Mushrooms

After spending a month in Spain, where it doesn’t “rain on the plain” (at least not in July!), in August 2010 we went up to northern Wisconsin where there had been a LOT of rain! As a result, everywhere I went, there were mushrooms blooming; mushrooms in a variety of shapes and colors. Fascinated, I […]

Friday, our last full day in Spain (E13 – Part 2)

Our last day, Friday, we went to class for the last time (I took more pictures, of course), had our last two meals (breakfast and lunch) at Barradas, packed, and then KF, Dale and I went out to complete our mission of buying dresses! We walked north this time, traversing streets we’d never been on […]

Last Thursday in Spain (E13 – Part 1)

As I mentioned in my last post, Thursday night was to be our farewell dinner. We had been told that there wasn’t even going to be a farewell dinner because there wasn’t enough money left, but as it turned out, our professors found a place to use whatever money was leftover. The name of the […]

Last week in Spain

July 29, 2010 We are on our second to the last day in Spain. Saturday morning we leave Madrid and arrive back in Chicago in the afternoon. People are doing their last minute things: last minute shopping, last minute sunbathing (yes, some of the girls actually went to the park today in this oppressive 100 […]

Barcelona – Day 3

July 25, 2010 (Sunday) Check out time was noon.We had a few hours to kill, so we had breakfast and then wandered on the Ramblas. I bought an ashtray for my niece made out of an aluminum soda can, and Dale had his picture taken with his “hero” Don Quixote. Here is the aluminum […]

Barcelona – Day 2 – Gaudi – Parc Guell

July 24, 2010 After touring Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia cathedral, we took the metro a few stops, then walked a couple of blocks to a series of escalators. We also climbed some stairs. Finally we were high enough to get a good view of the city. Notice the spires of Sagrada Familia rising higher than anything […]

Barcelona – Day 2 – Gaudi: Sagrada Familia

July 24, 2010 (cont’d – I’ve decided to have one post for each Gaudi site we visited, since I took so many photos at each place!) Next we walked east toward the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s famous unfinished cathedral. Gaudi was a very religious man and envisioned building a grand monument to Christianity. The completed church […]

Barcelona – Day 2 – Gaudi: Casa Batlle

July 24, 2010 The next day, Saturday, was what I called “All Gaudi, all the time.” After finding a place to have coffee and a continental type breakfast, we headed out walking toward the Gaudi houses about a mile north of Plaza Catalunya. I had thought of just viewing them from the outside because a […]

Barcelona – Part 2 (Day 1)

July 27, 2010 (July 23, cont’d) We set off after a short siesta for the Palau de la Musica. I never knew about this place, but Prof. A had strongly recommended it and said that the mosaics were absolutely incredible. We found it easily and paid for two tickets for a 3 pm tour. We […]

Barcelona – E10 Part 1

July 27, 2010 Barcelona is the number one tourist city in Spain. This is in clear evidence when you get there and walk along the famous Ramblas. Literally thousands of people seem to be walking there at the same time, and if you look down the street you see a mass of moving heads that […]