Spanish Vacation

I just got back from an awesome trip to Spain. The first two nights we stayed in Barcelona at a luxury 5-star hotel called the "Gran Hotel La Florida". Since it was our wedding anniversary (the first one we have spent together in four years) I decided to splurge and pay the cash; but got a great deal on a site called Venere.com. It was a fantastic place. We had the terry-cloth robes, slippers in the bathroom, and magical Spanish gnomes who put chocolates on our pillow when we weren't there...very cool!

The first day we went to the "La Sagrada Familia" (pictured on the left) which is a place designed by a crazy architect named "Gaudi". It is supposed to be a cathedral of some sort Gaudi started building in the early 1900s; it is still under construction today. (Click on the photos for a bigger view.)

This next photo is from up in one of the towers at the La Sagrada Familia. The bullet shaped building is a new office complex dedicated to the thriving maritime industry based in Barcelona. The Mediterranean is off to the right. Barcelona has about a million and a half people in the city proper, and another couple million in the surrounding areas. It has a big city feel, but is very "hip" and comfortable.

We rented a car for about 100 Euros for four days. We drove all over the place, and got lost a few times in some seedy areas; but for the most part the city seems pretty clean and safe. We ended up spending a good amount of time at the city's pedestrian area called "La Rambla". Lots of great restaurants, pubs, and activities to check out. On La Rambla they sell everything including exotic birds. There is a market for fish, meat, and vegetables.

There are ritzy clothes shops, and Pakistani T-shirt shops. There are peep shows and sex shops to see too, if that's your thing.

A cool attraction is all the "live statues" that perform on La Rambla. There were about ten different statues out there that day. They stand perfectly still until you throw some money in their coffee can. Then they come to life and let you take pictures of them. The soldier popped to attention and saluted me when I gave him some cash. That dude had some serious discipline because he didn't move an inch. I thought he was a real statue at first. They must make some pretty good cash because lots of people were throwing Euro coins in their cans. I considered a new career for a minute or two, then I remembered standing in the 82nd Airborne "All-American" Day formation and decided it wouldn't be for me afterall.

This angel was pretty cool too. My wife thought she was pretty; I thought she was a dude. At any rate, she/he was also very fun to watch.

My wife tried to take a picture of one of the statues without paying him. He looked at her and flipped her off. My wife said, "I didn't think they flipped the bird in Europe." I guess telling people to screw-off is pretty universal.

We also stopped off in an Irish pub for the obligatory Guinness. The barmaid told me there are over 40 Irish pubs in Barcelona. Any place with that many Irish pubs can't be all bad. Chalk up another reason to go to Barcelona. Lots of foreign tourists were all over the place. Everyone was excited to see Ireland v. England in the rugby match. Sports is huge in Barcelona, especially the Barcelona Football Club. Mess around and root for Madrid and you might get your ass kicked.

We decided to move on and see other stuff, so we drove our rental-car about 90 kilometers south and stayed in the former Roman garrison town called "Tarragona". It is situated right on the sea, and is a great place to explore. We took in the Roman amphitheater, the Roman "Circus", necropolis, and other Roman ruins.

The food there was also wonderful. Since both Tarragona and Barcelona are in the Catalonian region, the local cuisine has a special flair. Catalon is known for the best anchovies in the world. They have a snack called "tapas" - bread with a variety of different toppings - which is delicious with the salted fish.

The weather was overcast, but the views were exciting nonetheless. We snapped lots of photos and did lots of shopping.

Everyone we met was friendly and nice. We walked into a peace demonstration in Tarragona, but the people seemed pretty mild and happy. I guess the good Spanish wine tends to mellow folks out. No drama at all.

Even though my wife speaks fluent Spanish, we couldn't use it very often because everyone spoke perfect English and preferred to use it. Some folks at a restaurant were exceptionally nice and I will include their name and information in a later update.

Of course we also stopped at an Irish pub in Tarragona too. It was Saint Patty's Day, so we gave our proper respects. We shot darts, drank Guinness, and watch the locals celebrate in the pub.

Okay, that's it for now. My wife is still here, and we are going to travel some more so I won't post for a while again.

Please check back periodically for an update.

Cheers,

TBone