Barcelona Beach

Because it has been so unexpectedly warm here, we decided to go to the beach today. The Mediterranean is BEAUTIFUL – super clear water and sailboats all over the place. The water was quite cold, but it was plenty warm for a swimsuit (or lack of one if you are wild). The crowd consisted of families, urban campers, students, vacationers, and a lot of hippies.

They do have a slight problem with roamers trying to sell stuff to beachgoers. We were offered everything from scarves and coconuts to beer and cocaine. Nuts, I know. The Pakistani drug man literally sat down with us and would not leave for about 10 minutes. Stories from “Locked Up Abroad” started flashing through my mind. We listened to his sad story and finally convinced him that we really were not interested. When he left, George turned to me and said “I feel really bad for that guy. I think I am going to go give him a euro.” WHAT?!? I am usually the one that gives in to people like this, but this man just tried to sell us coke! He quickly agreed this was probably not the best idea. For once, I was the voice of reason.

(Fact: Barcelona did not even have a beach before the 1992 Summer Olympics. The city dredges sand from the ocean every year to make the beach.)

Segway tour - moving fast

Segway tour - George's first go

Segway tour - Britt video

Segway tour -"How to" video

Sagrada Famila - The Pope is coming

After our segway tour we zoomed up to Sagrada Familia as the Pope is coming on Sunday and the rumor was that it would be closed between now and then. We found out that it wasn't going to be closed but could tell that it would be a zoo between now and Sunday. They have massive TVs set up all over the place and the police were out in force. We plan on taking the actual tour on Monday, once the Pope leaves. In the interim, here are our pics:

View of Sagrada Famila from our terrace afternoon lunch:

Same view but at night:

Oh yeah, she's bad:

Segway in Barcelona - Pictures

We did a segway tour this afternoon in the "Old City"of Barcelona - picture above is the Roman wall that protected the city. The segway tour was awesome. We were taught how to cruise around on the segway and then shown a significant portion of the city. It is difficult to cover the harbor/sea/beach area surrounding the Mediterranean but the segway allowed us to do it. Our tour guide also helped us to understand the tourist traps of the city and where the locals would head for their dinner (which we, of course, followed to every word and will have pending blog post on such). I'm posting the pictures below and hoping for the videos to load in a second post to follow.

Our tour guide explaining how the segway works:

Brittany navigating a tight street with our friend from Colorado in tow. She was nervous judging from the look on her face:

Me learning how to turn the segway (it's a bit different than the vespa):

The Columbus Monument at the end of Las Ramblas (Christopher left from Barcelona on his 2nd trip to the New World - he's calling his shot in Babe Ruth fashion):

Statue for the Duke of Medinaceli:

Yes, she is topless and doing exercise moves on the beach. Welcome to Europe:

This is not Dubai but the W hotel tried to copy it - the locals aren't happy:

This is a previous textile mill turned green energy building:

That's a water tower, not a minaret:

This is the olympic sailing club headed out to sea:

Panoramic from the Olympic harbor around the manmade beach.

Incredible boat leaving the Olympic harbor:

FC Barcelona

Day 2 has come and gone. It was a great day of sight seeing and relaxation. We slept in, ate breakfast, and lounged around at the hotel. Mid-day we headed to the western portion of town where the local futbol club, FC Barcelona, is located. The organization itself is impressive. They have several teams within the club - soccer, basketball, ice skating, hand ball, and roller hockey. It's a bit different than normal sports organizations within the United States. The club has an impressive and storied history that is intertwined with the politics of Spain over the past 100 years. The largest team by far, is soccer. Last year, they were the first team ever to win every tournament possible - around 6, I think.

The club has a wonderful museum that is connected to the stadium, Camp Nou (seats 99K). We had an audio device that gave us the history and significance of each piece within the museum - mostly memorabilia from old teams. The pictures are below:

Britt with her new favorite athlete, Carles Puyol:

View from the press box:

This is a chapel in the tunnel as the players walk out:

Beer Machine

They have beer machines here. Can you imagine what Americans would say about this? It was pretty shocking to both of us.

When In Rome... Oh, I Mean Barcelona

What a great day! We arrived safely in Barcelona (we are 6 hours ahead of CST) after an easy flight. According to Jorge, I got about 10 hours of sleep on our 8 1/2 hour flight and he got about 4. What can I say, I get my sleeping ability from my dad.

When we arrived at 8:00 AM Barcelona time, our hotel room wasn't ready so we went and ate breakfast down the street. I think we may have gone the wrong way, because we ended up at an Asian restaurant and had eggs, french fries, sausage, and SALAD for breakfast. It was a little weird, but at least they had Coke. I even ate the salad! After that, we walked down to the Forum for a little bit and slept in the hotel lobby until our hotel room was ready.

Our hotel is really cool - clean and modern. It also has a great view. You can see more of our hotel at http://www.me-barcelona.com/. The experience has been 5 star so far.

We took a nap and headed to Las Ramblas this afternoon. It was awesome! We checked out the bird and pet salesmen, flower booths, and fresh food market. After walking for awhile, we people watched at an outdoor pub. We were told by our concierge that you don't eat here until at least 9:30 PM. The restaurants don't even open until 8:30 or later! We opted for an early dinner at 9:00 at Cafe de l'Academia, a place that Rick Steves recommends. The seafood was fabulous.

The weather here is similar to Alabama. The highs are in the 70's and the lows are in the 50's. It was sunny and beautiful today and the forecast predicts the same for most of our vacation. Hope you enjoy the few pictures we have taken so far...

Breakfast:

Las Ramblas:

Boqueria Market:

Eating at Cafe de l'Academia: