Sunday, September 30, 2012

Barcelona

Casa Batllo

Todd and I recently took a trip to Barcelona with my good friend Jonelle who came for a week and a half to head to Spain and see some beautiful sights in England while she was here.

Below are a lot of pictures from our trip! First of all, Barcelona is a beautiful city. While, the weather wasn't nice enough to have some beach time, we had a great time tiring out our feet walking around this pretty city.


A beautiful side street
 

We stayed in a apartment just outside of the main part of the city, but close to the beach and metro. We were happy to find our little town was filled with locals and there were markets and a main street near us with shops and restaurants. It was just off the beaten path enough so we didn't feel completely "touristy" but our street was busy enough with locals stopping in at the patisseria or the small fruit markets on our street that we weren't completely isolated.



Breakfast every morning from the bakery close to our apartment

I seem to find things built by architect Frank Gehry in many of the places I visit. He built both the Dancing house in Prague and a recent Manhattan residence in NYC.  So, we walked to barcelonta from our apartment and saw the Gehry fish. I have to say that of the three things I've seen built by Gehry this is the least impressive, but since he includes fish in many of the buildings he creates this was nice to see also.  



Kelly in front of the Gehry Fish

We spent most of our time walking around the city seeing all the sites and stopping into all the shops. There was many beautiful things to see as we walked even along minor side streets.


Beautiful views around every corner

Antoni Gaudi is the resounding name of Barcelona architecture. We headed to Park Guell, a huge park Gaudi built at the top of the city with mosiac tiles incorporated into every building, seat, ceiling, and wall. The park also had a wonderful view of the rest of the city.



Park Guell
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Mosiacs of Park Guell

We also headed to the Gothic Cathedral in Barcelona with it's many shrines to saints.


Street near the Gothic Cathedral



The Gothic Cathedral

Front doors of the Gothic Cathedral

Insert a coin and your "candle" will light.
Choir stalls at the Cathedral


The Sagrada Familia was my favorite site that we saw during our five days. It is a basilica created by architect Antoni Gaudi in 1883.



Another beautiful street

The Sagrada Familia is still being built 130 years later and is not planned to be completed until 2026. The building will have three facades depicting the nativity, the passion, and the gloria. It will have 12 bell towers dedicated to the 12 apostles, 4 towers dedicated to the evangelists, and 1 tower dedicated to Jesus.

Basilica Sagrada Familia- Nativity facade.
Sagrada Familia- Passion facade.


This is what the final product will look like in 2026.

It was a cloudy day when we arrived, but stepping inside the church you see Gaudi's vision for a simple yet powerful design with natural lighting directing the eye and mind heavenward.



Inside the Sagrada Familia


 

Ceiling of the Sagrada Familia
Alter of the Sagrada Familia

Though it was hard on our feet, it was nice to spend time exporing the city.




Did I mention the streets were picturesque?
We found a huge cat!


Our favorite square

As Todd and I can't stand spending money on mediocre food, we did some research and found some wonderful treats!  It wouldn't be a Brewer vacation with out a few good food finds!




Churros and Hot Chocolate are a local treat!

La Boqueria is a huge market on Las Ramblas selling just about any food you could want. One night, we grabbed a different variety of fruits and cheeses along with some bread for dinner to take home, put up our feet, and watch some BBC Pride and Prejudice (for homework of course)...more on that later!


La Boqueria- the Market
La Boqueria

Todd found us a great vegetarian restaurant for dinner called Sesamo where we each had the tasting menu. Todd remarked this was one of the best meals he's ever had. I agreed! We sat right next to the open kitchen where the chef checked in on us with each course.  



Todd eating "Jonelle food".

Strawberry and basil gazpacho, cheese-filled gnocchi with beet sauce and parmesan, gouda and quince paste with macadamia nuts...yum!




Eight delicious, vegetarian taster courses

And then back to our favorite square for Jonelle and Todd to patronize my picture taking....and to share some sangria!!


Jonelle and Todd in our favorite square


Monday, September 3, 2012

Hamsterley Forest

Yesterday was so beautiful here in Durham that Todd and I took a trip with the pups to Hamsterley Forest to enjoy their many hiking trails. There are different trails that are marked by their difficulty for cyclists. We managed to walk for a few hours on some fun trails. Here are some photos of our day:
Our 40 minute drive to Hamsterley Forest was so pretty!

Hamsterley had lots of trails that ran along the stream.


The pups and I enjoyed the exercise through the forest.

We had a picnic at the top of this hill which had a magnificent view.

Plenty of water for the pups to swim.

Taking it easy after our long hike.