Back to the USA - Last Post

Sunday, Sept. 27 – We woke up very early and finished cleaning the apartment and getting things ready to go. We left and took some pictures outside,

and stopped at a little bar close to where Eric had parked. They had coffee and I walked around trying to find a place that had ensaimadas, but the only places open that early where bars, so I had to do with a croissant.

I was glad we were in that apartment in Carrer Arago because I didn’t have early memories of that part of Barcelona, so it was not as hard to leave as if we were in the Carrer Bertran apartment.  But still we were sad to go.

Carrer Arago

We got to El Prat, Barcelona’s Airport, and had to go thru several lines,

 and get our luggage checked. 

Sonia was getting pretty emotional

 so we all hugged

and thanked them again for all their help, and out we went to the Delta waiting area ready to catch our flight at 11:45AM

I slept a few hours on the flight to Atlanta, mainly because my TV was not working right and I was bored and tired. When we got to Atlanta it was past 4:00PM and had to go thru customs etc and our connecting flight was leaving at 5:25PM.  I made a mistake and had the paper opener we got for Marvin in my purse (it was a sword)

so they said I had to send it as luggage. Lizzie told Sandy and me to go get to the connecting flight and she would meet us there. She took care of going to the Delta counter and explaining the situation and they said they would send it with our luggage, and then she hurried to meet us, thanks Lizzie. We were the last ones boarding on the connecting flight to LAX.

We got to Los Angeles past 7:00PM. With the change of time in Barcelona and Atlanta, we had a super long day. (The sword didn’t make it but Delta said they would send it home when it arrived).

We took a taxi and went home to La Mirada. Marvin was happy and relieved we made it back OK. Mary and Dewey greeted us and then got ready to go to Burbank. Lulu was super excited to see the girls, and I think maybe a bit happy to see me too. We were hungry and the girls went and got some In’n’Out and fries!

It felt strange to be back home but I was looking forward to sleeping in my bed!

Monday, Sept. 28 – A phone call from Delta woke me up to let me know the sword was on its way, I went outside and sure enough the little package had arrived. Marvin went out and got Polly’s cinnamon rolls for us.

We also got the portrait of my mother and Nuri and me that same morning. We couldn’t wait and opened it. It needs a lot of specialty restoring, but I’m happy it’s at home.

The original portrait

The girls got ready to go; Lizzie would drive Sandy to the Long Beach airport and then drive on home to San Diego. I will miss them!

I’m glad to be home, but I will miss Barcelona and Platja and all the fun I had with my daughters.

It was a wonderful trip!

Back to the USA - Last days in Barcelona

Saturday, Sept. 26 – This was our last full day in Barcelona L

In the morning Sandy and Lizzie got online tickets to go to the Sagrada Familia. I stayed at the apartment and started packing and just taking it easy. I wanted to go out for a walk by myself but finally I didn’t, I took a selfie :)

then I just went to the balcony and thought about how much I had enjoyed these two weeks with my daughters in my hometown and in Platja.

view from our balcony

When they got back from the Sagrada Familia, I was ready to do something, so we decided to walk down Passeig de San Joan and go to Plaza Tetuan –where my mother and her family used to live,(x)

                                                 and from then on to the Arc de Triomf.

Monument to Lluis Companys, very revered in Catalunya

We kept on walking till we got to the Ciutadella Parc, I wanted to see the Cascade and after looking around, we found it. It’s pretty impressive! The Zoo is in the Parc as well, but we didn't go in.

  I also found the building where I took my examinations when I was in high school, ah the memories!

By that time we were getting hungry and we looked around for a place to eat, we ended up at El Born, but couldn’t find any empty chairs in the sidewalk cafes, so we went back walking up Passeig San Joan.

When we were but a couple of streets from our apartment, we stopped in an outdoor bar called 

Snack 55,

                                                      and had tapas and Cava Sangria.

We had a good time and then went back to the apartment to finish packing and to wait for Sonia and Eric . They would spend the night at the apartment and take us to the airport the next day.

They came around 10 and we decided to go out and get something to eat. We stopped at a place in Passeig San Joan  called Dalin i Lucia, 

My last meal in Barcelona 

we had tapas and drinks and talked and enjoyed ourselves. It started sprinkling a little, so we went back to the apartment and went to sleep....

TO BE CONTINUED....

Back to the USA- Sagrada Familia and Sitges

Thursday, Sept. 24 – Today is the day of Virgen de la Merced, the Patroness of Barcelona.  It was 51 years ago today when I met Marvin.  Rather than going downtown and joining the celebrating crowds, we chose to go visit the Sagrada Familia, the 3 of us were looking forward to it.

This church-school was behind our apartment, I could see it from the balcony

We walked the few blocks from our apartment and first stopped at a churreria and got some churros for breakfast. Yum!

We sat on a bench in front of the church and had our first glimpse of the church thru the trees.

There were lots of people and tour buses. It reminded me of the many times I took tourists to see Sagrada Familia, it seemed so long ago. We got on one line to go inside and we were lucky it was the line to go to the crypt where Gaudi is buried; it was a place I always wanted to see.

The chapel of San Jose

We also tried to go inside the main church but it was all full for the day. The girls decided they would try to get tickets for Saturday.  We walked all around the church and stopped to buy some Gaudi things at the Gaudi Museum.

After we got home, we changed and took a taxi to my cousin Ferran’s home. He had invited us for lunch; his wife’s name is Mercedes so they were also celebrating her name day. He greeted us at the door with the recording of The Star Spangled Banner J

We had a nice time with them, his daughter Gloria and granddaughter Patricia were also there. We had a wonderful meal of paella de carne, and a delicious dessert.

Afterwards he drove me to the apartment and then drove Sandy and Lizzie to Parque Guell. I didn’t go because my foot was hurting and I knew there would be a lot of walking. I stayed at the apartment and watched TV and read.

When the girls came home they brought delicious ham sandwiches and we watched the Merced festivities on TV. 

Fireworks set to music, beautiful! Nice ending to a fun filled day.

Friday, Sept. 25 – I woke up early and went to the doctor to have my foot checked. I was glad to hear that it had healed and it was fine, although still pretty sore.

                            We were going to Sitges today. We stopped to get some breakfast

                                     then took a taxi to the train station in Passeig de Gracia.

We arrived in Sitges and it was another beautiful day. 

We looked around a little and looked for a place to have lunch. 

We decided on the Restaurant El Sunset de Sitges.

I had gazpacho, calamares a la romana and flan de coco con helado, and champagne sangria.

Very good!

 

We walked by the beach and went to the church area and walked around Sitges, a beautiful town.

We took the train back to Barcelona and spent some time at Passeig de Gracia looking at another Gaudi masterpiece, Casa Batllo and the house next to it Casa Ametller  by another great Catalan architect Puig i Cadafalch 

We took a taxi back to the apartment and  later we decided to go to Rene Restaurant for some tapas and drinks. 

We sat outside and had a good time eating and drinking.

Another fun day in Barcelona and Sitges!

TO BE CONTINUED

Back to the USA (from Platja D'Aro to Barcelona)

Wednesday, Sept. 23 – Our last day in Platja D’Aro. In the morning Sandy and Lizzie went for a walk along the beach, I stayed in the apartment packing and having a mini meltdown. I didn’t walk with them because my foot was still pretty sore. I was planning on having a drink and sitting outside and just  enjoying the view until they came back,

but I forgot I had left my sunglasses in Lizzie’s purse and the sun was too bright, so I took some pictures from inside and kept on packing.

Hotel Aromar called and said we were supposed to have left by 10, it was now past 11, so as soon as the girls came home we left the apartment and went to the hotel to wait for Sonia and Eric that would drive us back to Barcelona.

I took a last walk on the beach and cried a little remembering my mom and dad and the fun times we had spending summer days in Platja when the girls were growing up.

We left and decided to stop at a little restaurant called Grill Ruta Baviera in Santa Cristina and have some lunch, it was a good choice! We each chose a meat to grill, my choice was a pork kebab or pincho moruno and also had fries and pa amb tomaquet.

We continued the drive to Barcelona,  Our new apartment was in Carrer Arago, next to Passeig San Joan. It was an older building with a really small elevator.

The apartment was beautiful. It had been totally remodeled. Beautiful kitchen and bathrooms, nice living area, a balcony and 3 bedrooms. It looked beter than the pictures, we were impressed. Until we went to take a shower!!! There was very very very low water pressure, that was a disappointment.

We started to get dress to meet my cousin Franc for dinner. He’s the son of one of my mother’s sisters. He’s a very well traveled man, and very smart too. He lives in Munich and we reconnected thru Facebook a few years ago.

We took a taxi to go to the Restaurant, but because it was a big holiday (tomorrow is dia de La Merce, the patroness of Barcelona) the streets in Barri Gotic were closed, so the taxi left us as close as he could and we walked thru the crowded streets and listened to the music  and had fun getting to Can Pitarra, located in the carrer Avinyo.

We went in and sat down at the reserved table and a few minutes later my cousin came in. It was good to see him (last time I saw him was when he and his wife and young son came to Idaho and spent a few days at our house, probably 30-40 years ago)

He ordered a bottle of Cava and we ordered dinner – I had anxovies for starters, I just love them! And monkfish al all cremat, and crema catalana. We had another bottle and just enjoyed listening to his travel stories and remembering the times when we were children together.

It was another great day, full of good food, and memories.

I was going to write a couple more days but I am tired and going to bed now  :)

TO BE CONTINUED