La Sagrada Familia – Barcelona, Spain
Park Güell – Barcelona, Spain
Neat park with Gaudi inspired designs. We went in the morning, and then back after 9 PM to see areas we had missed during the day. Almost locked in park for the night, then a long walk to a street where we could hail a taxi
La Boqueria Market & La Rambla – Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona, Spain
La Garde, France
We stayed at a unique airbnb halfway between Pistoia, Italy and Barcelona, Spain. Old, three or more story homes are on tiny streets. Parking is practically nonexistent so residents park in a free garage at the bottom of the hill, and climb stairs to their homes. Everyone is in very good physical shape!
On the Road Again – Italy to France
Beginning the journey west. Before leaving Italy we tried to pay the parking ticket. What a strange and convoluted process: 90 minutes from Post Office to Bank 1, then to Bank 2 (apparently only one will work), where a nice manager escorted us to the Police Station, where a bored commandant filled out a piece of paper, then back to Post Office. Then the clerk at Post Office decided to process a huge stack of mail, very, very slowly, before taking my money. No wonder tourists just leave town without paying! The best thing about the process: all the facilities were located around the same town square!
When we finally got out of town, travel through the Italian Alps was very interesting: green, lots of tunnels and very high bridges. Strange finds at the rest stops: rubber chickens and Mardi Gras masks??
Random thoughts – Italy
- If you stay in a villa built in the 1700’s, you will experience low to non-existent water pressure, and slow to non-existent internet.
- If the owner of said villa encourages swallows to live in the barn below, swallows will occasionally fly in your living room window and out your kitchen window.
- Since swallows fly into the house, that means there are no screens on the windows, which means mosquitos…..
- And finally, as cliche as it sounds, one morning at the bakery, I had my ass grabbed by an Italian male*
*toddler running around
Pistoia, Italy
Last day at the villa. Went to the Pistoia Wednesday morning market – everything you can imagine was for sale in tents along pedestrian traffic only streets. Came back for a little swimming, before a pizza dinner and then back to Pistoia to try and crash a Mumford & Sons concert. Bought a 3 eruo bottle of beer and the proprietor of a cooking specialty shop let us sit out back where we could here the music echoing off the buildings in the plaza. She even provided cups and seat cushions. Quite the deal as the tickets were selling for 46 euro each!
