Initial Barcelona Scenes

Much of our Good Friday, April 7th, was devoted to sleeping, unpacking, moving into the new apartment, locating the nearby mercats and patisseries, etc. By afternoon, determined to power through the jet lag, we did a medium walk about the neighborhood...the Barcelona Nord station, the Arc de Triomf, and then a bit of the Bari Gotic. It's great to be back in Barcelona--five years since our last visit--with the opportunity to see more of the great city than ever before.

Barcelona Nord station; nord back in the 19th century maybe;
inner city now

Initial Modernista (Spanish version of Art Nouveau)

Us at the Arc de Triomf: not a military triumphal arch, but rather the
entrance to the 1888 World Fair in Barcelona

Promenade of the Passeig de Llouis Companys, leading to the
site of the fair

Metal work in Barcelona is second to none

Never, ever park under a tree

Among many street scenes

Block-long queue to get into the Joncake; could be
another Fergburger experience

We're still deciding which tattoos to get

The line at Demasie wasn't so long, so we popped in for a pastry

Walls and tower of Roman town of Barcino

Catalan count Ramon Berenguer

Interesting sculpture outside the cathedral area

With the 2010 consecration of Gaudi's Church of the
Familia Sangria, the 13th century cathedral of Barcelona
(above; click to enlarge) quickly became last month's flavor
and was sold recently to Samsung to cover back taxes; the
cathedral spire will become Spain's highest cell tower; here,
an appreciative crowd sits on the cathedral's steps--a
profanity that would never be permitted in Rome--enjoying
a Good Friday rock concert

The Diocese of Barcelona has gone full Gaudi

Ditto the market of St. Caterina

Dumplings made the old-fashioned, not the modernista, way

Thought for the day

Miscellaneous Incidents Of Travel; Or, Interim Update #1,276; Or, From DC to Barcelona In Several Swell Foops

By April 4th we were all packed-up and ready to go, and so spent that day getting our steps in DC, and especially at the National Gallery, where Vicki stimulated the local economy and we both greatly enjoyed the impressive Impressionist collection; again. On April 5th, we embarked for Barcelona, following our usual somewhat indirect frequent flyer path, by way of Chicago and Brussels. The trip did not begin well, with a 2 hour weather delay at IAD (bad weather in Chicago), nor end well, with an airport ground workers' job action in Barcelona (delayed luggage); but otherwise it was OK. The flight from ORD to BRU was sufficiently empty that we both had our own rows to ourselves. We got to Barcelona in the mid-afternoon April 6th, rode the metro 20-some stops, and then, at great length, en pied, found our new abode, on Carrer d'Ali Bei, near the Arc de Triomf, a large studio in a newish building. And crashed. 

On the Mall in DC; so full of symbolism, allusion...

Never miss a Van Eyck; here, his Annunciation,
1434; ever more symbolism, allusion...in the National
Gallery

Rene Ssance, St. Veronica Displays Her New Tea Towel, 1470

In Rachel's Washington neighborhood; good luck with
that

At Dulles, the best bronze model of an airport ever, so far; the Silver 
Line took more than an hour from Metro Center, but, at $3 pp, was a pretty
great travel bargain 

Stormy City

The house that chewing gum built (Wrigley Field)...

The Brussels shopping mall with airplanes was impressive,
especially emphasizing the wonderful Belgian products; the
Magritte store certainly caught our attention and interest

Ce n'est pas un magasin... wait, no...

Um, interesting Magritte fridge magnet I did not buy

Magritte socks for every occasion

Our Barcelona apartament (Catalan) as seen from outer space
(red Google pin in exact center)

Nearby: Barcelona's Arc de Triomf; it's semana santa here, as I write,
everything in full Easter Bunny mode, and a good opportunity for us
to work through the jet lag without missing anything of significance

Cherry Blossoms!

Washington, DC, 2023... 

Final approach to National

Vicki had the window seat

At the MLK monument

Us, there, on a very bright day

Quiet moment between acts

Today's inflencess

Prime bloom; before the storms came

In the FDR monument...so many great thoughts now forgotten...
temporarily, hopefully...

Jefferson, too

Pagoda that came with the 1854 gift of cherry trees;
eternal friendship, except for that 1941-1945 hiatus

Among some of the really old trees

Even the oldest burls blossom

Great day, great visit

Myrtle Beach

Our 4-day visit to Myrtle Beach provided us with some time with our favorite grand-daughter and also gave her a bit of a spring break from her studies and many other activities. The weather was quite mixed, the culture, not so much. We concluded that Myrtle Beach was South Carolina's answer to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, and that it was, for us, a once-in-a-lifetime visit. Eleven-year-old Penelope loved it, although she didn't get as much water-time as she might have liked.

View north from our balcony

But westward look...a sunset

Testing the waters

Boogie-boarding

Our hotel, a Hilton property

Water slide at the indoor water park

On the river

Special treats

Breakfast inventiveness (after the proteins)

Among several amusement parks; and more mini-
golf sites than we have ever noticed

Scene of Grandpa's 76th birthday Captain's Plate

Interim Update #1,275

And so it came to pass that after only three days and two hotel nights in transit (March 19-21; Queenstown to Dunedin/Dunedin to Auckland/Auckland to San Francisco and then Raleigh/Durham), we are back in the States. Just 10k miles, give or take. We spent a few days visiting daughter Rebecca and family in Cary, plus dental appointments and a couple trips to our eastern US storage unit, and then taking  grand-daughter Penelope for a 4 day vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC. Also celebrating our 75th and 76th birthdays. After another day or two in Cary we moved on to DC, visiting daughter Rachel for a few days. I'll do a couple posts forthwith, one from Myrtle Beach, one from DC. And then, April 5th, we're off on our spring Barcelona/Amsterdam/Paris/eastern France campaign. 

Departing for Myrtle Beach