Last weekend, as planned, we went to Barcelona on the night train with Davel and Stella. The train was great, our private two-person compartment had a shower, toilet, and sink in a separate little bathroom. The sleeping wasn't so great, what with the movement and noise of the train (the beds were pretty comfortable -- I slept on the top bunk) but I think we both agree that if we want to visit a place for only a weekend, it's the most efficient way to do so. The train was one of the more pleasant ones we've been on, and Dinner and breakfast were included in the price of our ticket both ways, and it was fun to dine in the dining car -- dinner was actually pretty good! Here's Davel:
We arrived just before 9am, and of course when we went to the hotel our rooms weren't ready yet, so we dropped off our luggage and went out walking. One of the first things we came to was this awesome market with produce and seafood and freshly killed rabbits and game birds hanging from several of the stalls:
It rained most of the time we were there, but that didn't stop us from drinking and eating and seeing the sights. It's a lovely city, small and quaint and quite a bit warmer than Paris.
The thing everyone sees is a church called Sagrada Familia that was designed by Antoni Gaudi. It's a bit much, for my taste, and it's only about halfway finished, but it was fun to walk through it and up the stairs into the spires. The inside is prettier than the outside, to me. I really enjoyed the museum on the bottom floor that had sketches and models of what the finished church would look like. I liked this knight on the facade, and later in the museum, I found the original sketch of it:
We found tons of tapas restaurants, but my favorite was this one, which just had plates of food all over the long bar. You pick the things you want to eat, and then they count the toothpicks when you're done to decide how much to charge you. We started out eating outside under umbrellas, but the rain eventually chased us indoors.
Near another church there was this awesome door made of welded steel plate. I tried to imagine how hard it must have been to weld:
It was a nice trip, and I've added another country to my list! Next up, Germany for Xmas (along with perhaps some skiing). We've rented a car, and we'll be gone for a week. It takes about 6 hours to get to Stuttgart where Dennis' relatives live. Then our friends Mike and Monica are visiting starting the day before New Year's. I really look forward to seeing them!
--Aimee
We arrived just before 9am, and of course when we went to the hotel our rooms weren't ready yet, so we dropped off our luggage and went out walking. One of the first things we came to was this awesome market with produce and seafood and freshly killed rabbits and game birds hanging from several of the stalls:
It rained most of the time we were there, but that didn't stop us from drinking and eating and seeing the sights. It's a lovely city, small and quaint and quite a bit warmer than Paris.
The thing everyone sees is a church called Sagrada Familia that was designed by Antoni Gaudi. It's a bit much, for my taste, and it's only about halfway finished, but it was fun to walk through it and up the stairs into the spires. The inside is prettier than the outside, to me. I really enjoyed the museum on the bottom floor that had sketches and models of what the finished church would look like. I liked this knight on the facade, and later in the museum, I found the original sketch of it:
We found tons of tapas restaurants, but my favorite was this one, which just had plates of food all over the long bar. You pick the things you want to eat, and then they count the toothpicks when you're done to decide how much to charge you. We started out eating outside under umbrellas, but the rain eventually chased us indoors.
Near another church there was this awesome door made of welded steel plate. I tried to imagine how hard it must have been to weld:
It was a nice trip, and I've added another country to my list! Next up, Germany for Xmas (along with perhaps some skiing). We've rented a car, and we'll be gone for a week. It takes about 6 hours to get to Stuttgart where Dennis' relatives live. Then our friends Mike and Monica are visiting starting the day before New Year's. I really look forward to seeing them!
--Aimee
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About me
- I'm off2paris
- From Paris, France
- off2paris at wonky point org
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