things of no importance, but I wanted to spread the news anyway

We decided to spend 2 extra days in Barcelona, but didn't want to pay so much for our room, which was actually quite expensive, for us.  So we moved to a hostel near the cathedral in Bari Gotic- what a difference $50 a night makes:-)  No  more do we have the coffee machine with THE best cafe con leche for me and espresso for Rich, choice of meat and cheeses, yogurt with granola, breads, fruit and tasty little croissant cookies- here it is all about the white bread in a plastic wrapper, no-name strawberry jam with margarine and instant coffee. But we do get juice:-).  Oh, and the noise from the street kept us up most of the night, so we probably will be bitchy with each other.

Because of Easter, our room in Seville is super expensive- like $650 for 5 nights!  Yikes- talk about breaking the bank!  So we are working on renting a room there, booking it through Airbnb.com.  Everyone we talk to loves it, but it is our first time.  Will let you know how it works out.

Today, we go to a couple of museums, and hopefully to the coastal town of Sitges for Calamari!  It is about 45 minutes by train south of Barcelona, but lovely.  Nothing like the sea, I say.  Tomorrow, we are off to Valencia!

St. George

Reportedly, St, George was a Roman soldier who repented and eventually became a Saint by using his soldiers sword to kill evil (stylized by the dragon).  Not quite the information on Wikipedia, but I like the old story better.  Whatever his origins, he is my favorite saint!  You can find him everywhere, but especially here in Barcelona as he is the patron saint of Barcelona, as well as the Patron Saint of Britain, so I should see lots of him there.  But, in the 4 days we have been here, here are some of the st. George figures I have found:

 I frieze above the entry of the Catalunya official building

 A statue inside the museum of the palace of the kings- interesting how it is inverted!

 A frieze on a wall of one of the many cute little plazas here in Barcelona

 St. George on a 9th century wooden painting (inside the Catalunya museum, Plaza Espana)

 A silver figurine of St. George

An 11th century painting on wood.  Note all the demons surrounding him!

La Sagrada Familia- THE Basilica of our time

Anton Gaudi had a dream- a dream to build a Cathedral to God that represented God's creations. Gaudi used nature in all his designs.  He studied natural forms, how they interacted, and used those very concepts in his buildings.  He has many buildings here in Barcelona, and all over Spain.  But his masterpiece is La Sagrada Familia (the Sacred Family), now truly a Cathedral since consecrated by Pope Benedict in 2010.  It is still about 40 years from completion, and had a hard road to creation.  It survived the Spanish civil war, a less-than-enthusiastic populace for some time, and no consistent income stream.  But in the past few decades, especially with Catalonian pride, the Cathedral is being worked on almost round the clock- all with private donations.  When visiting, please go on-line to get your tickets.  You will get a specific time to visit, and walk right in.  You can also climb the towers! If you try to wait in those horrible lines, you will hate life.  Come to Barcelona and check this out!

Addendum- April 9, 2014- after taking a walking tour of Barcelona, our guide was talking about the medieval cathedral.  We asked about La Sagrada Familia- a Cathedral is the home church of a bishop, so La Sagrada is a Basilica as it was blessed by the pope, but is not the home of a bishop.  We apologize for the misunderstand:-)

Rich messing around on the balcony of one of the towers (Did I mention that he and I climb every tower we come to?  Always go up- you get the best views:-))

 This is how high up we were

 Front of the Cathedral- upper tier: Jesus on the cross, with Mary looking up; lower tier: Veronica shown the true face of Jesus, as if a mirror for us all; on the right, Jesus carrying the cross; left soldiers.  as you can tell, Gaudi's statuary are rough-hewn.  but it is quite effective!

 Rich showing the height and depth of the interior of the Cathedral

 Detail of the ceiling- note how it looks like a forest.  Gaudi used nature as his inspiration.

 The High Alter

 St. George- my favorite Saint!  He is holding his sword, but no dragon.

Below: front view of the Cathedral

Buskers!!!!!!!

I just love Buskers!  What started out many moons ago as street entertainers has turned into a total art-form of creativity!  People putting together ever-more elaborate and creative outfits/gimmicks to gain the tourist coin.  Of all the cities I have been to, many have these Buskers on pedestrian malls.  But, none tops Barcelona for the number and variety!  Each of the 4 times I have been here, there have been different Buskers, but always creative!

 This Busker was really good- give her money, and she would fan herself and give you a big smile.

 This Busker was incredible!  He kept the same pose for forever!  Give him money, and he changed his pose to wave at you, or smile, or some other action- and hold that pose until the next person.  Really skillful.

 I am a sucker for angels who defeat demons:-)

Galileo!  (yes, I hummed the tune!) and he lets you look through a telescope for a picture, for money.

Malaga, Spain

Malaga, on the Costa del Sol, is the perfect coastal city.  Although listed as big and gritty, we found it very clean and interesting to visit!  It has a moorish castle on a hill, and a moorish fort just below, with Roman ruins, and the Cathedral is just incredible!  Possibly one of the most beautiful we have seen  It is HUGE and open, but just enough art.  It has one bell tower, with the other unfinished,making it quite interesting.  The city is beautiful. with marble walk-ways throughout.  It made a really great day trip.

 Donna, Dick and Rich on the Moorish castle above the city

 Stained glass windows in the cathedral

 Rich, to give perspective on the size of the cathedral!

Exterior side view of the cathedral

Cardiz, Spain

I have come to the conclusion that Spain does coastal towns better than any country!  I Loved San Sebastian on the north coast, Sitges south of Barcelona, Cardiz, and now Malaga!  The one great common denominator with each of the coastal towns is a coastal sea-wall with stone-tiled walking promenade; beautiful lights; flowers, shrubs, and trees; and views  of the sea!

Cardiz, which is situated on a peninsula, has wonderful non-grid pattern, narrow, and winding streets with tiny shops, delicious pastries, decorative tiles above or next to doors, wonderful plazas, and beautiful cathedrals and church's, but best of all, a sea wall and promenade that almost circles the entire city.  Because it was a sea-faring city in days of old, it had multiple watch-towers around the city to observe arriving ships.  We climbed the Torre Tavira (Tavira Tower), the tallest (142 feet) remaining watchtower: the view was beautiful!  You could see the green sea all around the entire city.  It is small enough that you could see individual buildings throughout.

The Central Market had an incredible variety of seafood for sale- including the head of a sword fish!  The market also had shops that sold great red wines: Ribero del Duoro and Rioja, fresh Paella (a delicious rice dish), tasty cheeses, and crunchy rolls with Spanish ham. We got to share it with Phillip and Thaddeus, making it the perfect day with the perfect lunch!!!

The Cathedral here is impressive in size and beauty, but most impressive is that it is not so overly gilded as to be gaudy, as many churches can be.  The Cathedral has the most amazing crypt, with ante-chambers containing relics and crosses.  Sadly, I could not locate the crypt-keeper (LOL!).  But, the most entertaining thing in Cadiz was running into Donna and Dick for their fun wit!

 Rich, Phillip, Thaddeus (hidden), and Dick

 A typical Cardiz plaza with lots of beautiful monuments and buildings.

 Thaddeus photobombing a picture of Rich on a cute street.

 Cathedral Crypt (so cool!!)

 Cardiz from the tower!

 Rich, Phillip and Thaddeus at the sea wall/promenade

The central market and the shrimp lady!

Ponte Delgado, Azores, Portugal- cool little island!

We only spent 8 hours on the cute little town of Ponte Delgado in the Azores, part of Portugal, but we were very lucky to have visited this little piece of Portugal in the Atlantic!  The town is really small and very walkable.  The ship docked right off the promenade, so access was very easy.  The town has a really nice sea-side promenade, beautiful botanical park, an interesting central market, great vistas from the church on the hill, and a town square perfect for sitting and having a beer and people watching.  What I really liked was the black and white stones used throughout the town to create a mosaic sidewalks and town square.  The black and white color scheme was used throughout the building of the town, providing a quaint consistency to the island.

 The city gates looking toward the cathedral tower and town square.

 Cathedral on the hill with great vistas.

Rich and Terry having a beer in the town square!  Notice the white rock mosaic.