Kevin's Watch

I am sorry for the delay but life (reality) gets in the way. Anyway here are some pics, there are hundreds but I wouldn't do that to you. I am not sure of all the places. After a while one cathedral looks like every cathedral but I will do my best. But some things I will never forget. So here we go...........

We started in Barcelona. Just loved that city. Just a great atmosphere and stunning sites.



This is the Gaudi Cathedral in Barcelona (I don't know the name but I will never forget it. It's unfinished but they use it. It was started in 1907 (I think) and projected to finish in 2050. It's really hard to show the magnitude of structure. I's overwhelming.





When you go inside the amazing thing to me was how huge and spacious it was. Gaudi plays with light. It is not the usual stained glass pictures of saints and martyrdom, it's all about the light.



I believe this is a museum, but we did not go in. Quite grand, as everything is in Barcelona.



This was some famous architectural thingy near the museum. Maybe Uss can tell you more about it.



Some celebrity that didn't want the paparazzi taking pics but I managed to catch him off guard..




We met my friend Diana, who lives in Barcelona for dinner. (and our new friend the waiter)





Gaudi park, which had a four hour wait in the blazing sun so we didn't wait. Talk about tourist season.



The we got on the NCL Spirit cruise ship for 12 days. I call cruising the tapas of traveling. You get about 6 hours in each port. A little taste. If you like it, you come back for a longer visit. We had a nice cabin with a balcony (to escape). The food was awful but really, who cared.



Happy birthday to meeeeeee!





First stop Livorno.




Mint tea in the market with my new grandmother. One of the highlights of my trip.


End of part 1 of many parts.

Wonderful! Looking forward to more.

I'll fill in bits and pieces as we go along. Gaudi's cathedral is called la Sagrada Familia and it was actually
started in 1882 (which was a surprise to me) and it is hoped that it will be finished by 2026 (the centenary
of Gaudi's death. It is easily the most stunning building (of modern times) that I have ever seen. If you are
ever in Barcelona, do not miss the chance to see it!

The Pavilion in Montjuic Park in Barcelona, was designed by Mies van de Rohe as part of the 1929
International Exposition. To the uninitiated (such as myself) it is an unassuming building, but does look very
modern for something built in 1929. For architects it is one of the most important buildings of the Bauhaus
movement. (I have a couple of friends who are architects, which is how I knew to look for it.)

Livorno was our second stop and we took a train from there to Pisa (we could also have gone to Florence, but
we decided we'd catch that as part of the roadtrip, and we duly did nearly three weeks later). Our first stop
was Toulon, which is a nice smallish city. The nicest part of it is its street market (which is where we had
mint tea in lorin's new granny's cafe).

A great start to a great trip!

u.

Before I comment on this thread, I'm gonna comment on the title: LOORRRRIN!!! You are finally back!!! <3
Also, I missed you.
Also, hilarious title!

Hhhmm, if they started it in 1882, (must have been revival in the wake of the Napoleonic wars), I dunno if you can call it "of modern times" can you?

Or do you mean modern as opposed to medieval etc?

(Nice pics guys. )

--A

I'm using the modern/ancient binary, Av. The two other buildings that I have seen that I've found as impressive
(or more) are the Acropolis (400-500BC) (which we saw on this trip) and Newgrange (approx. 3000BC) in Ireland.

Not a very refined distinction, but hey, I'm still new to this travelling lark!

u.

Awesome pictures lorin!! Thanks for sharing.

ussusimiel wrote:I'm using the modern/ancient binary, Av. The two other buildings that I have seen that I've found as impressive
(or more) are the Acropolis (400-500BC) (which we saw on this trip) and Newgrange (approx. 3000BC) in Ireland.

So is that ancient and pre-historic? Nah, ok, I get you. When I say modern I tend to think C20+ but yes, in comparison to 400BC, a mere 100-odd years ago is modern indeed.

--A

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.