Barcelona

Our very first stop in Spain was Barcelona.  This is an old area called the Barri Gotic.  Lots of narrow lanes and cobblestone.  It feels like a different world in here.

Pig legs at the outdoor Boqueria Market.  This store specializes in Iberian ham.  The black hoofed pigs are fed only acorns.

 The Boqueria (outdoor market)

 The Sagrada Familia.  Antoni Gaudi's famous church.  That's not renovations.  It's still being built today.

Front entrance

Inside the church.  It was very bright inside.  A nice change from all the dark, gothic cathedrals that pepper Spain. 

Another entrance to the Sagrada Familia.  When I first saw this on tv, I hated it.  But looking at it close up and personal, I appreciated the artistry.  And it's pretty awesome to look at it live and in the flesh.

Parc Guell.  Colorful park created by Gaudi that was packed with tourists.  You couldn't snap a photo without someone's head in it.  Here is the famous salamander/dragon thing that everyone wants a photo of. 

Parc Guell from the bookstore window.

Dinner at a ham shop.  The food in Spain was absolutely amazing.  Everything was marinated in delicious olive oil.  Strangely, the bread was surprisingly mediocre.  This was the case at almost every restaurant we went to.  They automatically brought it to your table as some sort of cover charge.  Sometimes they just brought crackers.  Since we couldn't mop up all the leftover olive oil with crackers, we just picked up our dishes and drank it. 

Sevilla

Seville bullring.  There is only one fight in the months of July and August.  Probably because of the blistering heat.  But they do give tours of the bullring.  We weren't planning to see a fight anyway, but it was cool to see a bullring.

 View of the Seville Cathedral through an outer door.

 Seville at night.

 The inner courtyard of the Alcazar palace.  Similar to Granada, but a Christian palace built in the Moorish style.  Still used today for state functions.

Seville is an old, old city with a complicated history.  It has Roman, Muslim and Christian influence.  Fascinating but sad history.  You can feel the different layers of influence in the city itself.   

Stunning tile work in the Plaza de Espana.  Fairly recent.  I think it was built in the 1930s for some World Fair.  We only saw this place at night.  Can't imagine what it looks like during the day.

Late night snack.  In Spain everyone eats late.  Locals start dinner at 9pm and restaurants don't close until midnight.  Mmmm!  More iberian ham!

Can't go to Europe without climbing some sort of tower.  View from the top of the Seville bell tower.

Everything in Seville is designed to avoid the scorching heat.  Homes are painted white.  Streets are narrow to maximize shade.  And everywhere you look there are orange trees to give additional shade.  In July and August the temps can get up to 115 degrees!  Fortunately because of this year's weird weather pattern, it was a balmy 95. 

Granada Spain

One of our stops in Spain was Granada.  THE thing to see in Granada is the Alhambra.  The Alhambra is a Moorish palace, a fort and gardens.  We had to take a 3 hour train ride from Seville, but it was worth it.  It gets three triangles from Rick Steves.  (translation: absolute must-see)

 Here's a close-up of the intricately carved wall.  Stunning!

This is the courtyard of the lions.  It's named for a huge fountain held up by 12 marble lions.  Unfortunately the fountain was under renovation, so there was mostly scaffolding everywhere.

 One of the many amazing views from the top of the Alhambra. 

 Another view.

 Generalife, or the gardens of the palace. 

Factoid:  M.C. Escher came to the Alhambra and was inspired by the designs he saw here.  There's even a small Escher museum in the Alhambra complex. 

This is the uphill climb we took to get to the Alhambra from our hotel.  Very steep.  Veeerry steep.

Madrid

We just got back from a trip to Spain.  Our last stop was in Madrid.  We spent one full day there.  My favorite place was the Mercado de San Miguel.  We stumbled on it while doing a Rick Steves' walk backwards through Madrid.

It's a marketplace with all sorts of ready to eat food.  Fruits, iberian ham, oysters, gazpacho and little sardine bruschettas.  You can even order a glass of wine and carry it around from shop to shop. 

 Pickled foods. 

My husband was excited about this cone of iberian ham.  Iberian ham bellotta comes from black hoofed pigs that are fed acorns.  Very delicious!

Fruits and vegetables.  And my husband.