beebe Springs in Chelan.

Miss Phaedra at the park in Chelan Falls.

Grandma Jo and Phaedra

Lemon cupcake filled with lemon curd, cream cheese frosting, topped with a lemon drop. Yummy!