Michael and John in Italy: Barcelona. Wow.

We're back home in Seattle now (yay!) and the cats seem to remember who we are. ("Hey, there's the two guys that used to feed us!")

Our final four days were in Barcelona. Neither of us had ever been to Spain before. But now we know why every time we mentioned going to Barcelona to someone who had already been, without fail they would all say, "Ahhh, Barcelona!"

Here are some random photos that help illustrate why they say that:

We stayed in the neighborhood called Barceloneta which is on a wonderful beach that's part of the city. Really great places to eat tapas around here.

John examines a sand dragon.

Another fun translation. This was on the toilet in our hotel room.

Probably the most famous attraction in Barcelona is the Sagrada Familia Basilica. A work in progress since 1882, by Antoni Gaudi', a master of the Modernisme style.

Breathtaking, and it's nowhere near finished. More towers are on the way,
including the tallest church spire ever to be built, at 560 feet. (These you see here are about 350 feet tall.) And they have to tear down a block of apartments to expand the main aisle of the church.

Here's an angel rocking out on a bassoon on the Nativity Facade side of the church.

This is the Passion facade, with more recent sculptures by Josep Maria Subirachs. (Gaudi' left no designs for this facade, so they were given to someone else to do.) Check out Jesus's hair. It's the pages of an open book. (And check out the storm troopers/Romans.)

Facing the altar, from the entrance to the church. The columns are intended
to look like stylized trees with branches.

The vault above the altar is 250 feet high. That's equivalent to a 25 story building.

My camera couldn't begin to do justice to the incredible color streaming in from the stained glass windows.

More color

A closer look at the blue windows.

Closer still

Light from the stained glass plays across the floor.

Then we were off to explore more of Barcelona.

Another building in the Modernisme style.

The Music Hall

The interior of the Music Hall. We attended a piano concert. Check out that ceiling!

Very cool building on Las Ramblas.

Barcelona is famous for these tiny balconies.

Fun stucco work, c. 1900.

Here's one of Barcelona's two versions of the Pike Place Market. This is the less touristy one, Santa Caterina.

As you can imagine, "I'll have a tomato" leads to a very long discussion.

Park Guell, featuring more work by Gaudi'.

This lizard is one of the unofficial symbols of Barcelona.

An apartment complex, designed by Gaudi'.

Not Gaudi', just very cool Art Nouveau.

At a different, smaller church in Barcelona.

If you get started on this right now, your centerpiece for Thanksgiving might be ready in time.

This was a chapel dedicated to sports. Seriously. Don't you just love the facepalm guy? "The agony of defeat," I suppose.

Remember the Jesus with the tiny hands? Well, here's Mary with ENORMOUS hands. Look closely. No thumbs. Had this sculptor ever even looked at his own hands? I'm guessing he was somebody's nephew.

Pretty floor mosaic.

I'm guessing this is Saint Bouillon, the patron saint of soups.

Various celebrities in a toy shop window. Lots of old rockers and House, from the medical drama. And Woody Allen in two sizes at the far right. Go figure.

What to give the person who has everything. This is about seven feet tall.

The National Museum of Catalan Art, on Montjuic, a hill overlooking Barcelona.

Here's the view from the front steps of this building that was originally built for the 1929 Exposition.

This is Mary, the mother of Jesus, in a Medieval Romanesque fresco.
She looks like a character from Popeye to me.

Saint Stephen, who was stoned to death. Those aren't potatoes on his head and shoulders.

And continuing with the pleasant depictions of martyrdom, here we have the following, clockwise starting in the upper left:
1. Being sawn in half - The patron saint of magicians.
2. Having nails hammered into your head - The patron saint of hangovers.
3. Being stabbed repeatedly - The patron saint of tailors. (Think pincushions.)
4. Being boiled in oil - The patron saints of southern cooking.