Spain
Part 5 1/2
More Pics from Barcelona and

The Beautiful La Sagrada Familia

There are soooo many street performers along La Ramblas and the surrounding area. Some are good, some are blah and without purpose. But THIS guy was tap dancing AND bouncing/juggling up to 5 balls at a time, keeping the balls in perfect rhythm with his toe-tappin' feet. He was awesome. There was quite a crowd surrounding this very talented gentleman. Jack was in awe. Of course, he got a couple of euros from us. I hope he goes on to dance somewhere beyond the streets.

This was the very first performer I spotted from our cab ride to the hotel. He made me chuckle but didn't get any euros. Sorry dude, gotta dance.

Okay, THIS dude was allll kinds o' freaky. He'd just move his arms ever so slowly, totally diggin' whatever scene was goin' on in his head. Visually stunning but very odd. Classic.

You KNOW we had to take a pic of the old BMW R65 was saw. There were a TON of BMW 650's hittin' the streets with the occassional 1200 floating around. The bigger bikes were not very useful in Barcelona traffic. You have to see the amount of cars to really understand what I mean. More than New York and San Francisco combined. No joke.

Just a look down the narrow streets of Barcelona. There were stores and restaurants around every corner, down even narrower alleys. We were never pick-pocketed (a major threat in these crowds) and felt very fortunate considering our "experience" in Madrid.

Welcome to La Sagrada Familia, a church begun by Antoni Gaudi in 1883 and is still under construction to this day. On June 7th, 1926, Gaudi was killed by a tram as he was leaving the work site. No one recognized him, so he was taken to a hospital for the poor. He died 3 days later. Antoni Gaudi is buried inside the church.

Scaffolding can be seen throughout the church as construction continues.

We thankfully had plenty of sunny days while on our trip.

More of the exterior detail at the entrance.

It was extremely grand - the stained glass windows were absolutely stunning.

More stunning light effects.

More amazing statues.

Unfortunately, the interior scaffolding blocked some of the views.

These concrete doors were full of scripture.

More concrete doors.

The statues on the back of the church were done in a very non-traditional, totally Gaudi style.

More Gaudi style.

More Gaudi.

Sunset on La Sagrada Familia.

Jack sportin' the chef hat he was given by our waiter.

Spain
Part 4 1/4
Finally, Some More Pictures I Needed to Put Before Part 4 1/2...Damn.

NOTE: These are some final pics during our last days in Madrid before heading to Barcelona. I apologize for the confusion but there are so many to keep track of. Friggin' Euro internet connection. Aaargh!!!

Terry's fresh new noggin, and the scab from where he hit his head before he left for Spain. Kids, don't drink and shave - this could happen to you...

So, just how short are the Spaniards you ask? Well, this is Terry in a metro tunnel and he has about 2 inches before he scrapes his head on the ceiling (Terry's about 6' tall). No short jokes to any family members. You know who you are. LOL!

Inside of Atocha train station, the site of a 2004 terrorist bombing. Still rebuilding.

Self portrait while waiting for our number to be called to get tickets to Barcelona.

Still waiting for our number to be called...annnnytime now...

Our outdoor cafe where the owner/host spoke no English but was very, very nice.

Slammin' some local brew.

Some cheese pizza and the boy is giddy!

Spain's version of a house salad - lettuce, tuna, marinated asparagus, tomatoes, green olives and a hard boiled egg. Top it with some olive oil and vinegar and you have yourself and meal. Very tasty, but where IS the pepper?!?

And may I present the very manly policia scooters. About as manly as a guy drivin' a minivan. Yes, folks, you too can be chased down by a guy on a scooter. A SCOOTER, DUDE! But it does have that cool blue light... (Atocha train station in background on your left, construction wall in blue and white.)

We finally got to the Prado Museum. Very large, very beautiful and very full of Parisian high schoolers. This is where we saw Bizarro French Rebecca. Remember Bizarro World on Superman? Think about it. Rebecca, she was TOTALLY you but spoke French. Weird. No, bizarro.

It was filled with some very religious art work...

...that was really, REALLY old. It shows the birth and death date of the painter, but you get the point.

The paintings were very beautiful and quite large.

I mean they really were huge!

Just a cool looking painting.

Okay, so this one required a hit of acid in order to understand its, uh, complexity.

Okay everyone, put down your acid strips and find the guy with the butt flowers...no joke.

An awesome statue of Neptune, but where IS his penis? Anyone?!?

A personal favorite, don't ask me why. Could it be the voluptuous figure?

Another personal fave.

And another one.

Is this a painting of the first lobotomy? What the hell?!?

I am soooo going to hell for this one, but dude, a painting of a midget? Could this not BE any funnier?!? We had a grand chuckle over this one. Sorry, but you KNOW you wanna laugh!

Jack was COMPLETELY enthralled with the whole scene.

Just one more pic. These are hanging legs of cured pork meat, HOOVES STILL ATTACHED! The guy behind the counter sliced to order. Um, ya, I'll take the bone to gnaw on. Thanks.

Spain
Part 4 1/2
Finally, Some Pictures...


NOTE: These are pics starting from our train ride to Barcelona from Madrid. Enjoy!

One of the "Lookouts" (guy in gray sweater and jeans) who pretended to be on the phone while he cased the train station. He was is on one of the theft rings. He thought he was good, but proved to not be good enough. Shithead. Sorry, dad.

Jack diggin' the ride on the bullet train. We hit about 100mph.

A Preferred Ticket = A Preferred Meal = Yumm! Fish, cured ham with melon, brie, fresh bread, wine, SCORE!

A reflection pic while going through a tunnel.

View from our balcony in Barcelona. Very cool locale and a very cool place. But the water was a tad stinky. Ick.

Looking the other direction to La Ramblas Street a.k.a. A compact version of the Vegas Strip but with more freaky street performers. Very loud, lots o' peeing between the trash bins at night. And, oh ya, the garbage truck comes EVERY FREAKING NIGHT, right outside the window. Not a prob as we were having trouble sleeping anyway. And Terry did see some drunk chick pee her pants while trying to walk down the sidewalk. Classic.

Ventured out to La Ramblas for some grub. Here's a pic looking up one way...

...and down the other way. People, food, beer, people, beer everywhere!!

While sitting and watching the show stroll by (while waiting for our dinner), Jack insisted on taking the next group photo. Not a bad job, eh?!?

Terry and I looking a smidge exhausted...just a smidge. Time for a big ass beer!

Our first authentic meal - paella. Yes, the prawns have eyes...totally tasty.