I stand corrected

In the last post I mentioned being blown away by a cathedral. Well, Antoni Gaudi had other idea...the Sagrada Família. He started it in 1915 and died in 1926. It is still not completed. It reaches so high in the sky, it can be seen towering above the skyline of Barcelona from anywhere in the city.

From a distance, it is amazing. Up close, it is massive, ornate, overwhelming, and impressive. Pictures do it no justice, but I've added some. The photos are from our walk around it, or the rooftop of Casa Milà. Each angle is different, it's just unreal.

Wow!

This cathedral was amazing. It was build in the 1400's. It's huge with cavernous arches inside that are 100's of feet up. It's unbelievable. I went to a lot of church's and cathedrals in Ireland and Mexico, but this is by far the most impressive.

In both Italy and Spain there is a guard at the door of many famous churches and cathedrals that turns people away if you are not dressed appropriately. Your shorts must be a certain length and the shoulders of women must be covered. Conveniently, there is a booth just in front selling scarves and wraps :-) I didn't see any men with tank tops going in, so I'm not sure if they would be turned away or not. Lots of women were being turned away for the length of their shorts or wearing halter tops or thin strapped tanks.

Sorry for the poorly lit photos, but my point-and-shoot can only do so much in these situations.

Picasso Museum

Barcelona is filled with great art, architecture. We enjoyed a visit to the Picasso Museum. It has artwork from his childhood throughout his life. The entire museum is organized chronologically and allows you to see his development and changes over time. Additionally, there are great descriptions of each period of his life on the walls. What a great experience. I did take one photo. I saw this and had to take a photo. This woman is surrounded by great art and she decides to charge her tablet and check in a Facebook. Oh how far we've come!

Not really worth it

We enjoyed our walk around while looking for Juicy Jones. We were all still hungry and happy to find the restaurant. The walls we wild and crazy and you can see from the photo and we had high hopes for some great vegan dishes.

One thing we have noticed, we are in a city now. Servers are not as patient as they were in Switzerland and Italy. JJ & I both struck out on our choices. How does a vegan place run out of hummus...seriously! Then we tried something else...nope, out of that too. JJ ended up with a tapas of olives and tofu and I got potato soup. While the food wasn't bad, it was probably the worst meal we've had.

Jackpot!

We left the hotel starting our search for Juicy Jones (a vegan place). We made it about 10 steps and made a huge find. The is a little place selling falafel and hummus...and beer for JJ, Jo, and Charm. We were all hungry, so we stopped for a sample to hold us over.

20 steps later was place with pitchers of Sangria. We had to stop! Our hotel is on the edge of the Univeristy so there are shops, bars, and coffee houses all around us! After we enjoyed our Sangria, we headed over to the Rumbas.



We came across this awesome market. It has everything, and I mean everything. The butcher shops were a bit much for Charm, Jo, and JJ. They had rabbit, lamb, beef (all parts), duck, chicken, turkey, quail, etc. The fish vendors were awesome, so much variety and so fresh! Then we hit the fruit and veggy folks, throw some bakery, cheese, a wine vendors and you have a one-stop-shop!

Welcome to Spain!

We took the train from Manarola to Genoa and then jumped on a flight to Barcelona. We took Vueling airlines and they are fantastic. This was the cleanest, most spacious plane I've been on in years.

We landed in Barcelona and were blown away by the airport. It was nicer than most malls in the US. Tons of high-end shops, clean, well lit, spacious. Very nice welcome to Spain.

We grabbed a taxi and had a little issue. The driver had no idea where we needed to go. He looked in his books, used his GPS and didn't have a clue. We had pulled out of the taxi line and then pulled over while he was trying to find it. Meanwhile, the meter was running. We said we would take another cab, so he backed up and we got out. Then another driver helped him and he reset the meter and off we went.




Barcelona is a very busy and diverse town. Tons of traffic, lots of people, vendors everywhere, etc. the complete opposite of everything we've seen so far, but a fun change.

We dropped out stuff off in our room and took off to wander the Ramblas. What a sight...traffic zipping along on each side of this large pedestrian walkway, vendors selling, every language you can think of being spoken around you. It was great.

Italy photo collection

Here are some final photos from Cinque Terre, before we move on to Barcelona.



This photo is from the marina in Manarola. they are lifting a boat out of the harbor.








The photo above was from a little bar in Manarola. Jo and I hung out for a while. It was interesting to hear an Italian take on American Blues. Very different phrasing, but fun. The band took a break and our host, Nichola (guitar player in the white shirt on the right) and his cousin from LA (bass player in the hat on the left) and his friend (female singer) did some numbers. Nichola is planning to go to the conservatory for classical guitar next year.

The original band had a harmonica player (he wasn't very good, lots of notes, no real playing, and he was often using the wrong key harp) I almost ran back up the hill to grab a harp and see if I could sit in.

Saying goodbye to Italy

All four of us slept in today and it felt so good. After a quick breakfast and stop at the cafe, the four of us headed over to Riomaggiore on the Via del Amore. It was another amazing day in Cinque Terre. While all of us are excited to visit Barcelona, it's hard to leave a place like this for the unknown.

After our visit to Riomaggiore, we went down the the marina in Manarola for a while. Then decided it was a good idea to get some "take away" pasta from our favorite restaurant and head back to the apartment. JJ and Charmelle stopped to grab some gelato for dessert. It's probably a very good thing that we did not know the gelato place could package to go and keep it cold. We would have eaten gelato every night on the terrace and then had to buy an extra seat on the plane.

We did enjoy a fantastic last meal on the terrace. Amazing food, great friends, and watching the sun go down into the horizon is a priceless thing. We will be back to Cinque Terre!

Riomaggiore

Riomaggiore is a great little village. The views along the Via del Amore are amazing. The village itself is quite nice. There are a lot of little shops and eateries. But as you head higher up the hill, you discover some great little neighborhoods.

I was surprised to find 3 churches in this village. So far, each village has had one main church. Riomaggiore has at least three. I'll have to do some reading to find out more about why that is.



I ended up following an alley to a lookout. This was another first for me. At the lookout was the first school I have seen on this trip. It was an elementary school that was having some repairs done. On the walk back down, I noticed a flower I have never seen. I took a few photos of the bloom and one of the pods that it came from. I have no idea what it is, but it is very pretty.



Riomaggiore also has a great little harbor. I decided it was time to dip my toes in the Lugurian Sea. I went down to the dock area, took off my shoes and sat there with me chubby feet dangling in the water. It was so refreshing. In fact, I got excited to see a pretty big wave coming my way. My passport and money were safe from the water, so I just let it hit me. It was a very refreshing treat on a really hot day.

Via del Amore

Today I took a walk along the Via del Amore. The is a path between Manarola and Riomaggiore. From what I can tell, the two villages were very secluded because of the geography. The youth of the villages began to meet half-way along a rugged trail overlooking the sea.

As time went on, lovers began to leave messages for each other written on the rocks, even the cacti. Then locks began to appear, signifying their hearts being locked together.



Over time, this tradition has added graffiti to the walls. There is a lot of graffiti in Italy. There was quite a bit in Switzerland as well. I'll be interest to see what Spain is like.

How do they do that?

One of the questions I keep asking myself is how do they make deliveries, move building supplies, etc? There really aren't roads in Cinque Terre like we are used to having. There may be a main street that an occasional delivery truck, police car, or ambulance will use. Everywhere else is a series of small alleyways. And remember, nothing here is flat. Steep and narrow stairs are your access to everything.

I thought this piece of equipment was ingenious. It isn't very fast, but it handles the stairs and alleyways really well. It also looks like it carries a lot of materials. I've seen them using it to make deliveries and for construction.

Pisa for a minute

Ok, so most everyone has seen a photo of the leaning tower, but we had a chance to see it in person and took it. We needed to transfer trains in Pisa on our return from Florence. JJ went on ahead, she had seen. Jo, Charmelle , and I grabbed a later train (40 minutes later) and jumped into a taxi. 10-minutes later, we are at the tower. We took a quick walk around it and snapped some photos and then back in a taxi to get our train.

We got to the train station and realized there were 2 trains heading to La Spezia, which is where we needed to get our last train back to Manarola. We hustled and jumped on the earlier train (quite literally). One thing that brought us a little drama is, Jo forgot to validate the ticket. She tried to jump off really quickly and validate it, but the conductor yelled for her to get back on. So we took the 150€ gamble. Of course the conductor came through as soon as the train started moving. My heart skipped a beat. Jo acted like she was asleep and he just kept walking. I think he realized what happened and let us off. At the next stop, Jo jumped off and validated the ticket and jumped back on.

We got to La Spezia and again were able to get a quick transfer and we were on the way back to Manarola. We were all hungry, a bit tired, but happy. We were running earlier than we had told JJ. So we weren't sure how we were going to connect with her. In the States, we would just send a text and tell her. Here we don't have that option. I switched my phone to a European carrier and Charmelle's phone will work for an international charge. However Jo and JJ didn't have that option. So it was going to come down to a game of "rock, paper, scissors" to see which one of us went up the hill to get JJ.

We arrived in Manarola and the train heading back to La Spezia had people nearly hanging out of it, because it was so full. The vacationers were all heading home. The conductors were outside the train looking for gaps inside and telling people to move closer.

As we made our way to the stairs at the station, JJ came walking up behind us! We were all on the same train. Her train had been delayed and we were early, so it all worked out. That meant, head to the "take away" pizza place, and head to the apartment. We sat on our terrace eating pizza, and enjoying the view. What a nice end to a great day.

Off to Florence

We took a 2-hour train ride over to Florence to go to the Galleria Academia. The big reason to go there is to see Michael Angelo's "David." It was worth the trip! He is magnificent. I have seen many photos and drawings of this sculpture, but nothing does it justice. No...not even the one in Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. The fact the artist could get such detail with the tools of that time is amazing. The veins and muscles in the statue are so lifelike. I kept waiting for David to turn his head and look at everyone.

The Galleria also had some other great works both paintings and sculptures. They were all wonderful, but David really is the showcase piece. The one thing that was really tacky was this replica in the courtyard. The same size as the original, but pink skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. It was disturbing to say the least.

After the Galleria, we set out to wander a little. Of course, we found a nice little Irish pub to stop and rehydrate. I even had some beer! It was hotter than hot in Florence and a Shanty (lager and lemonade) sounded a lot more refreshing than just water. We also grabbed some crisps and peanuts to carry us through the rest of our time in Florence.



We started heading to the famous bridge with all the gold vendors. For some reason the name escapes me right now, but it is pretty cool. Way too many people for all of us. After being in Gimmelwald and Cinque Terre, a city is just over the top. We had better get used to it. We're heading to Barcelona in a couple of days.

An afternoon in Vernazza

I took a little solo trip to Vernazza this afternoon. I'm starting to get better with understanding the train schedule and ticketing system. Today I hit things just right. I arrived at the stations just before the trains did so I didn't have to wait around for very long.

Vernazza was hit with a tremendous mudslide this year. There was a lot of damage and I believe some deaths. I didn't know what to expect when I got there. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived. While a number of the shops were closed and being repaired, some were open. I left the train station and started down toward town and the harbor.



Once you reach the harbor it's easy to see why so many tourists love this area. The water looks so refreshing in the heat and the waves create a nice mist as they crash into the rocks. There were lots of swimmers and sun bathers. I took some time in the shops and enjoyed the sights and sounds before grabbing a calzone and gelato. After my snack, I headed back up to the train station.

While there is a 90 minute hike between Manarola and Vernazza, I just didn't feel like getting that tired and sweaty when I already had train tickets left from yesterday. So I took the easy way. Tomorrow we're off to Florence, so a little extra rest might do me well.

Too good to be true

Dinner was at Billy's tonight, which luckily is not far from the apartment. So it was a short walk for Charmelle. I had made reservations earlier in the day so we had a great table looking out at the sea.
We ordered our wine and heard the specials. Then our server came in to show us three fresh sea bass and explained if any of us would like that special he would hand pick a fish for the number of people that wanted the special. They were beautiful fish and it was tempting, but I was looking for pasta and seafood, not just fish.
We all went back to looking at the menu and chatting. Suddenly our server appeared with three small dishes. He explained what each one was, left them and was gone. One was polenta, the other two had different types of seafood. We happily started eating. We commented on how nice it was to get a sample like this. Our server was very rushed when we arrived and had apologized. We all assured him we were fine. So we figured this was a thank you for being patient and nice.
Then he appeared again with more dishes, explained them and darted away. Again, we thought, "this is really nice" and dug right in. By the time he came back a fifth time, we started to think maybe I had accidentally ordered something when I made the reservation. We started looking in the menu for something like this. He came back again to take our order and then it all made sense.




Even with a language barrier, the look of "oh shit" on a person's face is understood around the globe. About then is when we found this feast in the menu. He had just given us something that was meant for another table. He began to apologize and got a little stressed for a couple of reasons.

1. What he gave us was a €15 per person starter.
2. There was a table some where that was waiting for their order.

The photo above is the aftermath of this starter. We told him we would happily pay and to go deal with the other table. He was off like a shot. Through this process of food arriving and the server leaving, we were all thinking, "this seems a odd," however we were too busy trying all the samples to really worry about. By the time all of this was done, we had eaten a lot, so we had to go back to the menu and rethink what we were having for dinner. We finally did order and enjoyed a truly wonderful meal. Great wine, desserts, amazing seafood and pasta.

Off to Corniglia

Charmelle & I went down to the station and planned to go to La Spezia and then stop at Riomaggiore and then home. However, our train was delayed 40 minutes, so we went to Corniglia, which is the next town up.
I guess I should explain Cinque Terre a little. There are 5 villages along the shore of the Ligurian Sea. The villages are connected via trains and trails. With Charmelle on crutches trains are the best option. Going from north to south the towns go in this order:

Monterosso: A big beach town and very tourist focused.
Vernazza: Slightly smaller town and has lots of shops. Just suffered huge mud slides this spring.
Corniglia: Sits high atop the hill above the train and the water. Great little restaurants and views.
Manarola: The city is build into the hill side and seems to rise up from the sea.
Riomaggiore: The least tourist focused town with murals and a little more of an outdoor focus, kayak and bike rentals, etc.

We were really happy to see there is a shuttle that will take you up the very steep hill to town from the train station. €1 each was worth every penny. I wish they had this in Manarola. It would make Charmelle's life a lot easier.
We had more great views of the sea and the vineyards. Then we wandered up into the narrow alley filled with restaurants and a few shops. What a wonderful day. We made it out to a lookout for a photo op, and then headed back in for lunch. Manarola is between our heads.




We stopped into a little place thinking we would have a starter (appetizer) there, then continue down to another for another course, but we were happy and full after our starter. We had an anchovy medley. They are caught fresh each day and prepared in ways that would make all of us that are used to really salty canned fish rethink them. These were unbelievable. We enjoyed them with fresh bread and Charmelle had an Italian beer.




The doors of Corniglia caught my eye. So for some reason, I started taking pictures of some of them. Here are a few that I just found interesting.

Our first Italian meal

Even though the trip down to the marina meant another trip back up to our apartment, it was worth every step. Even Charmelle felt that way and she was working hard up and down on crutches. From upper left and going clock-wise, here is what we ordered.

Charmelle and I shared our dishes, she wanted pasta so we thought we should go for something that was not pasta for mine. So I went with the mixed grilled fish. I'm not sure what species the actual fish was, I think it might have been red fish, but I'm not sure. All that really mattered was it was yummy. Then there was octopus. Yes, fresh octopus on the grill is a buttery delight. Then the were prawns done with some different spices and finally a lobster tail. Fantastic treat.

Charmelle went with black linguini with squid ink (I know sounds a bit scary, but was great)! It also had some fresh clams. There was a light garlic and olive oil sauce. It was excellent.

JJ had a traditional pasta with red sauce that was outstanding. Simple, fresh, and wonder are words that come to mind. Jo had a pesto dish that ruined any future pesto dishes. All of us fell in love with it and we're trying to figure out what we needed to do to make pesto this good. The answer is simple, move to Cinque Terre!

Of course we also enjoyed a couple of bottles of fine local wine. One red and one white and they we a hit too. All we can do now is think about tomorrow's dinner!

Holy cow...now this is living!

Manarola is amazing! It is everything I had imagined it would be and then some. Narrow roads through a small village of tall buildings with balconies of flowers and laundry hanging out to dry.

Manarola is carved layers into the hillside. Of course this means a lot of up and down steep roads and stair cases for all of us, but it's worth it. This is a magical place.


Our lodging is a slight step up from Walter's. We have an apartment here. 3 bedrooms, kitchen, 2 balconies, and a private terrace. We are nearly the highest terrace in Manarola. The views are unbelievable. The first photo is the view from our terrace

The apartment itself is quite remarkable. It has beautiful art on every wall. Even our laundry room is decorated and regionally inspire art. I've added a few photos of the apartment to give you an idea.