Sunday, September 7, 2008

Fifth Stop: Barcelona, Spain

Come join Melissa and me as we take a bus with green tinted windows tour of Barcelona, Spain.

(Please feel free to just ignore us once again.)



One of the first things that we saw as we started our tour of Barcelona was this bride and groom having their picture made.



Sigh.

I just love wedding pictures.

And for two homesick girls, this next sign we saw through the green tinted bus window was a welcome sight, as well as a sweet reminder of home.



Sigh.

(And just to let you know, our bus was that close to the Starbucks' building....I did not zoom in with my camera. Shiver.)

If I remember correctly (and the jury is still out on this), these next two pictures are of a monument dedicated to the memory of Christopher Columbus.



It is difficult to take decent pictures from the inside of a moving tour bus with green tinted windows, and this monument was so tall that I had to take two shots of it to try to let you see the whole thing. (I was very dedicated to taking pictures of everything to share with you, my bloggy buddies.)



I have no idea what this next building was, but it was really beautiful.



And I'm sorry to say, that I also have no idea what the name of this building is either, but it was stunning. (Of course, I do realize that there is a name on the front of this building, but I just don't have any idea of what it says.....Do you?)



If you have read this blog even once before, then you know that I am a girl who gets a kick out of the "little" things in life. So, you'll understand when I tell you that I really got a kick out of these chocolate covered almonds that I bought in Barcelona.



Sigh.

They were sooooo delicious! And you will all be very happy to know that I did share some of these yummy chocolate covered almonds with Melissa, unlike my cannoli.

Melissa was posing with her salty treat from Barcelona, much like one of Bob Barker's Drew Carey's lovely ladies on "The Price is Right."



(Can you guess how many Euros for this bag of salty treats that I can't pronounce the name of?)

This next picture is of a sign in the bathroom at the little store in Barcelona that all forty of us ladies on the tour bus had to use the bathroom at.



When we read this sign, we got so tickled! (Especially when we thought of Kenny and Yvette.)



It was so funny, because there was no way to really mess up the water closet, because there was no toilet paper or paper towels in the water closet.

(Is it just me, or does water closet sound much more proper than "the bathroom?")

Once we were able to compose ourselves, Melissa took this picture of me "showing" you "The Price is Right" style the empty toilet paper container.



Thank God, I am a lady who doesn't leave the house without a roll of "Charmin To Go" in my bag, so Melissa and I were okay......But I can't speak for the other thirty-eight women.

(FYI~ If you ever decide to go to Europe, take several rolls of "Charmin To Go" with you; bathrooms not having paper was a common occurrence during our trip. But I will share more about that in a later post.)

After we were finished with all of our bathroom nonsense, we had about ten minutes to look around outside. The little store with no toilet paper was located right across the street from this magnificent church building, which is still under construction.



"Isn't that church 'gaudy'?" you ask.

Well, it's very funny that you should ask me that. It is indeed very "gaudy," but not in the way you think.



It was created by a "now" famous architect with the last name of Gaudi. He is now deceased, but when he was alive, everyone thought his designs were ridiculous. (I will have more of them in the next post.) But after his death, people became intrigued with his work.

His name along with his designs, is where we get the term and definition for the word "gaudy."

Gaudy:
1: ostentatiously or tastelessly ornamented 2: marked by extravagance or sometimes tasteless showiness


The name of this church is the Sagrada Familia.
I can't remember the exact dates and times, but they have been working on this building for many, many years, and it is going to take many, many more to see it through to its completion.



It is a massive structure, and it's unbelievably gaudy ornate.



In order for you to appreciate how massive this church building is, click on the picture below to enlarge it. You will notice over to the left hand side of the picture (almost half way down the photo), that there is something resembling a white dot. The white dot is a full grown man's tee shirt.



Pretty incredible, huh?

Well, right before getting back on the tour bus with green tinted windows, Melissa had me snap a picture of this lady's "interesting hair do." Melissa wanted so badly to take a pair of scissors and cut that little "rat tail" off of her head.



Melissa was just saying is all.

That's all for now; I will torture you all with more from Barcelona, Spain, next time.

27 comments:

sa061545@bellsouth.net said...

I'm glad to see more of your trip!!! That Gaudy church is just unbelievable!!! Maybe on your next trip, you can go inside!
LOVE your new layout! And thanks Diane for the new header!
Sandra (Amy's Mom)

sa061545@bellsouth.net said...

I'm glad to see more of your trip!!! That Gaudy church is just unbelievable!!! Maybe on your next trip, you can go inside!
LOVE your new layout! And thanks Diane for the new header!
Sandra (Amy's Mom)

My Blessings From Above said...

What fabulous pictures! Even though they were tinted green, I think they look great! That church is amazing! What a creation.

Ok,now I have to tell you how great your blog looks, love the new header. Very nice.

Oh...one more thing. Because you posted about Barcelona, I now have the Barcelona song by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe playing in my head over and over! Barcelona.....it was the first time that we met....Barcelona how can I forget! The first time that you stepped into the room you took my breath away.....I'm going to hear this the rest of the day!
It's bad enough that I hear Queen in my car every time we go out, I have told you that I have two Queen obsessive children, right! Gee thanks Amy! LOL!!!! :)

Tracey said...

I am so enjoying my (your) trip in Europe!!!

much2ponder said...

Amazing pics. I clicked on the ones of buildings by Gaudi and they are truly amazing. Looks like fund and Praise the Lord for Charmin, amen? Amen!

Unknown said...

I do like the Church. Pretty awesome. The term water closet would confuse me so I will stick with bathroom. I have a friend leaving Tuesday and I have told her many times to get plenty of Charmin. And yes Rose is still dreaming:)

valerie said...

I love seeing all the pictures of your trip, especially since I'll probably never get to go to Europe.
The church is huge and very interesting. I'm glad you pointed out the white t-shirt. Wow that gives us insight on how really big it was! The Gaudi part was very interesting. My first impression was that it looked almost like mud was dripping down it.
The water closet part cracked me up too. I know when we went to Israel way back when, their toilet paper is like crape paper. This is too much info...but my sister liked it & now it's a joke with all of us. If I ever (which I try very hard not to do) buy some off brand tp my husband says "Now, Pam would like this kind." :)
Thanks again for sharing. I can't wait to see more.
Did you get to get off the bus and get Starbucks?
Have a blessed day, Amy!

Gina said...

I love Barcelona!! We spent 2 days there when we went to Europe. You are right about the Sagrada Familia, it is enormous. Bob and I got to go inside and the stained glass windows in there are amazing. I look forward to more photos in your next post. :)

God bless,
Gina

Dee said...

There was something very hinkey going on with this pc this evening, sorry its taken me so long to get my comment up.

Love the new banner, it's so you! I'm positively green about your trip, but I guess I'll always have greece. I believe the Gugenheim is in Barcelona, did you go there at all? If you did, I'll just faint.

Thanks again for being so special! Mwah dhalink!

Whitney said...

Well that just looks like so much fun! I love vaca entires. So much fun! :)
I'm hosting a new giveaway this week! Be sure to enter, pretty lady!

Unknown said...

The TP issue would make me crazy. if I ever travel oversees, I'll need to buy stock in Charmin!

The church - Hmmmm I'm more for simple and elegant. Gaudy? Not somuch.

Tina said...

WC = weird country, with their non-toilet-paper-providing-selves...good grief!

And the Gaudi/Gaudy church...massive!! And is it just me or does it actually look likes it's covered in tree bark? It has a weird texture and that's what it makes me think of.

Great pictures, as always!!

Jamie said...

Isn't that charmin-to-go wonderful...I took some on my trip to China.

Love the new blog look!

Laura said...

These pictures are amazing, Amy! And your new blog design is so awesome! Just lovely. Have a great day!

Hula Girl at Heart said...

Wonderful pictures! I sooo love hearing about your trip. Keep it coming!

Kellan said...

That picture of that tiny man in that one picture is unbelievable - what a building. What a great trip!

Have a good day - Kellan

Nicole said...

Very fun pictures of you and Melissa. You both have beautiful blue eyes that just pop! Spain looks like such a foreign world (I guess it it is..ha ha) but SO beautiful. Thank you for the link regarding the pink bathroom. I think I have some good ideas going.

Love,
Nicole

Nicole said...

By the way...absolutely love your blog makeover! Very welcoming, comfortable, simple but beautiful. That's my style. I tried to make over mine last night but couldn't find anything that fit who I am. Maybe I'll try later, and then maybe not. We'll see!

Paula V said...

LOVE the new look. I love flowers, especially daisies. Love the chocolate and turquoise. The header matches just so perfectly.

The pics of your trip are fabulous.

Sorry I'm a day late and dollar short. I've been out of blog land for a few days.
love ya,
PP

Smiling Shelly said...

Well first I will say that I love hearing about your trip and seeing all of these beautiful - even if they are green tinted - pictures that you took.

Second, I can't believe that no one else - besides me - was anal enough to look up the name of that building for you.

Caixa Catalunya is a Spanish bank with headquarters in Barcelona, Catalonia. (Just FYI :))

Water Closet...now that's an interesting name for the bathroom. I notice that, while theirs was empty, they had a place to hang the cheese wheel. lol!

And lastly, that Gaudi Church reminds me of something that should be in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Great post - as usualy :)

Smiling Shelly said...

OMG!!! My dorkyness is just oozing from the page.

As Usualy?? Could I GET worse grammar?!?! And sadly, I didn't even spell it right. UGH!!!

Half Gaelic, Half Garlic! said...

I loved this post....what a wondeful vacation!

Incredible photos....and yes, I would have been tempted to cut off the rat tail too...I hated them, even when they were in style!

Lisa

Van said...

Enjoyed traveling down memory lane - I spent time in Barcelona years ago. Will the Sagrada Familia ever be completed? What a fun trip!

Weeksie50 said...

I am loving all your pictures. It looks like you guys had a blast..

I TAGGED You.

Becky

Kelly said...

Love your new look on your blog!
Sooooo cute!

Sharon said...

YEAAAAAHHH for starbucks! :)
Wow that one huge structure was awesome!! Looks like alot of fun.
thanks for sharing
Sharon

Aleisha said...

WOW! We wanted to go to spain, but could not make up our mind where. Now I know. Thank you! Beautiful Pictures.