Alonda and Jim Droege: Christmas 2009

We went to Barcelona, Spain for the Christmas season. We like going to a Christian country for the Christmas holidays. The weather was very mild. It rained one day of our eight and we spent a lot of time wishing for lighter jackets. The food was excellent with lots of choices. The people were friendly and helpful. The coffee was simply outstanding, just like in Italy! The only difference was that Spain knows what decaffinated coffee is. The restaurants were clearly labelled as Smoking or Non-Smoking.

This is the Sagrada Familia cathedral. They have been building it for over a hundred years and it is obviously not finished! The architect was Gaudí. He was famous for trying to make all his buildings look like natural shapes.

This is a shot of some of the windows from the inside. Very impressive colors.

This is what most of the interior looks like. The entire church is one big construction zone. We are pretty sure they don't have services here yet.

This is the "permanent Nativity Scene" on the outside of the church. We were looking for something at ground level and completely missed this the first time we walked by it.

Barcelona could be called the "City of the Nativity Scene." They are everywhere and the markets have lots of things to let you make your own personal nativity scene. This one was in the square in front of City Hall and was so popular, they had fences and police to keep the lines under control. Amazing!

The streets were all decorated with lights. The Rambla (mile-long pedestrian walking zone from Catlunya Square all the way to the sea) had a very nice set of lights on the trees.

Jim did a lot shopping.

This is one of the local markets. Simply beautiful!

Even the candy displays were special.

Speaking of candy ... We visited the Museu de la Xocolata (Chocolate Museum). They had some truly wonderful chocolate sculptures and display scenes. We didn't take pictures since they were all in glass display cases. We were disappointed that they had no postcards! The chocolate was truly excellent.

Barcelona is justifiably famous for its beaches. We walked along them in the beautiful, warm weather on Christmas Day.

We rode the cable car up Montjuic. This is a mountain right next to the city on the sea. It was the site of the Olympics when they were held here and it has a lot of museums and parks.

This is the castle on top of the mountain. It was built to defend the port, but is now a museum.

This shows the view from the same place looking in opposite directions. You may remember the divers in the Olympics looking like they were jumping over the entire city.

This is one of the city parks. It reminds us of the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

This is Alonda sitting on a life-size mastadon. There was almost a line to take this picture!

This is the cable car up to Montserrat. It is about 60 Km from Barcelona. We went up on the train.

The cable car was built by the Germans just in time for the Great Depression followed by the Spanish Civil War followed by World War II. Great timing for a tourist attraction!

This is Jesus and the 12 Apostles on the wall of the Basilica on the mountain. The interior of the church is wonderfully decorated. Lots of paintings and carvings. It was worth the trip up the mountain.

This is the special attraction. The "Black Madonna" is what you have to stand in line for. The line was about the same length of time to get into the Sistine Chapel. This Madonna carving is probably the reason for the monastery being built here.