Barcelona - La Sagrada Familia

After the cruise, I spent a few days in Barcelona.  Actually, I spend two days touring outside of Barcelona in the Spanish Countryside.  I was supposed to spend a third day touring Monserrat Monastery, Montjuic and going on a cog wheel train (I have a thing for trains!) There was a forest fire near Monserrat that was affecting the views.  I had heard from others that the cog wheel train was not running either.  I was tired from 6 weeks of traveling so I took the day off and just walked around the city. I will have to do Montjuic and Monserrat another time. 

I have toured many churches and temples that took hundreds of years to complete and I always wonder what it would be around the building mid build.  I got my chance!  La Sagrada Familia is one of those buildings. 

I did get to spend the afternoon at La Sagrada Familia.  The church was started in 1882 and Gaudi started on it in 1883.  He died in 1926 with less than a quarter of the church finished. Construction was paused during the Spanish Civil war, but construction is now continuing and is expected to be finished in 2026.  

The outside of the church is amazing. 

Gaudi has put amazing details into the church.  The east windows all have green/blue color schemes representing the beginning of the day.  The west facing windows are yellow/orange/red signifying the end of the day/setting sun.                  

      

East facing windows - blues and greens

West facing windows - red, orange, yellow

There will be 12 bell towers representing the 12 apostles.  There are 4 spires representing the Evangelists and 1 spire, the biggest one, representing Jesus. 

This is Mark's spire from the inside.

This is Mathew's spire from the inside.

So much detail in the art. 

Jesus, Mary, Joseph

The wisemen

He was into nature - turtles are holding up the pillars of the church. 

this door was amazing

The kiss of Judas

Notice the rooster - Peter denying Jesus

Veronica with Jesus's face 

Cruise with Norma and Stacy part 2

We ported in Livorno and took a trip to Florence and Pisa.  Everyone always says Florence is amazing.  They were right!  It would have been much more enjoyable if it hadn’t been so hot and crowded, but it was still great.  We took a walking tour with a guide and learned a lot about the history of Florence. 

Santa Croce - where Michelangelo and Galileo are buried

a replica of David

Ponte Vecchio (old Bridge)

amazing church door

Pisa – Norma and I didn’t want to take a picture of us “holding up” the tower, but I did take pictures of other people doing it!  Just like the church in Florence, there are three parts – 1) the bell tower  2) the church and 3) the baptistery (they believed you had to be baptized to enter the church, therefore the baptistery needed to be separate from the church).  We had very little time in Pisa and many people wanted to climb the tower, but I really wanted to tour inside the baptistery.  Doesn’t it look amazing?!  The church too!

the baptistry

the leaning tower of Pisa

the church

 

Norma and I 

On the bus we noticed that one of the straps on my purse was hanging on by a thread.  It is only 2 months old and the other strap was fine so I think a pick pocket tried to cut it and I must have moved right before they got it!  Thank Goodness!

We went to Cannes, France where the famous film festival is.  Norma and I took a walking tour and learned all about the festival and what the town is like during it.  She also told us what it was like when the G20 was here.  The presidents couldn’t even have umbrellas because they were considered weapons!  Cannes had lovely streets and lots of shopping- high end and regular.  We hit up the regular street because I needed a new purse due to the pick pockets from yesterday. I found one at a great store that had everything 70% off.  We visited the conference center where the film festival is held so we got to see some famous handprints.  We learned that they use 4 red carpets a day during the festival (so they look clean) and when they are done with them, they cut them up and sell the pieces as souvenirs.  Many rich people come to Cannes year round so there are lots of yachts.  We went to a lovely store and I got some macaroons while Norma got some flan.

We saw a Steak and Shake in Cannes!  mmmm  steakburgers! 

Palma Majorca and Soller – we were only here for a few hours so we didn’t get to see much.  We did go on a lovely old fashioned train ride from Soller to Palma.  We also got to walk around Soller some, which was an adorable town.  It was Saturday afternoon around 3 or so and most stores were closed which was weird. It would have been great to see the town when things were open. 

church in Palma Majorca

Stacy and I 

Church in Soller

lemon trees

View from the train

It was so good to spend time with friends - we had so much fun!  Norma went home right after the ship docked, Stacy and her mom went home the next day, and I stayed in Barcelona for a few days.

Cruise with Norma and Stacy Part 1

I got to end the summer with a Mediterranean Cruise.  My friend Norma and I flew out of Houston around 12:30 on Friday afternoon.  We met our friend Stacy and her mom in Philidelphia (They are from the town in Illinois where my siblings live.) Their friend Mary Alice came too. We got to Barcelona early in the morning on Saturday.  Norma and I were staying at the Hotel Principal and the others were staying at Hotel Monc Blanc so we went our separate ways.  Both of the hotels were supposed to have wi-fi, but neither worked so we had a hard time communicating. Oh technology!  Our room wasn’t ready so Norma and I walked around and came across some kind of sailing event.  We took a nap in the afternoon then walked another 5 miles in the evening.  It is really warm this time of year and crowded. 

On Sunday we headed over to the ship, The Norwegian Epic.  It was the largest cruise ship I have ever been on.  It holds 5000 guests and crew.  We counted 20 or so lifeboats with a capacity of either 293 or 267 so I think we are covered if we go down!  There are many restaurants, several pools, a casino, a rock climbing wall, bowling alley, ice bar, etc.  It is HUGE.

Monday was an at sea day so we just walked around, looked at the shops, worked out, went to the spa, read on the lounge deck, etc. 

On Tuesday we docked in Naples. The others went to Pompeii, but since I have already been, Norma and I went to Sorrento.  We drove along the coast for an hour and twenty minutes of so.  We then got about an hour and a half to wander around Sorrento.  It was a nice town – we saw a beautiful cathedral, amazing views, and got a free gelato J  Sorrento is famous for it’s lemons – I got a Christmas ornament (I get them from most places that I go) that had lemons on it.  We also got some nice lemon drops and lemon/pistatio nougat. We went back to Naples and Norma and I shared a real Napoli Pizza. I asked for a lemonade and the waiter said they didn’t have it so I asked for water with lemon.  He brought me a small pitcher of water and this glass of lemon juice.  It is at least a cup of pure lemon juice!!!  It would have taken 2 gallons of water to dilute all that lemon juice!!  It also took several packets of sugar J

That whole glass is pure lemon juice!

On Wednesday we ported in Civitavecchia, close to Rome.   Norma and I were supposed to go to a hilltop town, Orvieto, but I was really dizzy and didn’t feel well so I stayed on the ship.  It was a good choice because it is blessed hot here and I wanted to be well enough to go to Florence and Pisa on Thursday.  Norma enjoyed her trip to Orvieto – there was an amazing church there where a miracle happened.

It is fun sharing a room with Norma – I miss her!  We had so much fun laughing together.  Every morning, I am awakened by the loud grinding etc. that happens when the ship docks.  She had no idea what I was talking about when I complained about it because she sleeps through it.  One morning, she happened to be awake when we docked and was astounded at the noise!  “That is what I have been sleeping through?!?!”  Ha!  I wish I could sleep through anything like she can.