More vids from Barcelona

Carnaval celebrations in one of the old squares.



Following the drummers through the Gothic Quarter.

Fire Breathing Dragons....oooohhhh scary

Chillin to some Spanish Guitar music at Park Guell

Barcelona

Barcelona....finally! A destination I have wanted to hit for a long time, especially since Kelly went there last year with friends from Ireland. She told me I was gonna love it in Barcelona...and boy was she right.

Its too bad we only had a weekend, Barcelona is geographical goldmine for hopping off to explore other places. The Pyrenees, Southern France, Ibiza, Africa.

We arrived in Barcelona at around 11pm which normally would mean that you wouldnt be able to find a place to eat....HA! This is Spain, restaurants don't even open until 8pm!

Hmmmm what should we have...Tapas of course! We found a place right around the corner and got a bunch of stuff grilled vegetables with romesco sauce (below), patatas bravas, bread, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomato, eggplant, stir fried beef cubes, and of course a bowl of olives...and a bottle of wine.

We opted to retire semi-early (2am) rather than stay out all night...we had a lot of sightseeing to do this weekend!

We got up early and walked to Placa Catalunya, and headed down La Rambla, the famed pedestrian street that separates El Raval from the Gothic Quarter, Barri Gotic.

It was a pleasant walk even though the weather wasn't entirely cooperating....maybe 50 degrees and drizzly. We had coffee and then headed back to the Placa Catalunya for lunch.

We met up with Curtis, one of the kids I had coached back in Tampa, who is now a senior at the University of Florida on a study abroad semester in Barcelona. It was great catching up over lunch....but we had even bigger plans for the day.

Curtis (above), Kelly and I met up with some of the members of the Barcelona Lacrosse club for a pick-up game of 3 on 3 beach lacrosse! Its always a blast meeting other lacrosse people, especially when traveling. Its like having friends everywhere!

After a couple hours on the beach, the 7 of us went to a nearby crepe place and had some drinks. Good times, great people....ahhh Barcelona.

By nightfall, Kelly and I had to say adios to our new amigos, because we had exploring to do!

We walked around the Gothic Quarter debating where to eat dinner...until it started pouring rain...then we made a choice pretty quick.

We found a nice place tucked away amongst some old buildings and ordered some steaks...perfect! The people behind us were Americans and were talking business...and politics....hence the look on Kellys face in the picture above. We had a very nice time and then did some more exploring on the way back to our hotel.

We spent a few hours just marveling at all the amazing buildings...Kelly had her nose pressed against many a window (as pictured above)....its a beautiful, beautiful city.

The next day was Valentines Day....and our anniversary...so we sang this all day!



We had a lot of sights to see, first Sagrada Familia!

Under construction since 1882, the massive Church is the most famous building in Barcelona and the masterwork of Spanish modernist architect Antonio Gaudi.

You could stare at the details for hours and hours...its incredible.


Kelly just loves the piles of fruit or whatever it is on top of some of the spires and the giant snails climbing the cathedral. (above)

I liked the..... Cylons?

Seriously, those are some scary looking sci-fi dudes

A very impressive building indeed...Happy Anniversary! (I bet your singing the Flintstones version now aren't you?)


Unfortunately, the line to get in was several hundred people deep...so we got back on the Metro and headed to Park Guell, a garden complex chocked full of more funky Gaudi archtecture.

The weather was much better on Day 2, so we walked all over the park and checked out the sites.We also got some fantastic views of the city and the coast.

We had lunch at a little pizzeria before heading back on the Metro (very convenient) and stopped at a few more Gaudi creations.

Casa Batllo

and La Pedrera

The sun was out now and we walked all the way home through the fancy district just north of the University....lots of great buildings. We decided thats where we'll live when we move to Barcelona. We'll be needing giant shuttered windows and balconies.

In true Spanish style, we napped away the afternoon before heading out for dinner.

Paella! Oh so tasty.

We strolled through the Gothic quarter some more as the city ramped up for another night of Carnaval festivities. Have I mentioned how beautiful Barcelona is?

The next day we decided we would go home and not just damn everything to hell and stay in Barcelona.....but we'll be back.

Carnaval en Barcelona !

Talk about a great weekend! Valentine's Day was our 12th wedding anniversary....so we celebrated by going to Barcelona.....and it was also Carnaval!

It was incredible. You have to love the Spanish

"Uh oh! Lent is right around the corner! Let's have a big lunch, take a nap, then we'll go downtown and blow some shit up! Tell the kids to grab anything flammable."

"Where's my costume? Ayyyeeee ! Gimme something to burn before Lent starts!"

There were different celebrations all weekend, but Sunday was crazy. There were drum groups parading around all day, people wearing costumes and every square in the Gothic Quarter had something going on.

By 8pm it was ON! Drum groups having drum wars, people dressed as Bulls and Devils running around with flares throwing sticks of dynamite into the crowd, gangs of guys running around with burning branches...so what do the people with kids do you ask?

"Oye Honey look! Those guys dressed as Satan have burning branches! Kids, go run underneath them for good luck...here take some dynamite with you...hurry!"

Turn your sound on and check the video below.

Flat Marley does Barcelona

by k.

Barcelona you're a beautiful, charming city...Te amo

...and so does Flat Marley!

A group of folks from work took a long weekend and went to Spain's second largest city and the capital of the region of Catalonia.
The benefit of having a Flat Friend is that you can stash her in your carry-on and she flies free!
Here she is with new pals Claire and Sinead.

Saturday morning (okay, afternoon) saw us all getting on the open top bus to see the sites. Flat Marley loved all the architecture - especially the buildings designed by Barcelona's famous son: Antoni Gaudi. His Casa Mila above.


Flat Marley in front of Gaudi's Casa Batllo. The building was designed to remind people of a dragon - the roof looks like scales!!

Gaudi left his mark all over the city, but his biggest splash is easily Sagrada Familia, a cathedral under construction since 1882, expected finish date in the next 20 years. This place is jaw-dropping, y'all. One photo can not do it justice. It is straight out of some surreal fairy tale. It is so spectacular that even your own EYES, when you see it in person, can hardly take it all in. Facades on top of facades, spires on top of spires, giant stone snails crawling up towers....
I direct you to the website if you want more info and photos.

Flat Marley loved this magical place so much she wanted to climb the cranes and start helping the workmen, but we were afraid she'd blow away so we kept her on the bus.

But we did get off the bus for another of Barcelona's famous Gaudi sites, Park Guell, showcasing more weird and wonderful examples of his genius. Meandering around this park feels a bit like walking through a life-sized Candy Land board game.
Here's Flat Marley with the entrance to Park Guell and all of Barcelona behind her.

More of Park Guell's playful fantasticalness (is that a word?)

Lest you think all Flat Marley and I saw was Gaudi architecture....here's the port where we had lunch on a lovely afternoon, then stretched out in the sun and people watched while we digested.
And the gothic quarter were we wandered in the evenings for the charm, the food and the fun.

Flat Marley even met some strange Flat Friends that were just her size at a restaurant. They are looking a little on the skinny side though - maybe they should try some of the tapas? F.M. recommends the pattatas bravas, the manchego cheese and some olives.

Flat Marley made fast friends with the work crew and we all took turns looking out for her, showing her around Barcelona, rambling up the central street of Las Ramblas, dressing her up (and piercing her ears!) bringing her for late-night tapas dinners and taking her out dancing till dawn. F.M. has 9 new Irish Aunties and Uncles that just adore her and were all so happy she was part of our holiday.

Love you Flat Marley - and hope ya had a nice trip.