Oops! Barcelona in a Half-Day

Here's how to make the most out of accidentally sleeping in REAALLYY late on your ONLY full day in Barcelona, which you love so much you stayed out til all hours on the first night you got there: Jump out of bed at the crack of 11:15 a.m., wake up your sister to confirm that the time is truly correct and not an optical illusion, oops!, dress quickly, grab a cappuccino at neighborhood cafe that we love already, find the taxi stand at Placa de Catalunya, and converse in Spanish to the driver all the way to La Sagrada Familia.

Interior La Sagrada Familia

As soon as we laid eyes on that totally amazing, mystical place we slowed down and decided we'd spend as long as we wanted there, and what ever else happened, happened - or not. So much for our "travel agenda!" But seriously, we squeezed in another taxi driver conversation, this time with a staunch Catalan separatist, a shared chocolate croissant for lunch at 4 p.m., the Picasso Museum in full, tapas and cava at Tapadu, a walk in the rain at night through the intriguing winding streets of El Born, and dinner at Els Quatre Gats where we looked up from our menu and realized it was 11:15 p.m.!

Here are a few photos to capture some more of this city's specialness.

Me on La Rambla

Columbus statue at shore

Ending again with a selfie, this one with some awfully fun instant friends at La Sagrada Familia!

Dazzling Barcelona!

They weren't wrong! Every single person who told us about Barcelona in the days and months preceding our trip, said something to the effect of, "It's so beautiful! It's one of my favorite cities in the whole world!" We are fortunate to be seeing this gorgeous place for ourselves, and now we get it!

In front of the Nativity facade at La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. We enveloped ourselves in its magnificence!

 Let's see if I can put together some reasons Barcelona is so special to us:

• It's clean and organized. For a big city, it has a bright, uncluttered look, and somehow feels fresh. Bus routes make sense, garbage cans are color-coded and lined up neatly, traffic lights work and people obey them, motorcycles park where they should - and that would be everywhere!
• People are friendly in multiple languages - we've got English, Spanish, and Catalan going at all times. My best time so far was having a conversation with a store clerk who knew about as much English as I did Spanish, and together we figured it out! Kellun says the fun part is getting to speak Spanish all day long. She's pretty amazing. I'm hoping it rubs off.
• The architecture is creative and wonderful. It's breathtaking, stunning, intriguing. Everywhere we look are buildings, large and small, designed in captivating ways that appear to defy nature. We continue to marvel. 

Chimneys of Casa Batllo. We took this photo from the rooftop, at night where we also took the below selfie in the wind.

• And what's really fun is that we can have tapas and sangria at 9:30 p.m. at Edelman's and then ramble on over to Els Quatre Gats (a famous Picasso hangout) for more wine and more tapas. And this is AFTER traveling overnight on the plane, followed by finding our respective ways from the airport to the hotel, enjoying a complete city tour by bus, touring Antonio Gaudi's Casa Batillo (the form, the color, the light are elements beyond description and totally delightful!), and a walk down to the Gothic Quarter before walking back to our hotel near Placa de Catalunya.

Yes indeed, the energy is flowing here. We can't wait to see what tomorrow holds in store.

Spain - Fall 2013

Tomorrow! I'll be heading off with Kellun on a sisters' trip to explore parts of the Iberian peninsula. She's leaving from Denver and I'm leaving from Chicago, and we're planning - hoping! - to meet up at the airport in Barcelona. Seems a simple endeavor in today's world of cellular connectivity, but not so simple when we're not sure our US cell phones will work once we land. Ah, maybe I'll just see her at the hotel . . . Courage and confidence, stick around please.

Assuming we find each other, here's our itinerary:

October 3-5 - Barcelona
October 5-6 - Pamplona
October 6-8 - San Sebastian
October 8-18 - Camino de Santiago, ending in Santiago de Compostela (more on this later, but as you can see, modern pilgrims seem to have websites and blogs)

Yes, that's right. AFTER we spend six or seven days sightseeing, THEN we will walk/ride for ten days on an ancient pilgrimage route! Of course we will.

Okay, so besides courage and confidence, I'm also asking for fortitude and well, energy! I hear we just need to "follow the arrows" - all one ever needs to do, really. Off we go!

Scallop shells pointing the way along the Camino. Photo borrowed from Regina Winkle-Bryan.

London on a Sunday

Today I discovered that Sunday is a great day to be out and about in London! (If one chooses wisely.)

Since I'm staying at Kelaine and Richard's, I merely had to get myself to Wimbledon Station (via bus) and then onto the correct District Line Tube train (which was empty except for me), transfer once (OMG) at Earl's Court, get off at the correct stop, South Kensington, walk through a long subway (which means pedestrian underpass here - also nearly empty at 10:00 a.m.), follow the signs, and emerge (amazingly, victoriously) at the Victoria & Albert Museum!

The V&A is quite the happy place with an eclectic collection of period clothing, furniture, design artifacts, paintings, stained glass, sculpture - and where even the cafeteria trays are delightfully decorative!

Could've stayed there all day, but today is my last full day in London, so where did I head next? Well, out to Olympic Park of course! I wanted to see what I could see since today is also the last day of the Para Olympics.

Perhaps not my very best idea of this trip! Laugh with me here!

With advice from one of the numerous guides in pink (appears to be the London 2012 Olympic official color) and a map, I managed to ride two Tube lines involving a transfer from Piccadilly Line to Central Line all the way out to East London. Upon alighting at the Stratford stop I realized where all the people in London were - here!!!

And not only that, but a person such as me couldn't even get near the park without a ticket which in today's case would have meant for the closing ceremonies!

So I walked and walked and walked with the crowds (driving is one thing, but are you supposed to walk on the right or the left?) through a shopping mall (of all things) into a department store that had created an indoors observation deck for the multitudes. And, well, that's the sum exciting total of my trip to Olympic Park.

Well, except for the Tube ride back that took over an hour and involved two more transfers and 27 stops - I counted them!

Home sweet home tomorrow!

Canterbury Cathedral: Evensong

Friday at 17:30 I found myself back inside the amazingly historic cathedral here in Canterbury for Evensong. I had toured earlier in the day, just off the train from London, so I was ready for the grandeur of the towering pointed Gothic arches and the sumptuous 12th century stained glass windows and the intricate ornamental scrollwork. This helped me focus on the music.

And oh! The music! As services began, the choir processed in front of us to the center section of the Quire where we congregants were sitting as well, everyone facing the aisle and each other. A dozen men and eighteen boys, ages about eight to twelve I'd say, all in floor length white robes draped over black shirts and high white ruffled collars, singing in exquisite four-part harmony.

They sang though every section of the service, the delicate sureness of high soprano voices blending with strong altos, vibrant tenors and resonant basses, forming consonants and chords that soared high to heaven inside this ancient holy place.

The choir delivered an Ave Maria in at least eight-part harmony as their anthem. And as if that weren't enough, the service ended with a Bach fugue organ voluntary!

An ethereal experience, among the best of this trip!

Oh yes, free and not even on my tourist's list of what to see in Canterbury.

London!

Made it to central London on Monday, in spite of Heathrow's madness. CPH - LHR was an uneventful 1.5 hours and the curving Thames from the air is quite a remarkable sight. But then it took over 2 more hours to get myself to Sierra's flat in Covent Garden. But no matter, no more grumbling, now I'm here, the last but definitely not least stop on this ambitious overseas trip. Diana is staying in Denmark to visit relatives.

Here's what London is offering up as a feast for the eyes these days:

• Big Ben - it never ceases to amaze - I just stand and stare and try not to get run over by all the people!
• Houses of Parliament - flying the Union Jack
• Buckingham Palace - yes I finally pulled off an inside tour by being here during August/September when it's open to the public; and yes, it was truly one sumptuously gorgeous room after another!
• Churchill Museum & Cabinet War Rooms
• Trafalgar Square
• Charing Cross Road - the book I'm reading right now is called 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, so of course I tried to find it
• Greenwich - I took a Thames River boat cruise to get there and back, finding where time begins - truly it's measured starting there!, and the Cutty Sark clipper ship is dry docked there as well
• London Tower
• Covent Garden - where Sierra lives
• Regent's Park
• Wimbledon - to stay with Kelaine and Richard, and 
• Les Miserables - twice! at Queen's Theatre with Sierra as Fontaine and Tam as Javier - beyond awesome!

Pedaling Copenhagen

Today we rode bicycles around the city, becoming the "temporary locals" we came here to be. "Yes, of course we have bikes, what's your room number?, here are the keys, bikes are in back, take your pick white or brown." So simple.

Such a freedom to fly over areas we had walked last night. We acted like we knew where we were going, and rode directly to Nyhavn, a picturesque Copenhagen harbor full of wooden boats. Our canal cruise, including the Little Mermaid statue, helped us get further oriented.

Returning from our cruise, we hopped on our sweet bicycles and pedaled across the Knippels-Torvegade Bridge (I know, we can't pronounce anything either!) to Christiania, a 70s commune. We were thrilled to be riding in bike lanes on major thoroughfares and proud to find our way with confidence and ease in such a large city (2 million) on bicycles! Can't imagine doing this anywhere else.

On our way back we stopped to climb 398 stairs (the highest ones outside!) to the very top of the spiraling gleaming golden tower of Our Savior's Church. Copenhagen is fun on bikes on the street and absolutely glorious from the sky! The panoramic view of the rooftops of Copenhagen filled my heart.

So, yes it's true: Bicycles are everywhere and bike lanes are busier than car lanes. We SO fit right in! What an ideal mode of travel through a big city. Perfect, really.