Thursday, June 23, 2016

A Long, Fun, Hot Day in Barcelona with Friends


Thursday, 23 June, 2016:

This promised to be a fun day as I was scheduled to meet three Rio Mesa H.S. teachers (Shi Young Kim, Joan Reilly and Sandra Tchiprout) who were chaperoning 30 recent RMHS graduates on a whirlwind tour of Spain, France and Italy over their first two weeks of Summer vacation.

First up though was breakfast
at La Boqueria Mercat Sant Josep

No, I'll pass on these

 Much more to my liking

Breakfast with Juan
at the Pinotxo Bar

With a cafe con leche, a slice of tortilla Española and a chucho in my system, I was ready to face the heat!

 On to the Basilica of
Santa Maria del Pi

 A good church to start the day

The BVM

The BVM otra vez

San Miguel

Death NEVER takes a holiday

I wonder what these gargoyles
look like when it rains?

Oh

A Dapper Dandy

It looked inviting

 Nope, I settled for . . .

. . . my second CCL of the day

 Jamon

 Picasso? Gaudi?
I'm not sure

 Koreen FitzGerald is newly
retired from her duties at Rio Mesa

Give me a B . . .
Give me an A . . . 

 Nice Mosaic

That reminds me, I'll be back in Camarillo, California in a week!

 These tiles made up the above mosaic

Barcelona's Cathedral

Gaudi's Sagrada Familia is something else altogether.

 Catalonian Symbols

The Cathedral looks sturdy

A Bishop taking a big sleep

Nice choir

The BVM yet again

St. George or San Jorge or
Sant Jordi depending on you language

I memory of 930 priests and nuns
who died as martyrs during the
Spanish Civil War 1936-1939

 A different view of the Cathedral

Nice socks

Laurie did not light any of these

 Such detail

 Mercat de Santa Caterina

Rich spices

Great damon

Random lunch diners

Palau de la Música Catalana

The Cathedral in the distance

What's this exhibit?

I better enter to find out. 

A nice garden fountain led me to . . .

 . . . an exhibit on women during the
Spanish Civil War

Interestingly anti-Franco

Not a shock as Barcelona was heavily Republican, definitely not Donald Trump Republican, during the Civil War.

More random lunch diners

I like yellow leaves

A small protest parade marched
by on Las Ramblas, maybe 100 people

Lots of non-demonstrators on a
sunny Las Ramblas today too

Coffee's Coat-of-Arms

One of Barri Gòtic's many
small streets

Plaça Sant Felip Neri

On January 30th, 1938, the Italian Air Force, on behalf of Spain's Nationalist leader and fellow Fascist Francisco Franco dropped bombs on this square.  

48 people died in this air raid

Mostly children.

 Castell Mosaic

I plan on seeing people actually build some of these castells on Saturday afternoon.

 Lunch at the Taverna Basca Irati

This is where I caught up to Rio Mesa's Finest.

From L. to R.: Sandra Tchiprout, me, Joan Reilly, Kathy (Joan's sister who is not an RMHS teacher) and Shi Young Kim

 Shi Young and Sandra in
La Boqueria

Welcoming sign at the
Palau de la Generalitat

With Shi Young and Sandra
after visiting the marvelous
Picasso Museum with their students

No photos allowed and I opted to be a good adult role model to the kids.

Damn.

 Let's look at Plaça de Catalunya's
many Fountains and Sculptures

Powerful Horse

Keep your bovine on a leash
por favor!

"Yes, I do lift."

It was hot and I wanted to join her

Pigeons on Plaça Catalunya

Steady . . .

Sant Joan Festival

It ties in with the Summer Solstice and is a great excuse to shoot off fireworks in an unsafe and insane way all night long!

Kids just having fun

Back to La Boqueria
for more refreshing juices

 How many pictures of Palau Güell's
artwork have I taken over the years?

Cool hotel at night

Plaça Reial eateries

 San Jordi and the Dragon

It stood about six feet tall or I would have bought it.

L.A. Rams fan in Barcelona

A GREAT day indeed! I will hook up with the RM crowd again tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. for a visit to Anton Gaudi's Sagrada Familia where photos are encouraged.

Oh, by the way, I walked a bit on Thursday.



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