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!

Cohen at Christmas time. As cute as can be - don't you agree?

Phaedra at Christmas time. 6 months old. Very cute, no?