BARCELONA, SPAIN
3/12/2024
(or as they write it in Europe 12/03/2024)
Barcelona, Valencia, Porto, Lisbon & Paris
We started out with a BIGGER than BIG OOPS!
Saturday 3/2/24
Post a morning ‘Tornado’ that hit the Desert area and specifically Sahara Park, we left Teal-More for the PSP airport all set to begin our Maverick Rover World reboot. Luckily we had no damage, while other homes in our park lost carport roofs, trees and debris flew everywhere.
After hours and hours with no airplanes leaving or arriving at the airport, due to ongoing weather, we returned home for the night to regroup and try again tomorrow.
Sunday 3/3/24
Better luck today at the airport as our Alaska flight did depart on time and we arrived at the Portland airport instead of the original plan of connecting through San Francisco (one leg done). There we learned that our next scheduled flight on British Airlines to London was cancelled due to the fact that the plane had never departed from London. British Airlines was able to rebook us for both our London and Barcelona flights for us on the next day they put us up at a nearby hotel for the night at their expense. At the hotel Roger was able to get our boarding passes printed for those two flights. The ‘silver lining’ was that Kim, our daughter, and the kids drove over to our hotel and we were able to have some fun catch-up time and dinner at a nearby restaurant. At the hotel we regrouped with a gut and mind check leading up to a good night's sleep.
Monday 3/4/2024
This morning we enjoyed a free buffet breakfast at our hotel. In our room, we each worked on some computer projects. Around 2:30 pm we shuttled over to the airport to claim our left behind suitcases from our previous flight and to got them back on the correct flights for our continuation on to London and Barcelona. Today was a much better travel day, but it was very long, with an approximate 10 hour overnight flight from Portland to London.
Tuesday 3/5/2024 We arrived in Barcelona from London this afternoon via yesterday’s overnight flight. We also, on this fourth day of travel, had a short flight from London to Barcelona. On our arrival at dusk to Barcelona we took a taxi to our lodging (Mike and Eve's Place) where we unpacked and easily familiarized ourselves with his home, as we had stayed here once before back in the time machine. After settling in, we went out at 11:00 pm…… crazy idea for a bit of food. Late at night and moderately hungry, we decided on French Fries and vanilla ice cream with a fudge brownie side dish. I sure hope that we can get to sleep and hit the town early. Sadly, we lost 2 full days of our planned Barcelona time due to these crazy travel events.
Wednesday 3/6, 2024 Enjoying Barcelona.
It's pretty chilly in Barcelona. We are pleased with ourselves for packing warm sweaters, jackets, scarves, knit gloves and hats.
On this visit we are taking the time to view the world-famous Sagrada Familia Basilica, mostly designed by Antoni Gaudi. It has taken over 100 years to complete the project, and still it is in the final stages of completion.
SAGRADA FAMILIA
BARCELONA, SPAIN
Still unfinished in the first quarter of the 21st century, the Sagrada Família, notable for its tactile organic form, is one of Barcelona’s most famous landmarks. It is an unexpected sight in its urban setting, with its bold flying buttresses and twisted towers looming over the city.
The project, originally envisioned by Francisco de Paula del Villar, was funded by donations to encourage Christianity in Barcelona, which was becoming increasingly secular. In 1883 Gaudi took over as chief architect and fully reimagined the project which would occupy him throughout the remainder of his career. His untimely death, due to being run over by a tram directly in front of Sagrada Familia was extremely unfortunate.
Although we are not religious types, we do enjoy architecture at its finest; this structure is truly beyond the finest in our humble opinion.
Our visit to Barcelona included a visit to the Banksy Museum where we purchased t-shirts for friends at home. Banksy is the Street Artist of unknown origin and unknown gender. It's all a mystery while the art is anything but a mystery. It supersedes political and international interest.
It's exciting to see that you two are back to traveling the world. And, I like to go along vicariously with you. Thanks for the post and for including us on it. Stay safe and all the best to you both!
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