Spain with Linny and Monica

Carlyn and Cari's Web Page Carlyn and Cari's Guest book Venice in November Spain with Lin and Monica The Louvre and Monet's House and Garden, September 2009 Disneyland Paris- The end to my month long 50th birthday celebration London Skyride- September 20, 2009 ARRAY(0xa5757f4) Switzerland- July 2009 Carlyn's Birthweek 2009- Fun, Food and Henry VIII Sailing Trip on the Solent of the English Channel, June 2009 Istanbul, Turkey- May 2009 Aberdeen with Jacky and Steve The Loire Valley with Mom and Sheri Budapest, April 2009 The German Christmas Markets with Joyce, December 2008 The Lord Mayor Show, November 8, 2008 Madrid and Andalucia, October 2008 Krakow, Poland- September 2008 Cari's Birthweek- Germany Dinner at Muspatts Farm celebrating Carlyn's Italy, June 2008 The Lake District- May 2008 York- May Day Holiday Weekend 2008 Cornwall and Wales- Page 1 Cornwall and Wales- Page 2 Hever Castle Blemhein Palace Hastings and Battle- 1066 Country Brighton German Christmas Market Fall in Provence Paris in a Day Visitors at Parliament Square Amsterdam and Kuekenhof The South West "Jurassic" Coast Cambridge Christmas and Canterbury Normandy Austria Prague, Czech Republic Belgium break ARRAY(0xa5757f4) Blog

October continues on the same note as September; busy.  We returned on Saturday after visiting Spain with our Houston buds, Linny and Monica. 

 

They arrived to a typical English day with pouring rain on October 7.  We had a quick and wet trip to Kew Gardens before ending at our local pub for dinner.   The next day was as beautiful as the day before was ugly.  We started at Borough Market’s Mammoth Coffee which has, to me, the best cappuccino ever.  We then visited the booths gathering dinner items which included fresh chanterelle mushrooms, black truffles, baby artichokes, fresh pasta, diver scallops and shrimp.  They then visited Madame Tussauds while I had another cappuccino before ending our day in London high above Trafalgar square on the terrace of the Trafalgar hotel, sipping New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

 

We departed the next day for Barcelona.  We rented an apartment in the Eixample, just north of the Rambla, the liveliest and most vibrant street in Barcelona.

 

The Rambla runs all the way to the sea and is full of tourist, venders, and sounds of the city.

We took in a lovely tapas lunch and got the lay of land, purchasing food and wine at the grand Market “La Boqueria” and the supermarket. We took our goods home and settled for the night.

Our first dinner in our Barcelona apartment

The next day we headed to the center of the old town at Palau de la Generalitat for a “Fat Tire” bike tour of Barcelona, a great idea via Monica. We began at the old Roman walls of the city, stopping at the gothic cathedral, the magnificent Palau de la Musica Catalan (a concert hall which is lit by natural light via huge colorful skylights in the grand hall), through the Arc d Triumph which was the entrance to the Universal Exhibition of 1888.

Then we travel north to the Temple of Sagrada Famila, Gaudi’s massive cathedral like church with its stylized towers crowned by pinnacles and covered with ceramics.

We ended the tour on the coast were we consumed sangria, olives and sandwiches.

After the bike ride we headed to the Monument to Columbus where Columbus points to the new continent and marks the arrival of the Rambla to the sea.

At this point we were quite parched and Carlyn spotted the Montjuic (magic mountain) cable car which took us high above Barcelona where we found fabulous views at the Jardins del Mirador ……and beer and snacks

We returned to the apartment, freshened up and headed to Tapa Tapa for more tapas.

The next day was devoted to Gaudi. We started at Parc Guell, a garden offering outstanding views of Barcelona but also Gaudi installment of benches, sculptures including the famous dragon, and houses.

After a brief visit, we were off to La Pedrera, a residential building designed by Gaudi. We chose not to tour since the queue was very long and opted for lunch, of tapas, instead. We then walked a few blocks on to Casa Batllo, a house remodeled by Gaudi which we did choose to tour. Curved lines which look like bones, plants, masks and a roof which has the appearance of the back of a dragon, crowned by a bulbous cross and several chimneys.

The next day we visited the Roman ruins which make Tarragona a huge open-air museum. The ancient city of Tarraco was founded in 218 B.C., but its golden age begun in the year 26 B.C., when the Emperor Augustus moved there. Hundreds of years after this period of splendor, you can still feel the importance which Tarraco had in Roman Spain. We walked along the impressive Roman walls of to the theatre, which served for centuries as a place of entertainment; and stepped into the arena of the amphitheatre, the scene of combats with gladiators and wild animals; chariot races in the circus; walk among the walls and buildings of the Forum the nerve centre of the Roman city, and the Puente del Diablo (Devil's Bridge) aqueduct, Which took us three times to find the entrance returning to the same roundabout for each try.

Off to Tarragona, the ancient Roman Capital of Spain and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We were unable to get served on the sea side at one establishment but found a very nice place around the corner to take in some amazing seafood including Monica’s arroz negro, or black rice, which is Arborio rice cooked with squid and it’s ink. We then walked around the amazing old town.

The next day...off to Valencia where we headed to Valencia city center for a bus tour of the old and new city before heading to the beach for the…wait for it

Valencia is the home of paella and I’ve dreamed of partaking in paella and sangria at the beaches of Valencia; another goal completed.

The beaches of Valencia

Sunset from our "Penthouse"

Enjoying wine and the view...and the smells of Valencia

We returned home and Carlyn and I took a dip in the cool but lovely Mediterranean ocean, a first for both of us. We needed this day to recover from our many adventures but had another night of howling winds and smelly surrounding.

taking in a bit of Aigua, water of Valencia, Cava, OJ and four sweet liquors of Spain

The next day we had what we called “day at sea”, a down day which began with a walk on the beach, bloody Mary’s at the five star hotel down from us, and lunch at the small village of El Saler, just a couple of miles from our “penthouse”.

Sad to leave this place (not), we left early the next day to return to Montserrat and this time were successful in our visit. We parked down the mountain and took the Cremallera Funicular, This funicular offers a spectacular panoramic view of Montserrat mountain, 1,000 m above sea level. The viewpoint offers a bird’s-eye view of the monastery as well as spectacular views of the surrounding area and the Pyrenees.

Tapas in the "Penthouse"

The black virgin herself.

. It was perfect: Small crowds. We heard the world famous Boys Choir saw the world famous Black Virgin (even touched her hand!)

The view from the Monestary

We gazed upon world famous paintings by Caravaggio, Picasso, and Dali. This was indeed a spectacular day

We headed back to Barcelona where we returned our rental car and stayed a hotel near the airport. For dinner we consumed the remaining food from our Valencia apartment with a bottle of wine from the service station across the street. Perfect again

Tapas in Barcelona

Paella in Valencia

Squid in Tarragona