Protests and Riots

Our trip on the train from San Sebastian to Barcelona was long and boring.  The countryside was barren and not very interesting most of the way.  I was also a bit worried about what we would find in Barcelona.  You may know that they recently had some conflict there. Here is a link to an article about the riots and protests.

Our good friends NDL and ES arrived in Barcelona on the day the region voted for independence from Spain. They had a bit of a struggle getting to their hotel.

What would we encounter?

I worried for nothing. Although we saw protestors and barracades, the protestors were not gathered around the seaside where our hotel was located.

These are protesters crossing a street next to our hotel.

We stayed at Hotel Arts on the waterfront close to where the Olympics were held in 1992. We had a great room on the 27th floor overlooking both the city and the sea. It was a fantastic view.

Hubby D says the Hotel Arts had the best shower of the trip. I would agree, it was a good shower.

Our hotel was right next to a sculpture by American architect Frank Ghery. It was very interesting both in the day and at night.

The hotel had a Murano glass chandelier in the lobby and wonderful flowers around every corner. There were even beautiful green leaves at our door. We had not seen anything like this since we went to Africa.  In Africa a green leaf is as valuable as a flower. These were beautiful.

A view of part of the Olympic Village from our window.

Finally we were in a position to see the sunset and I had my first beautiful sunset of the trip. It was a thrill.

Our time in Barcelona was spent touring the city. The next morning after crepes, bread pudding (MY FAVORITE) and eggs for breakfast, we were ready to head out and explore.

We spent a good deal of time at the Sagrada Família Basilica designed by Antoni Gaudí. From 1915 until his death in 1926, Gaudí devoted his life to the Sagrada Familia. Although the construction of the Sagrada Familia began in 1882, it is still unfinished.

He also designed several of the buildings around town and it was very easy to pick them out.  I am not sure I like this type of design, but it was interesting.

There is some very distinctive architecture in Barcelona. The Spaniards really like their design.

Once again, pork shops were plentiful.

At all of our stops for refreshments, they served olives with cocktails.  It was like nuts in the US, and with very tasty olive oil.

It was a full day and we ended it with a walk down one of Barcelona's busiest night spot streets, La Rambla, a recommended visit by Rick Steves, the travel writer.

All along our trip, Hubby D was constantly researching and reading about the locations we visited. Many times he started his suggestions to me with, "Rick Steves has in his book..." We brought several books with us from the Rick Steves collection on Europe. Only once did we not agree with Steves on a topic.

The books have also been a helpful resource to us on other trips. They were first recommended by our friends ES and NDL.

The La Rambla walkway stretches from the Mediterranean Sea to Plaza Catalunya. La Rambla is lined with clubs, bars and a host of mainstream as well as authentic places to experience an incredible evening. However after our busy day, we opted for a quiet dinner by the sea and some Spanish wine.

Tomorrow we leave early for Nice and our trip onward to Italy.

Cheers,
Brenda

This would drive a structural engineer crazy.

The next morning in San Sebastian we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast. The hotel even had a piece of raw honeycomb so you could scoop out your fresh honey for toasted bread. It was wonderful.

After breakfast we headed out to visit the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. We had rented a car and it arrived promptly at 9AM.

The drive over was very enjoyable once Hubby D mastered the accelerator. The cars (even taxi) all shut off if you are not moving. You must move the steering wheel or put your foot on the gas to engage the engine again. It can cause a slight lag.  However it is great for gas mileage.

I tried to take a few pictures of the countryside along the way. Unfortunately I was not very successful.

The countryside was rugged and each little village was filled with high-rise multi family dwellings. Hubby D and I decided we had never seen so many high-rise apartments in small villages.

As we approached Bilbao we drove through a tunnel (there are LOTS of tunnels all over Europe). When we emerged the museum was immediately in front of us. We passed under a large red arch (no purpose - just decorative) and started hunting for parking. It was a stunning view.

The owner of this dog was trying to take a picture of the dog  under the sculpture.

These panels were on the structure to the right of the red arch. They are like the panels on the exterior of the museum. Hubby D was looking the connections. We sent Granddaughter MVL a picture of the connection.

On the way back to San Sebastian we visited the town of Zumaia, a part of the Basque coast. Zambia is popular for its flysch rock formation. We were underwhelmed but it was different.

Then we stopped at a beach resort for some coffee.

This is a carving made out of the layered rocks.

The coast was very rugged. But our rental handled it well.

After we arrived back at the hotel, we visited the hotel bar and had a martini. It was a great day.

The next day was an "unplanned" day and we decided to explore San Sebastian on foot. Our first trek was along the sea wall in front of our hotel. We then followed the mountain road around the shoreline to a second beach and marina. At the marina we ate gelatos and watched the pigeons. I sent a photo to LW because he loves birds.

On the beach a sand artist was drawing. It was quite impressive.

Back at our hotel we had martinis in the hotel bar again and then headed out for more pintxos. Hubby D told me he might be ready for an American hamburger. These small plates are getting old.

Hubby D had heard there was good cheesecake in San Sebastian. To liven up dinner, he did a search on Google for the best cheesecake in San Sebastian.

The first restaurant on the list was closed for the season, but we hit the jackpot with the second one.  It was delicious.

BHB (LW’s mom) sent us a text that day saying after we left Florida, every time LW sees an airplane he tells her there goes Oma and Papa. How sweet. Gosh, I think I miss him.

The next morning we were up at 5:30AM to get ready to catch our train to Barcelona. It was a bit early, there are only 2 trains to Barcelona and the other one was late in the evening.

The hotel packed us a picnic to take on the train and we were off to the next adventure in Barcelona, Spain.

Cheers,
Brenda