Barcelona

Just back from 5 days in Barcelona where my husband had business so the kids and I tagged along. The sun was a welcome sight and I don't mind the heat either, especially since we had air conditioning during our sleeping hours. We saw many different faces of the city over our stay, from the somewhat rough and around the edges district of El Raval where we stayed (home to a large Muslim South Asian contingent) to the more stately Eixample neighborhood. Gaudi's work dominated our touring including his famous Casa Milà apartment building, the Parc Güell (where I was entranced by the mosaic benches) and his final obsession, La Sagrada Familia, a cathedral still under construction. There was a cloudy morning at the beach and an afternoon at the aquarium, and a climb up Montjuic to see the magic fountains and the Olympic facilities. Plus we enjoyed a couple of really tasty meals; the fruit from the Boqueria market just off La Rambla was unbelievable as well and it was nice to be able to buy juicy sweet watermelon by the wedge. We did our share of people watching too, including more tattoed and Goth folks than I've seen in awhile.

There also seemed to be quite a few interesting things hanging off the balconies including:



And for all those waiting for some really nice presents from us, this: