Adagio
October 16, 2005

Barcelona…or a little of it, anyway!

I just have a bit of time, so thought I would try to do a little teeny show and tell.

As much as I love to travel, the getting there and back is often exhausting. We did manage to get there and back safely, after all, so I won’t regale you with those harrowing tales of coughUSAircough travel.

With the help of our Barcelona friend, Piret, we booked an apartment that we had found several months ago on the internet. Sometimes photographs can make a place seem much nicer than it really is—but in this case, the place was much nicer than the photographs on their website (or mine) can tell.

Because we were planning on having several people join us, and we were going to be there for three weeks, we got a larger, more comfortable place. We were not disappointed. Situated on the top floor of the building (with an elevator), it had everything. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, fully equipped kitchen, a dining room (with place settings for 12 if we wanted), and everything we would ever need for entertaining, a dishwasher, a washing machine and views that were astonishing.

Here is the living room. (My journal/sketchbook is on the table.)

It had a wall of windows that opened out to a huge terrace where we ate many of our meals. This is the view from there. (Gaudi’s Park Guell is in the green trees a few blocks away.)

Yes, there really is a ferris wheel up near the cathedral on the hill.

The three bedrooms were all upstairs. One room was spacious, bright and airy with a large table perfect for doing artwork. Another bedroom was a small, cozy, one person room. And the back bedroom had tall French doors that led out to a large terracotta terrace overlooking the city and the Mediterranean sea. (Don and I took that room.) Here’s a view from that terrace. You can see Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia Cathedral under construction in the distance on the left.

Our apartment was located in the Gracia area. It is a family neighborhood far enough from the tourism to feel homey and quiet, and yet it held all the charm of nearby squares, shops and restaurants. Don got up every morning and went to the same shop for his coffee and pastry. Then we walked six blocks everyday to the Metro and from there had access to anywhere we wanted to go.

And we went everywhere!

But now I have to get going—(We need to get nearly 200 costumes done in three weeks…) auuuuggghh!

:)xo

Adagio

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Red Wolf
October 17, 2005

It looks lovely! Can’t wait to hear more and see more!!

Cat
October 17, 2005

wonderful… you take such great trips (and pictures)! 🙂

Oh wow. Fantastic!

Robin W
October 17, 2005

Fabulous! I’m so *jellis* LOL! xoxo

Shi
October 17, 2005

What a marvelous place. It must have be a divine trip. Well aside from the air travel.

GypsyWynd
October 17, 2005

Can’t wait to see more!! This looks like another fabulous trip!

oh it is so wonderful to see pictures and hear about your trip! who did you go with? what was the goal? (sorry, i forget…) good luck on all the costume-making. sounds like fun! thanks for your note, it was so good to hear from you.

Looking up
October 18, 2005

Absolutely lovely entry and I love the book collection. The trip is a dream.

just elle
October 18, 2005

…can’t wait to hear more! I’m sure you took lots of notes that you won’t forget a thing…we’ll be waiting for you to share!

White sky
October 18, 2005

Cant wait to hear all about the trip. I love, love Gaudi! And how lovely to have all those books at a rental place. SOunds like a wonderful trip. Details!!

Embodied
October 18, 2005

It looks wonderful!!!

gorgeous pics. 200 costumes? 3 weeks! Yikes! (but if anyone can do it, you can)

its me kate
October 19, 2005

thank you for sharing this with me.

LifeInFlames
October 20, 2005

How beautiful. It looks like a very relaxing place. Hope you had a great time.

Wowww, fabulous 🙂

Avanti
October 23, 2005

What a homey apartment…and what views!! I want to go to Barcelona! Now. lol Looking forward to more….but, with 200 (200!!!!) costumes on the go, when on earth will you find the time to come on here, I wonder?! I’ll just have to be patient, I guess! : )

teaparty
October 24, 2005

What a beautiful place to live for the time you were there!

April Fool
October 27, 2005

What a refreshing difference, for a place to meet and exceed expectations! It all sounds lovely! I particularly like that second picture, with not only the ferris wheel, the cathedral, and the minaret, but all the antennas sticking up, too! Oh, how I hope you got some close-ups of the Gaudi architecture! I can’t wait for more! (I know, I know, you’ve got costumes. Twitch your nose! Hee!)

zhnee
October 30, 2005

Simply lovely. What a fine time you must have had!

April Fool
October 31, 2005

Happy Halloween!!! *cackle*

ryn: yes, you have the topic right for the book. I’m writing away. 2,310 words so far, over 300 more than my daily goal, yay me. as for blytherspirit, you might have noticed I’ve left her a ton of notes. been quite worried about her, really. I even sent an email. sigh. hope she is ok. and i miss her spooky cat. I think my cats are going thru w/drawal w/o spooky updates! I’ll join u guys.

ok, do you think something happened to b? or her mum? i wish there was some way to find out, dang it. i hope she is ok.

My darling, darling dear one, HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?? That phone date will come soon, but friends from the Fort are here this weekend, and next weekend we are in Boulder for the Boy, and so it may be closer to later November. Life is a kick! Love and hugs to my world traveler, most delictable of all!!

Oh, oh, oh!! I was in Barcelona for a day as the start of a cruise we took with my dad in ’99. We weren’t there long enough, that’s for sure. Our visiting professor for Elementary Span. is from Pamplona. He’s trying to handle all of us bratty Americans on his own since our professor’s health has knocked her off campus until Jan. Even tho’ he considers me la abuela of the class, I adore him.

Embodied
November 6, 2005

RYN: Thanks for your good wishes, AND your hand-holding. It’s amazing how comforting that was to read. 🙂

hey, she did refund me my money. (I’ll be sure to make sure that she did). woohoo! squeaky wheel got the grease.

Wide-Eyed
November 19, 2005

What a wonderful opportunity for you all. You must have had such an awsome time and seen things we all dream of seeing one day. I imagine you to be very, very busy these days between costumes and Itty Bitties. Bless you my dear. I know when you have time we will hear wonderful, fascinating tales from you.

April Fool
November 24, 2005

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! Hope all’s well that eats well!

Happy Thanksgiving! : )

forever in motion
December 31, 2005

Gosh, it looks fabulous! I really do have to get out of the U.S. sometime when I travel. What a wonderful trip for you. xxoo,

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