Back in Barcelona After the Cruise

After disembarking back in Barcelona, we continued to stay for another day. We visited the Poble Espanyol (Spanish Village) which was created for the International Exposition of 1929. It combines various Spanish architectural styles in one small area. Many artists awaited tourists by their works of jewelry, paintings, sculptures, and glass works. We found J's Spanish dress here and later found R a football (soccer) outfit complete with knee-high socks. They wore them everywhere, creating smiles on many people who saw them in town and the airport the next day.
Here's the glass blower working his magic.

J decked out in her new dress while taking a play break near a fountain.

These cute pastries are filled with chocolate and became our favorite breakfast treat in Barcelona.
After taking the bus tour of Barcelona, we made up our mind that nobody should even bother with them in Paris and Barcelona. London is the only worthwhile one we've found.

The bus tour did pass the Olympic Stadium where the 1992 Summer Olympics were held. You can barely see the field.
The different styles on the fronts of the buildings make Barcelona seem so special and intriguing.

This place had plants growing over all the balconies!

We found the Casa Mila, also called La Pedrera (The Quarry) which was Gaudi's famous melting ice cream facade.

Across the street is the Block of Discord, named because it looks like the intent was to compete in an architectural facade competition. This one by Gaudi looks like fish scales to me, but it's supposed to be a dragon.

Oh, I almost forgot...we spotted the Naked Barcelona Man AGAIN! I couldn't believe it.

Mediterranean Cruise, Day 7 (July 18)

Where has the week gone? Our trip was almost done by this point.
Our last stop before heading back to Barcelona was Cannes, France. My kids love the beach and this was the perfect beach day.

After tiring of digging in the sand, there was rock climbing and hunting for sea glass. This ritual for us began with a trip to Maine where the prohibition caused many people to dump their glass bottles containing liquor in the ocean. After years and years of the salt water and sand polishing the glass, it made an almost opaque rock called sea glass. We spotted some in Cannes and while high tide was coming in, it continued to wash on the shore, begging to be collected by us.

Our new collection of sea glass and a few other rocks and shells!

Mediterranean Cruise, Day 6 (July 17)

K endlessly pokes fun at me because I will start to rattle off a popular saying, but half of the time I get the wording all wrong. That's why I don't tell jokes. Anyway, I'm afraid there are signs J has taken after me in that realm. She woke up and declared, "I want to go see the dancing tower." Oh really? Well, you just try to find that place and let us know how that turns out for you! She never did find a dancing tower, but was pretty impressed that we found one that leans.

Next stop...Livorno where we took a train into Pisa to see the Leaning Tower.

My muscles have never ached so bad in my life as they did after this.

I was actually very surprised to see how far it leans, and to think they recently have adjusted it so the angle is not so severe. Compare it to the building on the right and you can see the difference. Also, take a look at the base of the Leaning Tower. It's impressive!

So many people toured inside, but I think I would have had a panic attack wondering if at that moment it would decide to collapse?

Mediterranean Cruise, Day 5 (July 16)

The next port of call was Civitavecchia, Itay. Our first venture was to the Colosseum in Rome. R posed many questions about gladiators and the events that must have taken place in this vast facility. Gladiators actually performed on a platform area similar to the one pictured below, and animals were housed beneath.

As you can see with the numerous amount of pictures here that K enjoyed using his new wide angle lens on the camera.

Boy was it sunny and hot this day!

Next came St. Peter's Basilica where we needed our sleeves (no tank tops) and skirts below the knees. Prepared as we were, numerous others bought souvenir scarves to cover their shoulders and legs to be allowed entry. My dad thought this was the most memorable building in which he had ever stepped foot. The outside of the building is pictured below.
The inside is so ornate!

In Europe, and Paris especially, we have come across so many women (gypsies) begging for money that J thinks anyone with a scarf around her head is going to come ask. While exiting the Basilica, she saw a nun and she asked, "Mommy, is that lady going to beg us for money?"

We were off to the Vatican Museum to see Michelangelo's famous ceiling painting, but we don't have a picture to even prove we were in the Sistine Chapel as photography (even without flash) is not allowed. The pictures below are other painted ceilings within the Vatican Museum.

The kids took turns sleeping in grandparents' rooms which was a nice break for the parents! Rome exhausted us because of the heat, and so much walking and exploring. R woke up the next morning and said, "I could have slept for 4 days after Rome except Papaw woke me up."

Mediterranean Cruise, Day 4 (July 15)

On our way to Naples, can you see Mt. Etna in Sicily smoking in the sunset?

When we arrived in Naples, a driver was waiting to tote us around all day. After discussing the best plan for the day with our personal tour guide, K, our adventure began.
Our first area to explore would be the Amalfi Coast, which is absolutely stunning - the views of the ocean, the cascading flowers, the mountainous terrain, abodes seeming to pop out of nowhere - it was beautiful. I'm so thankful a local from the area was driving and not us. The back and forth motions of the roads, climbing up and down the land, would have been more than nerve racking for us to navigate.
Can you see the rock formation that looks like a picture? I'll let you guess what it is.

In the city of Amalfi, we stopped for a shopping break and a taste of the world famous gelati. It's actually a tad bit different than ice cream, but I can't pinpoint how. K thinks it's the best in the world...I'd have to agree!

No, I'm not eating 2 cones. I'm holding one for my sweet husband taking the picture.

R had his sprinkled with Fruit Loops.

Here's the stand we bought it from (above).

How cute are little girls putting their tiny arms around their daddies?

Freshly made lemonade was a treat (we thought, but it ended up being shockingly sour). We had to dump way too much sugar in!

This was the view from the restaurant where the servers were waiting when we arrived thanks to our driver who called ahead. The views were breathtaking, but for some reason the camera didn't quite capture the beauty as I thought it would.

Driving along the Amalfi Coast.

In many of the views, I thought vineyards were all around, but later learned many areas contained olives, lemons, oranges, and grapefruit instead. These huge fruits behind R were lemons instead of grapefruit according to our driver.

The volcano, Mt. Vesuvius, destroyed the city of Pompeii in 79 AD, burying the ancient city with ashes and rocks. Impressive is how advanced the city actually was during the time - complete with baths, mosaics, paintings, a produce market, a bakery, theatres, even a snack joint. Parts are still being excavated today.

Meandering through the streets, we found this forum with the volcano in the background.

The crazy part to this story is that people were just having a normal day when the volcano erupted. People were literally stopped in their tracks.

This is the point where R started becoming REALLY intrigued by the whole story! This is a plaster cast of one of the victims with actual artifacts found by excavators.
This is just a street in the city. All of the brick pillars marked individual houses.

Here are more housing areas along the small street with stones in the middle. These entertained my kids by allowing them to hop across to the other sidewalk - especially since it was one HOT day! This is right as we were leaving, looking at the city walls.

I'm so thankful the kids could see this miraculous archaeological find.

Mediterranean Cruise, Day 3 (July 14)

These are the views we had coming into the port of Valletta, Malta. The ship staff bragged on the beauty of this port, saying they never tire of cruising into Valletta!

Today was very laid back as we took a tour of the island which included stopping to shop a little of course.

With all the limestone quarries I felt like I was back home in Indiana!
We asked about the draped boats and our tour guide said probably someone from the area had died so this was a gesture of mourning.

The Blue Grotto below is a beautifully peaceful area that you can actually take a boat ride through.

Look at how blue that water is! Amazing!

Overall, the size of the island surprised me. From our tour, it seemed like the people had simply run out of room here.

We needed a picture of us in front of our ship...and here it is!