DAY9:DALI MUSEUM, FIGUREAS PART 2

Jeff & I stand by a great piece of political graffiti in Figureas. So let me understand; Catalonia is or is not part of Spain? What do you say, Jeff?



Here are Lula & Mark relaxing by a Dali statie.



You can look at this Dali piece,and see either the individual blocks, or you can see a picture of Abe Lincoln. What do you see?

DAY9:DALI MUSEUM, FIGUREAS

Salvadore Dali's humor is weird. Here we see a nude, wearing a greek helmet, standing on the hood of Al Capone's Cadillac.



This is another view of the Al Capone Nude. Strange, eh what!



The whole inside of the museum is open to the air, and there are niches with a bunch of these fold-painted manikins standing in each one.



As you approach the Dali museum, this is the view you see on the roof>

DAY9:BARCELONA, MORE BUS TOUR, PARK GUREL..

The only shot I got of the Sacred Family Church shows Don & Christine in front of it. Great Shot!



Here are Susan & some of the "girls" next to Gaudi's Lizard. They sure look happy!

DAY9:BARCELONA, MORE BUS TOUR, PARK GUREL..

This is the "Gingerbread House" gatehouse that Gaudi designed for his suburb at Park Gurel.



Susan really liked the Gaudi lizard, but they would not let her bring it home! Drat!



Mark & Lula sit on the Gaudi Plaza, which was designed as the centerpiece of his suburban community.



Oh, Look, someone go a photo of me relaxing! A nice Gaudi bench.

DAY9:BARCELONA BUS TOUR.

I m not sure what it was, but something sure made Dee happy. I like that smile!



Some how, the boy in black appeared on our trip, and is shown here with his mom at the Barcelona overlook! Hi guy!




Marta & Brittany sure make a pretty picture with Barcelona in the background!



Here they are: Don-Vhristine-Barcelona... oh, no, that was the OTHER movie!

DAY8: MORE BARCELONA:

This is not a good photo, sorry, but this is a shot of some of the performers at our Flamenco Evening, which we had at a restaurant on the Ramblas, starting at 11:30 on our next to the last evening in Barcelona.



Here is the skyline of Barcelona, seen from the catalan National Museum, looking past our hotel, towards the surrounding hills. Barcelona is in a bit of a hollow, and cannot expand out like many other cities. It is still the 2nd largest city in Spain, 1.5 million in town, 3 million in the total area.

DAY8: MORE BARCELONA: CATHEDRAL

On the Barcelona Cathedral, there was an interesting series of very narrow walks, and little doors through the flying buttresses. It seems like a very dangerous walk to me!



We had a little free time while some of our folks attended Easter Services in the Cathedral. (How often does a regular American catholic get a chance to do that?) Down the street from the cathedral, was this unique looking building that Susan & I went to see. It was closed for Easter, but houses a very modern market. there were street vendors selling jewelery just outside. Very nice stuff.



We went into the Cathedral (no photos, of course), and into the cloister behind the cathedral, mostly to visit & look at the guard geese. inside, however, is a very small statue of St George, killing the dragon, which happened somewhere nearby, which is something I did not know!



The Barcelona Cathedral is really part of a series of buildings in the old Gothic Barrio. This is a bridge between 2 of the buildings. It sort of reminds me of the bridge of Sighs in Venice, but I suspect this one was used by priests, monks, nuns, and other church people, to safely move about the complex.

DAY8: MORE BARCELONA: THE RAMBLAS EXPERIENCE

This is the Farmer's Market, off to the opposite side of the Ramblas than the Cathedral. It was close early on Easter Morning, but open later. This is where Jeffrey's favorite Barcelona Restaurant is.



The Ramblas is a great walking tour on it's own, but some of the side streets hold special treasures. Here in the Plaza Real is a collection of street lamps designed by Gaudi himself. Here I am standing underneath one. The Plaza is small, but has many nice palm trees, and lots of sidewalk cafes and people.



I got a photo of Don, also standing next to a Gaudi streetlamp. This day there was a street market for stamp and postcard collectors. By the time I got back, they had closed, though there was a guy selling Coca-Cola collectables still there.



There are many old, beautiful buildings along the Ramblas, though Spain had a civil war in 1936 that wrecked many parts of town, so just what is really old & what is re-constructed is sometimes a bit of a puzzle.



This building holds a Chinese restaurant, and has Art Neuveau-style decorations. Very interesting, as well as unusual.

DAY7: BARCELONA!

In Barcelona, our hotel was right on the Plaza de Espania, almost in the middle of town. Just up from the hotel was an area that was built for a world's fair, perhaps 1929. Every nite they have several light & water shows in the fountain in front of the largest pavilian, with is now the national Museum of Catalan art. We were there before dark, so we just had music & water, but it was spectacular!



The grand pavilian, shown here, is an art museum, with a great over view of central Barcelona, including our hotel (seen in a later shot), and the mountains surrounding Barcelona. It has a very nice collection of Catalan Impressionist painters.

DAY7: STILL CARCASSONE

Naturally, we had to wait a bit for everyone to gather after our free time in the beautiful walled city of Carcassone, and we were waiting in the rain. Here are some of us, waiting, wet!



Charlotte had a good time, or at least she is smiling! She was well-dressed for the weather. Unfortunately, I left my umbrella on the bus!



The outside of the Cathedral was gothic, but sort of massive. Notice the umbrellas at the bottom, A very nice church, anyway.

Day7: LEAVING PROVENCE FOR SPAIN! STOP IN CARCASSONE

The cathedral in Carcassone was dark, a bit dank, and beautiful. It is hard to get a photo of a rose window, but this is what I got.



The Cathedral door was no Notre Dame, but was quite nice. Inside, however, was the real treat.there were 5 men singing Gregorian chants. They were good, and the acoustics of the church were wonderful. I only heard them sing 2, but it was a highlight of the trip.



The walls at Carcassone reminded me of Toledo, though it is a bit smaller. It was restored about 100+ years ago, and they did a good job. To live there, you need to have a unique craft, and apply for permission & a license. Of course, you can live outside the walls, and many do. The unfortunate thing about our visit was the rain. It did let up a little, but it would have been better to have sunshine!



On our way from France to Spain, we stopped to make sure we were heading the correct way. I had to check it out, personally!

DAY 6: AIX AU PROVENCE.

Cezanne has been gone a long time, but he was from Aix au Provence, and they have this nice little statue, just about where we picked up our bus. Big Mark Melton was our largest person, but the statue is still bigger! Thanks, Mark.



I love doorways in Europe, especially those that are really old, or those that look Art Neaveau like this one in Aix au provence. Sorry, no folks standing in front of it, but a nice doorway anyway.



This tower, I believe, is part of the city hall in Aux au Provence. We did a very quick walking tour, then had an hour or so for shopping, relaxing, or just looking around. we timed it perfectly, as it started raining as we were walking to the bus. as with most small, medieval towns, the bus had to let us off on one side, and pick us up on the other. I just love the little, narrow streets we find there.