Nov7,2010 Park Guell

Today the bus came to pick us up  and take us to Park Guell and then to our cruise ship.Park Guell is a World Heritage Site and was designed by Gaudi. The project was suppose to be a utopia of sorts.There is a large colonnade to be used as a square for families and colorful benches atop the structure.Gaudi also had a home here. Some photosof the area.

Next we're off to our ship Voyagers of the Seas.We've had a great 3 days in Barcelona and want to return someday.

Nov.7 2010 Cruising

7We are now on our cruise ship Voyager of the Seas heading for Cartegna,Spain. This is a very large ship and carries 3500 hundred passengers.Alittle bigger than we like. The first nite we got to meet our tablemates at dinner and here are photos of all.
Friends George and Janice Olsen

                                             Stephen Kent(Texas)

Dick and Wanda Patzer (Arkansas)

Al and Joan Hansen ( Wisconsin)

 Sam and I

Nov.6,2010 Winery and more

The tour bus picked us this morning and we headed out to a winery called Freixenet. Freixenet was founded in 1889 and is the largest and most renowed cava houses in all of Spain. Their sparkling wines (cava) is comparable to Frances Moet and Chandon.They have a great tour and it also encompasses a train ride of the caverns.

Old vechicles Sam and me

Sam and George

Janice and me

Inside the caves

Train ride through the caves

 Lots of wine

Ready to get back on the bus

Next we went to the Olympic Village

Overlook of city and harbor

Our next stop was in the Rambles where we seen the old city walls and where the king use to stay.

On this tour we also went past another famous place that Gaudi built.This home was called Casa Mila better known as La Pedrera because of the uneven grey stone that ripples around a corner and gives a wavy effect. Lots of grill work on balconies.A very unusual house.

Beach area,sand brought in for the olympics

Until tomorrow

Nov.5 2010 Montserrat

Today our tour was to Montserrat,a breathtaking beautiful mountain retreat and spititual monastery.Montserrat is home to the Sanctuary of Our Lady and is 1000 years old. There is much to do here and you can spend a day just hiking around. The holy Grotto is here where the Virgin Mary's 1st image appeared.It is home to National Boy's Choir. We were suppose to hear the boys sing but they were out on tour. We were only here for 2 hours which wasn't very long and we didn't get to the Grotto.It was a beautiful setting and we wish we could of spent more time here.

Montserrat

After we got back from the tour we got on the subway to go the Sagrada La Familia.We stopped by here on the way to Montserrat but they only gave us 10 minutes for photos.We wanted to go inside.The Sagrada is a very famous cathedral which was started by Gaudi in 1882.It is still under constuction and they say it will take another 20 to 30 years to complete. The magnificent spires rise high into the sky.This a very unusal cathedral with fruits and seasons depicted on the outside



We were really lucky to have been able to go inside the cathedral as the Pope and King of Spain were going to be there to dedicate the basilica on Sunday.There were police and blockades everywhere.After we were done there we heading back to hotel and go out to dinner.We ended up in a tapas bar with George and Janice Olsen and had quite the experience.The waiter was rude and didn't seem to want to help us with menu.Janice wanted to get a salad but wanted to know what kind of salads they had.He just brought her one and through it on the table. I think he was having a bad day.Tomorrow a winery.

Nov.4 Barcelona

Today we arrived in Barcelona,Spain from Houston.We are staying at the hotel Avenida Palace along with about 100 other Escapees.We will be here for 3 nights and take some tours before boarding our transatlantic cruise. This is a very modern and beautiful city with around 1.5 million people and 4 million in the surrounding area.

Avenida Palace

                              
                              Eating at one of the restaurants with fellow SKPs.

Tomorrow we will be going to Montserrat

Oct.30th Friends

The last 2 weeks we have been staying at our friends in Quitman,Tx.We were here back in April.We’ve been visiting and having some fun.One day the church had a hayride and it was lots of fun.

Our friend Neva

And Gerry with John

After the hayride it was food for everyone.What a great time.Neva and I had time to do some shopping at a favorite store Dressin’ Gaudy.It was nice to see them again and hate to say goodbye.

Oct.17,2010 Natchez

Today we decided to drive the car down to Natchez instead of taking the RV.Tomorrow we will be heading to northeast Texas and didn’t want to backtrack.Natchez is situated on the Mighty Mississippi.Natchez was known for its cotton and the 1st steamboat to come down the Ole Miss was in 1812.It left with its first bale of cotton.Today people come from all over to see the beautiful mansions built by the cotton kings.They have a fall pilgrimage in Oct. and you can take bus tours of the homes.We got tickets to see 3 of the homes and really enjoyed the history of each one.The 1st one we visited was Stanton Hall.

Stanton Hall is one of the most magnificent antebellum homes in America of the Greek Revival era.It was built by Fredrick Stanton a cotton baron who came from Ireland.Everything in this home is in beautiful condition.No pictures were allowed inside so you’ll have to do your own tour.Next on the tour is Longwood.

Longwood

Longwood is the largest octagonal house America.The mansion was built in 1860 for wealthy cotton planter Haller Nutt and his wife Julia.The rotunda is open to the entire 6 stories crowning the Byzantine Moorish dome with a 24ft finial.The house has never been finished due to the civil war.The basement level was the only part of the house finished and where the family lived.Haller died in1864and left his wife and 8 children in dire needs.The house was never finished.Every thing was left as is when men went off to fight the war. 

The 3rd house was Rosalie but we got there to late to take the tour.There was also the Annual Balloon fest going on right next to this home.We really enjoyed what we saw of Natchez and hope to return someday.