October 31 – Left Madrid at 3:30 pm. for Barcelona via Vueling Airways (an hour and 40 min). Was met at the airport by Charlie Montejo and Sebas Vela. After dropping our luggages at Charlies & Sebas apartment we proceeded to 4 Cats, a restaurant often frequented by Picasso when he was still alive. We wanted to have lunch and see the interiors and have some picture-taking but unfortunately it was closed. So we went to another restaurant where we ate paella, herring fish, anc bacalao for lunch. Delicious! After lunch we went to Las Ramblas de las Flores, a popular street that goes thru Plaza Catalunya to the port. There are rows of shops, hotels, bars and restaurants. According to the locals there, it is where the people of Barcelon meet. You can stroll under the trees, admire the street artist, look at live statues and the only place where you can buy flowers and birds. Along the way we stop at the La Boqueria, a market that not only sells meat, poultry, seafood, fruits, and vegetables, but also offers varieties of nuts, chocolates, gummies, jellies, mushroom and even ready-to-roast cochinillio! Further down the road we passed thru the monument of Cristobal Colon (Christopher Colombus) a native of Barcelona, who discovered America. And then to the port where you can find the Mare Magnum Mall, a new shopping area with 12 cinemas, IMAX, several restaurants, bars and discos. Later that night we were invited to a Halloween party by the group of Charlie & Sebas. It was a great fun experiencing Halloween in Barcelona. Drinking, laughing, dancing to Spanish music till midnight. We have different kinds of jamones, cheeses fondues, big roasted castañas by the fireplace and oven-baked sweet potatoes. Thanks to Beth, Carlo, Maris, Hilda, Jose, Sandro, Charlie and Sebas for a wonderful evening.

November 1, 2007 - Had an early start and walked to Sagrada Familia Church, the most famous building in Barcelona. It was intended to be a modest neogothic church but turned out to be unfinished and most expensive project of a famous architect, Antoni Gaudi. Gabby took photos of the façade and rear view of the church. The most outstanding feature of the building are its baroque style, the mixture of colors and diversity of materials used, such as plaster, ceramics, mosaic, iron and different types of stones. It’s just overwhelming to see a world-known masterpiece. Then we proceeded to the birthday bash of Beth, one of Charlie’s good friends at Sabai Sabai, an authentic Thai restaurant. We finished lunch at about 5 p.m. The group accompanied us to the othertourist spots in the city: the Harbor Tower in red and blue color lights (the water company of Barcelona); Estacion de Francia train station; the Barcelona Cathedral, the Santa Maria Church, a cathedral with huge multicolored rose windows; the Zoo; the Port Olympic; and Barri dela Barceloneta. The Barcelona Cathedral, from its small 15th century chapel, was built as a romantic gothic style church with the famous 16th century crucifix of the Christ of Lepanto and the crypt of Santa Elulalia, the patron saint of Barcelona. The zoo houses 7,000 animals from over 500 different species with dolphin shows and a display of other aquatic mammals. The star attraction is the only albino gorilla in captivity. The Port Olympic is an entertainment and leisure zone that was built in 1988 for the 1992 Olympic games. It has become the most successful and popular part of the Nova Icaria project. Most people come here to enjoy the night life; you can find bars, restaurants and dance clubs here. During the day it’s busy with shoppers. It’s underneath the impressive twin sky scrapers, Mapfro Tower and Hotel Arts Barcelona.

Barri dela Barcelonata, an old fisherman’s quarter by the beach which is located at the southern part of the zoo and on the other side of the Estacion de Francia railway station. It was built in the 1700s with straight narrow streets and retains its village atmosphere with fish restaurants.

November 2, 2007 Proceeded to Plaza Espanya train station to take the Ferrocarila de Catalunya train to base of the Mt. Monserat. We paid EU16 per person. From the base of the mountain we took the cable car to nearly to the top of the mountain with its spectacular rock formation. As we got off the cable car, we walked to the famous monastery of Monserat and the beautiful Royal Basilica. The façade of the basilica was built in 1900 and 1901 and it features sculptures of the apostles by Agapit Valloritjena, whose brother designed the relics in the Tympanumo. The extension is so beautiful with the mix of old and new gothic cloisters from the 1300s and towers constructed as early as the 1900s -- not to mention the atrium floors that we were standing on. The basilica is home to the Black Virgin (La Moreneta), a 12th century wooden structure that is Catalonia’s favorite saint. As we made our way through the long line to the sanctuary of the Mar de Deu de Monserat to view the Black Virgin, we passed thru several works of arts by prominent painters and sculptors like El Greco, Dali and Picasso. Amazing how they put together all these works of art inside a basilica. The sight of the Black Virgin was wonderful and solemn. I held her foot and prayed while doing this. I felt at peace! Then walked down to a small chapel at the back of the statue and continued my prayer. Going out of the basilica we brought candles. We lighted them and offered prayers for our loved ones. The basilica is also where you will find the “ La Escolonior” the oldest children’s choir in Europe. We didn’t get to experience on hearing the angelic voices of the choir because by the time we get there the mass was over. From the basilica we went to a large gift shop that is connected to a café and restaurant, where we brought our souvenirs and ate our lunch. We then headed back to the station to wait for the train to go back to the city. Upon reaching the city we headed to the Palau de la Musica, a concert hall designed in the Catalon Modermisme style by architect Lluis Domenech Montaner. It was built between 1905 and 1908 for the Orfeo Catala, a choral society founded in 1891. The project was financed by the society and contributions from wealthy industrialists and bourgeoisie. It won the architect award from the Barcelona City Council in 1909. Between 1982 and 1989, it underwent extensive restoration, remodeling and extension under architect Oscar Tusqoeta and Carlos Diaz. It was declared by UNESCO as world heritage site in 1997. The design of the Palau is modern and rich in decorations with emphasis in floral and other organic motifs. The structure is in brick, iron, mosaic, stained glass glazed tiles multicolored with columns. The former ticket windows which are located in the center pillar are beautiful arches adorned with floral mosaic and various materials created by Lluis Brce. Again we didn’t get the chance to see the interiors because of a scheduled event for the day and were closed for public viewing.

Museo Picasso is Barcelona’s most visited museum. It takes a long line just to get inside the museum. Barcelona’s tribute to one of its adopted sons, Pablo Ruiz Picasso, who was born in Malaga but started his long artistic careers in Barcelona. His fabulous collection is being displayed in three adjoining palaces. The most famous of which are his harlequin, a portrait of one of his wives, Jacqueline, and the Las Moninas series (ladies in waiting), the famous cubist variations. The display also includes childhood sketches, pictures from beautiful rose and blue Liceu of Barcelona – Barcelona opera house El Corte Ingles – to buy our Maudeego chesse, chorizos and jamon. From Corte Ingles we headed home to prepare for our trip the next day to Milan, Italy.