Street Market in La Plaza de la Catedral

Gay Barcelona

OK, so it's not really a gay statue. But, I mean, just LOOK at it!

Around La Ciudad

I thought I could let them all speak for themselves, but I can't. This next one is in Sitges, a beach town about 30 minutes down the coast from Barcelona. It was FREEZING and raining when we were there. I was told it was the coldest day they'd had all YEAR. I'm good.

This was hanging in a bar. Just take a moment to take it all in.

Colorful Barcelona

I found a lot of graffiti art in El Raval, the area surrounding the Museum of Contemporary Art (below). The building was designed by Richard Meyer. It helped revitalize a rundown neighborhood.

Bonnie Barcelona

I stayed two days in London and then popped off to Barcelona. And let me tell you, Ryan Air has revolutionized air travel and actually redefined the airplane as one of its former names, the airbus. It's cheap, frequent, SO no frills (you can't even recline your seat) and quick. And you DO have to take a bus to and from every FARM that you land in. (Ryan Air does not go to major airports, much like Jet Blue in USA.) But when my trip to Barcelona from London was 99 pence EACH WAY, you can't complain about anything.

DECIDEDLY warmer in Barcelona...

I sat and ate OUTSIDE.

What a relief. And what a nice city. You all should go.

Do you see Columbus standing atop a pedestal over all the boats?

Tweaking

More Marbles

Much healthier. Somehow survived. Must have been in some old lady's attic.

Look at the satyrs. They're so HAPPY.

Aw, just look at them. Aren't they having fun?

Fewer Marbles

While perusing the Marbles, I noticed something rather disturbing.
Ouch.

OUCH.

How are the holes so clean? Are they attached in some way that makes them easy to pull off? Is it true that Victorian prudishness caused the destruction of so many members? Was it the weather?
Yikes.

The Marbles

One canNOT go to London without visiting The MARBLES. Contrary to what Miss Fitzgerald sings, the British Museum has NOT lost its charms.






They are the Elgin marbles, lifted from the Parthenon, back in the, um, back in the... um...

Romancing the Stone

Chris Anderstone. Just call me "Rosetta."

Bella Firenze

Oh, did I mention I took a side trip to Florence?

The Vic & Alb

When one enters the unique Victoria & Albert Museum in London, this is what one sees. A stunning chandelier by glass artist Dale Chihuly. I believe it weighs a few tons and is made of 1,000 parts. Incredible.

The museum mostly houses decorative arts but is quite an amalgam of oddities (not so much oddities as one might find in a Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum, but random objects of interest one might not expect to find in a museum). Like these plaster casts of sarcophagi.

This is a bust of Mel Gibson playing some British king or someone like that. You know, Gary IV or something like that. OK, it has nothing to do with Mel Gibson and it goes against my own personal grain to even mention him now that he's gone all über-Catholic and all. But it's a particularly lifelike sculpture from about 400 years ago.

An illuminated bench, actually. See the parquet floor through it and my camera reflected in the glass or lucite.

Some more blown glass I found whilst hunting for more Chihuly.

They, like the Met, have a Costume Institute of sorts. These are new designs based on some styles from the fifties.