Week 6 - Paris

This was my 3rd time in Paris.  I really love the city, though Parisians definitely win the rudeness award so far!  I forgot about that!  My cousin Daniel and his fiancee Sabrina were joking about this.  They are not your typical Parisians in this regard, as they are super friendly!  We went out for a proper French meal and I stayed at their place on my last night.

Sabrina, Daniel and I in a French restaurant near l'Opera.

L'Arc de Triomphe

Eglise St. Eustache

Sculpture in the courtyard outside Eglise St. Eustache

Fromagerie.  I love love love cheese in Europe!!  I've been seriously overdosing since being here.   Paige (my roommate) doesn't seem to appreciate opening the fridge to the delicious stench of a good strong Camembert! 

L'Hotel de Ville

You know what this is!  Daniel and Sabrina live very close to the Eiffel Tower.

The Louvre.  I didn't go inside this time.  I may have to go back soon!

Les Touilleries.  This is the park extending from the Louvre, which is behind me as I'm taking the photo.  If you look closely, past the ferris wheel is L'Arc de Triomphe way off in the distance.

Le Seine.

Sacre Coeur.  I was staying about a 15 minute walk from here for a couple of days.

Sacre Coeur by night.

Notre Dame

The organ at Notre Dame is winning the organ competition so far!  It's so amazing!

Galerie Lafayette.  I did not buy anything here for a couple of reasons: too expensive and crazy crowds before Christmas!

The Dali museum (near Sacre Coeur) had some really cool sculptures.  Most of which are also recurrent images in his paintings.  Like this one of Alice (in wonderland).

Dali got the idea for the melting clock on a hot August afternoon as he was watching some Camembert melt!  I'm a fan of the Audio-guide!

Another famous image.

Dali had some identity issues, mostly to do with his brother who died before he was born.  His parents gave him the same name as his dead brother.  Creepy, eh?

Bike chronicling again.  There are lots of bike lanes in Paris. They also have a bike sharing program, but I didn't see as many as in Barcelona.  There is definitely a difference in the weather, so that's probably a factor!

That's all I'll say about Paris.  I returned to London on the train, which was so great!  It took 2 hours and 15 minutes from central Paris to central London.  So much better than the plane!

Shopping at Lidl's with Edwin in Pinner!  This is one of our favorite activities to do together!  I am holding up brussel sprouts on the stalk!  Those Brits love their brussel sprouts!

My report on Germany will have to wait a few days, as tomorrow I'm off to Stamford to see Rachelle and Mark who are visiting Mark's family.  Yay!

Week 5 Barcelona continued...

I got back from Germany last night, so I'll start again with Barcelona!

I've been taking pictures of organs in the churches that I visit.  This one is from Cathedral of Santa Eulalia.  It was completed in about 1450.  There was a crazy Christmas market outside this church.  I actually like crowds, but this crowd was way too densely packed for my liking!  I didn't even take a photo, I was too preoccupied with getting out!

I like this translation error on the back of a bus.  Aren't there a few English speakers around to proof-read their major add campaigns?!!

I am also chronicling the bike-friendliness in some European cities.  This is just one part of the bike parking-lot at a subway station.  Barcelona also has TONS of those bikes for rent all over the city - and lots of people of all ages use them. 

Now for the Gaudi section of this blog!

Parc Guell

Band playing in the park, (Mananers) I bought their CD called High Every Day.  They were fun!

More Parc Guell

Casa Batllo.  This was around the corner from where I was staying.

 Casa Batllo

Casa Batllo

Casa Batllo at night - amazingly beautiful!

Sagrada Familia!  Gaudi's major life's work, still under construction (notice the cranes!)  This is the most incredible building I've ever seen.  I cannot say AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL, INCREDIBLE strong enough or often enough, so I have included a bunch of pictures from here.  You just have to imagine me saying AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL, INCREDIBLE in my most animated way!

Sagrada Familia front entrance.

Notice this guy on the picture above at the bottom right.

 Inside Sagrada Familia - WOOOOOOOOOOW!

The ceiling of Sagrada familia.  The pillars are like tree branches.

The sanctuary.  Is Jesus hanging from an illuminated yellow parasol?

Close-up of the organs.

More incredible branch pillars.

Little people along the ceiling of the church.

 The back of Sagrada Familia

 Close-up of the back.

Closer-up of the back!

I am standing in one of the high towers.  Looking down you can see that there will be a huge spire coming up from the middle of the church - still under construction.

I took many many more pictures in Barcelona, but I've got to stop somewhere!  Barcelona is a super beautiful city, and I bet it's really fun to live there.  I miss El Corte Ingles, siesta, the super cheap, but good wine and talking Spanish!

Week 5 Barcelona

I've had a great past couple of weeks.  Barcelona was super awesome.  It is a gorgeous city and I met lot of people and talked lots of Spanish!  I even bought a book in Spanish (I've been reading the Harry Potter books - thanks a lot Paige! - and I can't put them down!  So, I finished book 2 while in Barcelona, so I bought book 3 in Spanish!  Now I'm already half way through #4!).

I think I'll let the photos do the talking.  I apologize for the huge number of photos, but there's just so much to see!

A random street at night (near La Rambla).  On Dec 6, 8 and 12th, there are some sort of holidays in Spain, so people were out in force! 

 My new Italian friends, Nello and Marco Antonio

This bull ring is being made into a mall (though it's taking years and years) because bull fighting is now illegal in Catalonia.  Ole!!

A dragon on La Rambla

Me and the oldies hangin' in the boulevard park.  Notice the roses behind me? 

A typical lunch spot in a 'plaza' somewhere.  This restaurant was responsible for the worst garlic breath I've had in 11 years.  Patatas alioli.

The Barcelona post office. A little nicer than Vancouver's!

A large man in a funky outfit.

I don't say about this building.  It's a tad phallic.

Tibidabo.  This place has the most amazing 360 degree view of Barclona and the countryside surrounding it.  However, my camera ran out of batteries after taking my first picture, which is below:

The church at Tibidabo.  The first and last picture taken there!  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarg!

I've run out of time to finish this section.  But I will continue it after returning from Germany.  I'm leaving tomorrow, (Dec 21) IF my flight isn't canceled - there have been steady cancelations since snow fell 3 days ago!!  I'll be hanging out with Mette Table in Berlin and then going to her parent's place for Christmas.  Yay!  Mulled wine here I come!