Catalonian Day and September 11th

En route to Barcelona we had a brief stop in Nimes, France, to see an amazing, huge Roman coliseum, which is still used today for concerts and performances. We then had lunch in the adorable seaside village of Sete, France. We arrived in Barcelona late in the early evening to find that we had been upgraded to a nice hotel right off the famous Rambles area...just perfect.

September 11th for us was a strange day. Of course, it was a day for somber reflection, but it was also a power-tourist day as we had missed 2 days due to the floods in Avignon. It was also 'Catalan Day' in Barcelona. Almost everyone was wearing a flag (yellow and red) and the streets were full of people as school and ALL of the shops were closed in celebration. We ran into a large group of people marching for Catalonian independence. The people of Barcelona consider themselves Catalon first, and Spaniards second. It is amazing to see such a proud display of patriotism. Lucky for us, it was a peaceful group, despite the many police surrounding the group. It was a bit odd to see so many celebrators as we were dealing at the same time with the sadness of the day. It was strange not to be in New York on Sept. 11th, but we managed to pray in church and to watch CNN International for a few hours. Our eyes were heavy with sadness. Just as the Catalonian's felt proud of their country on September 11, we felt proud to be Americans.

In the morning, we did a bit of sightseeing. We took in the Rambles area (the famous tree-lined promenade in the heart of the old quarter), the Picasso museum (highly recommended), and viewed several examples of Antoni Gaudi's famous architecture including the Casa Mia and Sagrada Familia -- his most famous work. Gaudi's architecture is like nothing we'd ever seen. Modern and unorthodox and fabulous. It makes Barcelona feel like a very modern city. We enjoyed tapas in the evening and watched the performers on the Rambles and the vendors selling birds and flowers.

At the end of the day, our new digital camera stopped working. We spent the next day trying to fix the camera at the Sony Service Center to no avail and ended up having to buy another one! Ugh. We drove to a little village an hour outside of Barcelona and fell promptly asleep.

We then made the long 9-hour drive to Granada. En route, we saw long stretches of the Spanish seaside, including the Costa Blanca. We stopped and had an amazing meal in the quaint little town along the way. We says rows and rows of orange and olive trees on this drive. It was a rural road and a pleasant break from the traffic in Barcelona.

We arrived in Granada in the early evening and took in the cathedral. The next day we toured the Alhambra (note: you must get tickets before visiting the Alhambra as the lines are horrendous) and would highly recommend a visit there. We spent a leisurely afternoon in the gardens writing in our journal and looking over the city. The Moorish influence is very apparent in Granada. There are lots of ornate hand-made objects available for sale. We purchased some beautiful pottery and jewlery.

Next stop was Sevilla, which is just under a 4-hour drive from Granada. Needless to say, 4 hours if you can figure out where you are going! Seville is a maze of small, winding streets, and not set up easily for American touring motorists. We got lost and lost again until we finally found the Cathedral! Boy, was it worth it. The Seville Cathedral was the largest Gothic cathedrals we’d seen so far (and we had been seeing one almost every day!) with its enormous columns and bell tour. The trip up to the top of the bell tower is a maze of 40 spiral walkways to the top. We also toured the king’s palace and took in a flamenco show that evening. The dancing and singing were truly unique. Though a bit touristy, we would definitely recommend the show.

Next stop...Lisbon, Portugal.