Valencia

 While in Barcelona, we mentioned to a bartender that we were heading to Valencia. He informed us that Valencia is home to the best pallas. Though it was just a past through stop, we got there early enough to enjoy a lobster pallas for three.

Catalona - Tarragona

 The Amfiteatre de Tarragona

Monument als Castellers

The Ferreres Aqueduct (Aqueducte de les Ferreres)

Catalonia - Stiges

 We rented a car and headed south to Cambrils, but not before making a pit stop in Stiges, where we took in the beach scene and had a sumptuous lunch with sangria. 

As you can tell, it was a very hot day with lots of people out on the beaches enjoying the sunshine and warm Mediterranean water.

The board walk along the beach of Stiges

Nancy enjoying the company of Jim Beluche at the entrance to Pic Nic restaurant

One of the best shimp salad we had

And the fresh marinated sardine in beets saurce and strawbeery was really delicous.

 Dinning at Pic Nic

Catalonia - Cambrils

 After Stagis, we drove for another hour or so to the beach town of Cambrils where we spent the next three nights in a roof top apartment on a 4-story building overlooking the beach. With temperatures in the 80s the entire trip, swimming was a must.

The deck area. This place was so goergious we decided to grocery and cook in. Besides, there was a great seafood market down the street with fresh seafood of all kinds. We bought clams, prawns, swordfish, and tuna. 

Dinning area...we never use...the outdoor seating was awesome.

Beautiful sunsets

The water was caribbean-like in temperature

Scallops meat in the shell. Steam them in the shell with garlic and butter as is. Carrer de Pau Casals Fish Market

Some of the stranger seafood in the fish market.

Catalonia - Barcelona

Barcelona

Our European trip to Spain and Portugal was a joint adventure with good friends Nancy and Alan Overman. The first hop of the trip took us to Barcelona, where we spent 4 fabulous days and nights. We instantly fell in love with the architecture, the alleyways, many shops, restaurants and bars, the museums and other cultural relics, and of course the people, including the many, many tourists.

The one drawback though, was the high number of smokers and vapors. Most outdoor seating at restaurants and bars was for smokers.

We landed in Barcelona on Saturday, September 22nd, and immediately fell in love with the place.

The travel party animals

The drinks were refreshing, and the Tapas (appetizers) were out of this world. 

The special ones on the rooftop of La Predrera-Casa Mila

Yes, Barcelona has one of these too! Passeig de Sant joan, a couple blocks from where we stayed

Nancy welcoming us to one of her favorite stores.

We missed the human tower, but got to see something on a much smaller scale. It was fun!

Filling up on breakfast in prep for a day of exploration on foot. 

We could not figure out if this was street art or laundry. Hanging your laundry out to dry is commoon in the city. In this case, however, there were no obvious mechanism to hang or get the laundry off the lines.

The best Tuna Tartar, remind me of Jumping Jays in Portsmouth, NH. Why? It was infused with mango

Another great meal downed

We really enjoyed navigating the alleyways. They protects you from the Sun, and you can find a lot of funky shops and activity filled courtyards

Moco Museum

We had a fun time at the Moco Museum where we saw some great and funny artwork by a diverse selection of artists. We even got to take our famous foot pic in the mesmerizing and colorful chamber.

Park Guell

On a day we decided to take it light on the walking, we booked a trip to Park Guell. Except that having gotten some good sangria and a seafood brunch, we felt good enough to make the two hour trek up Barca mountain roads to the park. It was all worth it in the end. Great views of parts of the city

Our Airbnb is somewhere at the closest end of the large green

Pointing out our Airbnb from the Park

Viewing the platform from where I stood in the pic above and below

An engineering marvel

Palau De La Musica

The Palace of Catalan music. This was worth the guided tour. To learn of the genius use of glass to illumination daylight into a building this size back before electricity; the seating arrangement were both amazing. Catalan colors are evident throughout.