Barcelona Hodgepodge

May 24 – June 21, 2017

We apologize for the delay.  I was sidetracked due to some pretty epic puppy adventures…and Jo putting me through blog boot camp.  She hid me in a dark closet and trained me to type better…faster…stronger!  When I would make a mistake, she smacked my paws with a ruler and fervently, yet calmly, said, “Again.”

In any event, I’m back to add the cherry to the top of this Barcelona sundae!

Museu de la Xocolata

If ever there was a place that could kill me, it’s this place.  A chocolate museum and a dog?! And Jo and Gma took me there.  Gee, thanks a lot, guys!  But I’ll be the first to tell you the smell was intoxicating!

I imagined a studly cartoon dog made of chocolate sauntering past, his aroma wafting and leaving a visible trail.  I transform into a cartoon, too, bounding into the air and floating along on his current  of sweet, sweet cocoa – ascending and descending, loopty-looping right into his arms!  Well, at least that’s what Jo seems to think I dream about when she watches me sleep.

The museum was small but amazing!  With a smorgasbord of chocolate sculptures, a chocolate café, and historically informative exhibits…blah, blah, blah.  I just wanted the chocolate!

* Our ticket to get in – an actual chocolate bar!  BRILLIANT!

* What I would give for but a taste of that Komodo tail…

* Sorry, looks nothing like Messi…but job well done on the knee muscles

* Sigh…I wasn’t allowed into the café portion of the museum.  So I sat just outside, hoping someone (Gma) would take pity on me and bring treats

* SUCCESS!! Gobbling down bits o’ muffin

* Where we ate aforementioned muffin bits, and the humans guzzled hot chocolate

*REAL hot melted chocolate, folks – none of that pussy powdered chocolate pandered to Americans

Sketching a Nude!

After the chocolate museum, we got lost; did some shopping, where Jo insulted me by purchasing a hideous cat sculpture; meandered through the Gothic Quarter, where Jo almost shit her pants when she couldn’t find a public restroom; got caught in a downpour; got lost again; and took an art class by Benet from Airbnb.

Jo and Gma take painting classes together (translation: an excuse to drink and have fun, although not like they really need an excuse) and they just assumed they could easily transition into sketching the human form.

Jo once painted a panda popping a wheelie on a skateboard, and I lied to her when I said it was a masterpiece.  Now here she was telling everyone how she hoped the nude model was a guy so she could draw a birthday hat on him, along with a balloon animal where his naughty bits are.  So I knew we were in trouble at this class.

While artists and novices alike made their way into the room, I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t going to be the model for the evening.  I mean, I’m nude all the time and nobody sketches me!  Exasperated and tired, I told Gma to Van Gogh get me some chips and cheese, while I settled in for the punchline that would assuredly burst forth from Jo’s pencil.

*Turns out the model was a woman.  Jo was bummed.

* Hey, one is bound to have some Michelangelos and highs in one’s art career

* Gma nailed it!

* She even had spare time to sketch meeee!

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and Benet was a wonderful host/instructor.  A Barcelona experience not to be missed!  We got to mingle with many of the guests, as well, including a couple of Germans, a Canadian, an Englishwoman (no, this isn’t the start of a cheesy joke), and a guy from Philadelphia who flew to Barcelona specifically for a music fest.  That’s a looong way to go for a few days of music.  I hope those tunes were so epic they blew that guy’s eyebrows clear off his face!

* THE hideous cat sculpture with creepy Dali whiskers.  I will tear this to bits one day, like when Jo has taken too long to come back from grocery shopping

El Gòtic (The Gothic Quarter)

* Just another architectural masterpiece (a regular occurrence here in Barcelona)

* Jo almost died when she saw this guy just chillin’ in the courtyard – picture perfect moment for any “Alien” fan.  I obviously couldn’t be bothered with the whole thing.

* Opera singers giving it their all down an alleway – AMAZING!!  Bonus points for the “Marvin the Martian” shirt

* My favorite store! 

* Luckily, I missed this cattfiti (cat graffiti), or I would have surely peed in front of it

* Ahh, that’s better!  This dog looks like Snowy from the Adventures of Tintin.  They love them here.  Even have an entire store dedicated to them!

* Jo was all excited, thinking this was a bar/café where she could pet some actual cats, and I was hungry for cat anyway.  But she quickly realized there were no animal cats.  So she tried petting some of the human cats (Catalans), but, alas, it wasn’t the same!

* Barcelona did not have enough green spaces (parks) for my liking, and Jo had to disappoint me yet again when she denied me the joy of rolling around in this grass too.

Arc de Triomf and Parc de la Ciutadella

* The first real patch of grass I’ve seen that I’m allowed to go on since being here!!

* The Arc!  Once the entrance to the 1888 Barcelona World Fair held in the Parc de la Ciutadella (photo ca. 1888, courtesy of Cornell University Library)

* The Arc today (well, more like a month ago, but you get the picture…pun intended)

* Jo couldn’t contain herself and ran over to pop some bubbles!

* King Kong’s summer home?

* Met a woman in the park who never made it to the altar, and she was spending her wedding money on traveling – good for her!

* This guy was taking old-timey photographs in the park, and we rushed right over to get one!

* TADAAA! 

* A love lock railing, similar to Paris

* Finally, some plants to sniff!

* YESSSS!!  There were signs saying don’t go on the grass, but after nearly a month of no green between my toes, some laws were meant to be broken

* Laverne and Squirrely

* Hey, it worked so well the first time, let’s make a sequel!

* These stickers were all over the city, including graffiti near Park Güell which said, “Gaudí hates tourists.”

Hey, we get it – tourists suck.  Where we come from, we have “snowbird season,” where older folk from up north come down to live in Florida during the winter.  Florida is also a big destination for springbreakers.

So those naked Italian guys and the one dressed as a banana who visited Barcelona, got shit-faced drunk, and proceeded to pass out in your streets (true story), well, we have those Grade A wieners here too.  But not all of us tourists are bad.

Sure, it ain’t a party unless Jo is wearing a banana costume, and I’m sure I’ve found myself regaining consciousness in unfamiliar places after indulging in a few too many biscuits, but Jo and I are traveling to take in all of the beauty and wonder of the myriad of landscapes, architecture, food, and culture.  We love it all!

We try to speak your language (what little we know), and other than breaking some “don’t get on the grass” rules, we try to respect your home.  All of these tourists-go-home signs didn’t make us feel welcome at all, but hey, we understand and we still had a good time!

* I’d lose my head, too, if another drunk tourist passed out in my city

* Guess we’re all art critics!

* Hey, even ants need a place to stay while enjoying Barcelona!

Casa Batlló

* Jo said Guadí was her spirit animal.  But…I thought I was her spirit animal. *single tear*

* Inside Casa Batlló

* Rooftop of Casa Batlló

Also got a picture of all three of us on the highest balcony of the house.  Gma was cool as a cucumber.  Jo and I looked…not as cool.  Jo was thinking, ‘What if the balcony breaks off right now and we plummet to our deaths?’  I was thinking, ‘What if Jo and Gma die in the fall and I survive and no one ever feeds me again?!’

Park Güell

* I had some bowel problems in this beautiful park.  Would randomly poop as I walked, and Jo had to rush behind me to pick it up. *snicker, snicker*

* Sagrada Familia church in the distance, in construction since 1882, estimated to be structurally finished by 2026, with decorative elements between 2030-2032 (via wikipedia)

* Jo was kindly asked to take me off the bench after this picture was taken.  No dogs on the grass.  No dogs on benches.  You’re killing me! 

* Jo got a costume for pretty much each country we’ll be visiting, and she promised she would only make me wear them for a few minutes while she takes some quick pictures.  There were no bullfighter costumes (even though there is no more bullfighting in Catalonia), so she settled for a piñata.  I’ve never been more humiliated…

* Stopped here for a bit to chow down on a Spanish omelet sandwich and some pineapple, and eyeball the pigeons before heading home

* Jo took the time to crochet herself a scarf while in Barcelona, and I stole it.  Looks better on me anyway.

* Gma and myself after a looong day of probably eating bread n’ butter and cheese, but we’ll just say it was from all the sightseeing.  Gma looks like she disapproves of her own dream.  She’ll probably kill me for posting this pic.  Jo made me do it, Gma. 🙂

It’s been real, Barcelona!  After a month of craziness and relaxing, we’re off to the UK!

Go To:  Barcelona Highlights or Adiós, Spain; Hello, UK!