Category: Portugal/Spain, Fall 2018

Fletcher flew out the day before us since Norwegian Air doesn’t fly every day of the week. Kim and I took it easy the last day and simply walked around the La Sagrada Familia area since we were staying so close by.

The day of our tour I didn’t take any exterior shots of the Nativity Facade, the one we ended up going up inside of. It’s amazing to me how much older it looks compared to the Passion facade, but it was mostly completed nearly 100 years ago when Gaudi died, so it makes sense.

This was sunset from our Airbnb on the last night. We went to bed shortly thereafter as we had to be up at 3:30 to get to the aiport.

There are a few places we visited in Barcelona that didn’t have a category to fit them into.

In the old Gothic Quarter there is an apartment building that houses this section of a former Roman Temple right off the lobby. The temple was built in the 1st century to honor Emporer Agustus. The columns were actually built around, forming part of a new structure and hidden from view until they were found in the 15th century.

We also walked by a plaza that has a dark history. Sant Felip Neri plaza sits in front of a church of the same name. In January of 1938, Franco’s air force bombed this area during the Spanish Civil War. Two bombs hit the church and the square, killing 42 people, most of them children who were hiding in the church. The battle scars from these bombs remains on the front of the church today.

On a lighter note, while walking on the beach there are numerous people setting up sand castles in hopes of donations. One of them (Homer Simpson passed out) I posted already, but the guy who created it has enhanced it for Three Kings Day (a huge holiday here in Spain). Also known as Epiphany, this is the day when the Kings showed up to give their gifts to baby Jesus.

More sand sculptures on the beach. Not sure if these guys sleep with these things all night or if the kids simply don’t destroy them. There is definitely a wide spread problem with graffiti and vandalism in this city.

The next day we were off to the airport. Three legs later we finally made it back to SFO. I will say it is nice to be home. Several things we have missed while in Europe:

1. Toilet paper. You have no idea how bad the toilet paper is somewhere else until you live there for over two months and then return. I think on our next trip I’m just going to bring a suitcase filled with toilet paper.
2. Clean air. Spain and Portugal have a HUGE issue with cigarettes. I’ve pointed it out previously, but the incredible disparity from the U.S., and California in particular, is really striking. Europe needs to ban smoking anywhere food is being served.
3. It’s nice to hear English, and know that every restaurant will have the menu in English.
4. Pizza. We just do it way better!
5. Our bed. I don’t know how many places we stayed in with terrible beds!
6. Bathroom ventilation. Why is this such a foreign concept?
7. My car. I drove this stick-shift dog of a car for a month in Spain. I forgot what a nice car with passing power feels like to drive!
8. My audio system. Yes, real sound from real speakers!
9. Pinot Noir. I like Portuguese and Spanish wines, don’t get me wrong, but there is nothing so sweet as a killer glass of Pinot Noir with proper stemware to drink it from.
10. A washer and dryer. So many places have washers, but no dryers. They line dry all of their clothes. Not sure if you’ve line dried something recently, but the clothes feel like crap and towels are even worse! It’s not the 1950’s people!

America is a great country, and I can’t imagine living anywhere else full time. The blog will be taking a rest until we decide to venture out again. Likely not until the summer. Until then, thanks for reading!

We decided to take a day trip out of the big city and visit Montserrat, a mountain range west of Barcelona and home to a Benedictine monastery church in perhaps the most beautiful setting you will ever see.

Just outside the church is this statue, made by the same sculptor who made all of the pieces for the Passion Facade of the Sagrada Familia. I love the style.

This place has an interesting history. Way back in 880, the locals claim to have seen light in the mountains and angels singing. These visions and sounds were supposedly coming from a small cave in the mountain. Upon further investigation, religious elders discovered a black Madonna in the cave. They tried to bring it down out of the hills, but it became too heavy for them to carry, so rather than remove the Madonna they built a church in the mountains where the statue resides to this day.

Here is a shot inside the church, which was originally built in the 11th century . The black Madonna is behind the altar. It’s pretty damn small, so you can’t really see it in this photo, but it’s in the bright area in the middle.

I love the design of this organ. It is apparently similar to the organ in the Sagrada Familia, being made by the same person.

This was in one of the side-altars in the nave, and it’s got to be the coolest depiction of the crucifiction I’ve ever seen.

I took this short video so you can see how the eyes follow you….very creepy!

We had some free time on the mountain so we took the fernicular up and then hiked back down.

Some of the best views of Montserrat are from the trail leading back down.

This would have been a great shot we had moved three feet over out of that shadow!

A better view of the monastery and surrounding mountains.

After the Montserrat visit we were taken to a winery (Oller Dl Mas) in the valley below. This winery is housed in a 10th century castle that has been in the same family for 1000 years.

The wines were pretty good. The lunch they served us, not so much. One nice thing is the view looking back towards Montserrat helps explain how it got this name. Montserrat translates to “saw mountain”. This would make a nice rocking chair view!

The next day would be our last in Barcelona and Spain, but we are ready to be home.