This weekend I re-uploaded all of my pictures from the trip. For some reason on the first upload, many turned sideways and wouldn't turn upright through my gallery's software. I also removed a few crappy or unnecessary photos.

Here are my favorites pictures and moments.

Me at a bullfight.
Despite these being blurry, I'll never forget the way the matador was carried out of the stadium as a hero.

The Camp Nou was amazing for me. The Champions League trophy is quite amazing too.

Montserrat was one of the coolest places I've ever been.

I like this picture of my dad and sister at Tibidado. I like this one of me there.

Estrella Beer, Sangria, & Gelato was all the rage among my family.

Spain wasn't all fun and games :(

I like this one of me at the Dali Museum. The painting was massive!

There was amazing architecture all over the city, but my favorite design was this clock on the Hotel Catalunya framed by the Torres Venicianes.

Our box seats at the Gran Liceu Opera House were awesome.

I like this one of me at the Sagrada Familia.

I like these pictures of my family at Parc Guell.

And finally, mom and sis at La Predera is a good one.

I guess this concludes my posts about our trip to Barcelona.

I think this post will finally cover all my Barcelona experiences. I'll have one more to wrap up tomorrow. We attended 2 musical events in Barcelona.

The first musical event was a night of Catalonian classical music at Gran Teatre del Liceu. The opera house on La Rambla is one of the world's finest. Everything about the inside says luxury. I ordered box seats for a show featuring two composers. The first half of the show was scenes from an opera called La Celestina by Felip Pedrell. The language was Catalan, but the music and voices were top notch. Their were digital displays in every seat with a translation, but on our night the translations were only for Spanish and Catalan. My sister figured out that the opera was a comedy about match making.

The second half of the show was by Roberto Gerhard. This was a performance unlike any I've ever heard. The music and a narrator told a haunting story called La Pesta. My sister figured out that it was about Nazi occupation in France, but the story was told as a tale of horror. It was quite amazing to see horror movie music performed live with a haunting choir and deep voiced narrator.

The second musical event we attended was during our last day in Barcelona. The show was at the Gran Palau de la Musica Catalana. The concert was mainly arranged for tourists as it featured a potpurri of Flamenco, opera, and spanish music. The Flamenco dancers were very impressive and the crowd was nuts for them. The opera singers were pretty good too, but I felt they didn't get featured enough. Nevertheless, the venue and show were great.

If you love modern, abstract and surreal art, Catalonia must be your next destination. Some of the strangest but also smartest artists produced their best work in the region.

Antoni Gaudi - is responsible for the architectural highlights of Barcelona. Our first full day in town was devoted to three places that define his work in the city. The first was a ten minute walk from apartment to Casa Mila, aka, La Predrera. This building on the street is known for it's curvy facade on the inside and out. I was mildly interested. My sister was fascinated. My parents were whelmed. Gaudi's second mark on the city, and the symbol you see on the most souvenirs is the Sagrada Familia cathedral. Oddly, construction began in 1882 and still isn't finished. The inside is all scaffolding and construction. The outside however is brilliant. There is so much detail on the outside of the building that there is no way one can observe it all on one trip.

The third Gaudi highlight of our first day was Parc Guell. The park was created as a place to get some fresh air in the city. The huge complex is most known for the curvy benches covered in tiled mosaic that give one a great view of the city. It was different and I imagine it's a great place for a picnic. There are tons of little details in the architecture of the park that you can spend hours exploring.

On a later date we went to another famous Gaudi House, Casa Batlo or the House of Bones. I liked this place more than La Predrera. There was more detail than just curvy walls and interesting textures.

Picasso - The Picasso Museum was located right in the middle of the Gothic quarters. It was fitting that many independent boutiques and galleries were nearby this museum. The first half of the museum was "normal" artwork. I guess it was all stuff Picasso did before he started getting cubic and surreal. That was the uninteresting part for me and most of the people there. The second half of the museum was the work that Picasso is known for. All of the unusual stuff was neat and when you got up close it was very detailed. It was great stuff. The temporary exhibit, which somehow my sister was an expert on displayed different artistic rendtions of a painting called Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez. It was interesting to see numerous renditions of one painting done 350 years ago. Of course Picasso's rendition was prominently displayed.

Joan Miro's - museum was in a great location on the Montjuic near the Olympic village. The only reason I knew of him was because he made the official 1982 World Cup poster. I have no idea who's made any other World Cup posters. I have no idea why I know Joan Miro made the Spain '82 poster. His work looks mostly like the poster and I was pleased. I actually found the progression of his work interesting. As he got older, he tried to do more with less. He simplified his colors and shapes and got more out of his work than he did with intricate designs. There's probably a lesson to be learned in that. He did a lot of sculpting too, all of which always seemed to include male genitalia. I don't know what lesson I can get from that. The museum cafeteria served little sandwiches called bip-bips.

Dali - Everyone knows he's a trip, and it still can't prepare you for his museum in the city of Figueres. Upon arriving at the museum you're witness to giant eggs lining the top of the building, golden astronauts with loaves of bread on their head, and a crazy old gypsy woman who likes to not wear underwear and show everyone waiting in line. I'm pretty sure that she wasn't part of the museum.

Inside is so much surrealism it's impossible to not be interested and amused. Just browse my pictures.

Museu Nacional Art de Catalunya - This was the final museum we visited on our trip. The outside of this building is ornate and grand.

The inside was actually rather plain, but there was a ton of Catalonian art to see. The art was divided into eras. I'm not into violence for the sake of violence, but the renaissance section had some great paintings depicting martyrs throughout the ages. It wasn't all bloody. Some of the martyr's depcited were being boiled alive or just tied up while demons ate them. That was interesting.

There was also a Roman section which included what is now my favorite depiction of Jesus ever. It's a piece that is part of a ceiling of an old temple unearthed in the Catalan countryside. Having seen so many churches and cathedrals with paintings that scare you into being Christian (I'm looking at you, Duomo in Florence) it's nice to see a peaceful picture that adorned a ceiling in an ancient church.

The MNAC also had a great temporary exhibit featuring three artists I had never heard of, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray and Francis Picabia. While not Catalan, their work fit in with the likes of Picasso, Miro, and Dali. They even made a film back in the 1920's which I was glued to. They seemed to be making music videos before people even knew you could combine music and video.

We rented a car for a couple of days and got out of Barcelona. We took two excursions. The first was inland towards the wine country and Montserrat. The second was down the Costa Brava away from France from Figueres to Barcelona.

Inland Catalonia- We took the Av. Diagonal out of town with hopes of going towards Montserrat. The lady from the car rental agency said "just stay on the A-2 and follow the signs to Montserrat." We did that and got horribly lost. However, we made a nice loop through the countryside and into the hills of Catalonia. Before we knew it, vineyards were all around and we were on a side road passing through little towns. Eventually we got back to Barcelona and followed the A-2 in the other direction. We ended up at Montserrat in 20 minutes.

Montserrat - This was one of the coolest places I've ever been. The Santa Maria Monastery is reachable by an incredibly high and steep cable car. If you get on it, the view is breathtaking. Once at the top you can explore the monastery which is home to the Black Virgin Mary. The trip up there for most people is all about touching the statue. It was pretty neat. Also at the monastery are hiking trails that take you to the slightly higher surrounding peaks. We didn't do that, but I'd love to go back and have a go at them.

The Costa Brava - was the path we followed on our route back from the Dali Museum in Figueres. I'll talk about that tomorrow. The coastal cities are littered with great beaches, high rise hotels, waterparks, mini golf, real golf, and go-karts. It seems like a fun place, since there's something for everyone. We didn't stop in any of the towns, but seafood restaurants were abundant. If you don't take the streets that are down by the hotels, you can get great views of the coast by taking the C-2 highway. Of course you'll pay a toll on it, just like every other highway in Spain.

Ole, Ole, Ole!

La Plaza De Toros - I got to see my first bullfight and I thought it was fantastic. I'd definitely be a regular at these events if I lived in Spain. However, I was a little confused at first. Before going to Barcelona, I read that bullfighting was outlawed in the city in 2004. Apparently in 2005, this ruling was overturned. When we arrived, there were many protesters making as much noise as they could to deter people from attending the bullfight. A big line of Policia prevented them from actually confronting those who bought tickets. From the looks of ticket window, the protesters weren't above throwing red paint (to symbolize blood) at bull fight attendees.

La Plaza de Toros was an old ring, just how one would imagine. It's completely circular, has a red fence, and typical stadium seating. The true local fans mostly took seats in the shade in the lower levels of the ring. Tourists had the cheap seats in the upper deck. I was sort of familiar with bull fighting from lectures in Spanish class, and watching some of the San Fermin festival on TV while in Barcelona.

A bullfight goes like this. The bull is released into the ring and it has lots of energy. A group of rookie matadors get into the ring and tire it out by getting it to make full charges from one side of the ring to the other. Then blind-folded and armored horses are brought out. The bull is provoked into hitting the horses and literally lifting them off the ground. This tires the bull out even more. Next, 3 more rookie bullfighters are brought out. Their goal is to jab three pairs of short blades into the bulls back, piercing its lungs and causing them to fill with blood. This happens pretty quickly. Finally after the bull has been sufficiently tired out, El Matador enters the ring. If the matador is good, he can get the tired bull to continue fighting. There is a graceful and elegant art to this part of the fight. The matador must get the bull as close to him as possible, using sweeping spins and fluid movement. After this happens for about 10 minutes, the matador goes in for the kill. The bull gets one final charge, as the matador attempts to stab the bulls heart through it's back. If done right, the bull drops immediately. If done wrong, the bull suffers and the crowd is upset. The final 2 of the 6 fights I saw showed the worst and best bullfights.

The second to last matador could not get his bull to react at all. The bull would make one pass and just give up. The crowd will yell "Ole" if they're into it, but this matador wasn't getting any of that. You could hear a pin drop in the stadium. When the matador finally went for his kill, he missed the final stab 4 times in a row. Everyone was whistling and berating the hapless matador. Finally, he had to stab the poor bull in the back of head, which resulted in the bull vomiting blood all over the arena walls before collapsing. That matador hung his head in shame as he exited the ring.

Thank goodness there was one more fight. The final matador put on an incredible show. His bull made constant charges, and the matador used all of his moves to put on a great show. Everyone in the arena was yelling "Ole" and he even received 2 standing ovations before he went for the final kill. The final stab was flawless, and the bull dropped immediately. It was smooth and everyone went nuts. The master of ceremonies awarded the fighter 2 ears (as trophy's). The bull's body was circled around the ring in honor (by horses) and then the matador took his victory lap as women threw their underwear, roses, and scarves at him. That wasn't all though. As we exited the stadium, there was a big commotion on the lower level. The fans got into the ring and were carrying the matador outside on their shoulders. Everyone was going nuts for this guy, and deservedly so.

I saw the highs and lows of the bullfight and I definitely want to see more. I don't really see the ceremony as cruel. The bull has a great life of mating, eating, and growing strong until it enters the ring. The bull is bred to be slaughtered and eaten anyway, and the point of the bull fight is to gracefully kill it. The matadors who ruin the beauty of the fight are mocked and tormented. The matadors who make it beautiful are honored.

Soccer soccer soccer.

Camp Nou - We visited the five star soccer stadium which is home to FC Barcelona. Soccer was in the off-season during my visit, but there are self-guided stadium tours, a massive store, and a huge museum to lure thousands of fans.

I made my family wake up early so we could be first in line for the tour, which we were. From the outside, the stadium is massive. It seats about 100,000 people, but it has held as many as 120,000 when there were terraces back in the day. The best part of the tour by far is walking out of the players tunnel and up onto the pitch. The club's slogan "Mes que un club" is written across the seats. The upper decks tower over the field. You feel really small on the field. The tour leads you through press rooms, locker rooms, the stadium chapel, the presidential areas, and to the press boxes before guiding you to the museum.

I was expecting a small rinky-dink museum with a few artifacts from the club. Instead, I got a massive lesson on the history of the team that really was more than club. FC Barcelona really stands for the Catalan people and their pride. The club and all it's sporting success in soccer, basketball, hockey, handball, and many other sports shows a lot of resilience and honor that their little corner of Spain is capable of.

The team shop was nuts too. There was everything from FC Barcelona doggy beds to refrigerators. If there was an item that could have an FC Barcelona logo on it, it was for sale. I now regret not buying an FC Barcelona toaster.

My family thought the stadium was cool too. I think they were more impressed by the museum than I was. Camp Nou wasn't just about sport, it was a symbol of Catalonia and Barcelona. I definitely recommend a trip there even if you don't like soccer. It's a history, cultural, and sports lesson all in one.

Estadio Olimpico - This was of course the Olympic Stadium from the 1992 Olympics. It's currently home to Barcelona's second soccer team, RCD Espanyol, but that team has a new stadium on the outskirts of town and won't remain their for very long. We were there for about 10 minutes as we were hiking around Parc Montjuic. It was neat to see and in a beautiful location on the Montjuic mountain.

Soccer in general in Barcelona - Many people in Barcelona had FC Barcelona gear on. It was by far the most popular article of clothing I saw. I only saw one person wearing an RCD Espanyol jersey during the entire trip. I didn't see too many Spanish national team jereseys, despite Spain's triumph in the European championships a week before I arrived.

On TV, soccer was was always the lead sport despite the off-season. Two major events captured most of the news while I was there. First, FC Barcelona's president won re-election, but only narrowly. Eight of the board members quit in protest of his re-election. Second, Ronaldinho, the world's best player from 04-06, was sold to AC Milan in Italy. After this happened, the only sports news on Spanish TV was Ronaldinho highlights.

Wow, I can't believe someone from Spain was mad enough to leave a comment on my first post about Catalonia. I can't believe someone from Spain actually found my blog in a timely manner and read it and commented. Whatever the person said in Spanish seems to be exactly what the Catalonians try to distance themselves from. Anyways, more about Barcelona....

Getting around - Barcelona sort of reminded me of San Francisco. Everything is close, but occasionally you'll want a cab. If I moved there, there's no way I'd get a car, but I might get a scooter. Just walking in some parts of the city is an obstacle course. Driving in the city is nuts. Poorly marked one way streets, a lack of obvious street signs, and crazy frontage roads for bikes and cars turning right make Barcelona a nightmare for tourists to navigate. If you mix that with narrow streets and scooters coming out of nowhere to pass you, driving is a disaster in the making. If you go for a visit, never drive. A six-Euro cab drive, or 30 minute walk can get you anywhere.

Walking was almost always pleasant. Often we'd find the side of the street with shade and just saunter down to our destination. Along the way you can stop for drinks and snacks. Cab drivers will be glad to take you to any major destination because they know they can pick up new riders once they drop you off. They'll really hustle because they can restart the meter on the cab.

We (dad) did drive out of Barcelona on 2 occasions. Once we went to Montserrat (which isn't very well marked, but we found it) and another time we went to Figures near the French border to see the Dali museum. On the way back we traveled a bit down the Costa Brava. Gas is expensive, and if you want to use the freeways, you'll pay a toll. Generally, you'll pay to drive anywhere worthwhile.

Shopping - Shopping as in fashion, was all around our centrally located apartment. A couple blocks to the Northwest (the Passeig de Gracia) were all the trendy designers like Gucci, Prada, & Armani. Directly to our west was the start of La Rambla which was filled with Spanish shops, some international chains (H&M, Puma), and independent boutiques. To the Southeast, (Calle de Balmes) was a fairly luxurious side of town full of boutiques, expensive restaurants, and mostly upper class stores.

The residents of Barcelona generally dressed very well. Most looked like they had just shopped at a fashion show. The dress wasn't pretentious though. It was a sensible and simple style. It was weird seeing guys in suits driving around on scooters. Kids in the city were slaves to American styles. Most either dressed like hip hoppers, wore obnoxious witty slogan shirts, or did an Abercrombie impression. Of course many wore Barcelona FC jerseys too, and I did see a few Pau Gasol Laker jerseys.

The Chicas Hot. Fit.

Television - Early in the morning and during siesta I watched a bit of TV. Spanish TV swung from either loud like Telemundo or quiet like PBS. There wasn't anything in the middle. Most of the time I ignored it and turned on the satellite to watch BBC, SKY, CNN, and France 24-English.

Before heading over to Catalonia, my family knew we'd have to adjust to a different eating and lifestyle. We yanks like to have an early morning breakfast, a lunch, then barrel on through to the end of our work day before going home for dinner at 7:00 or 8:00 PM.

The Catalonians, and Spanish have a different approach that we worked ourselves into. First there is an early morning breakfast (something we never really did wake up for) followed by a day of work until about 2:00. In the early afternoon everyone breaks for a three hour lunch in which the largest meal of the day is typically eaten. We didnt typically comply with this rule. Lunch was usually our Tapas time. Catalonians usually have their tapas time at dinner.

Food in the area wasn't mind blowing or that special. The idea of Tapas seems very exotic and fun, but when you get down to it, it's mostly just meat and potato appetizers that aren't too tasty. They're just filling. Every menu seemed to have Iberian ham, shrimp, french fries, and little sandwiches. While tapas themselves aren't too exciting, not all Tapas are equal.

The tapas in the touristy areas around La Rambla were awful to look at, smell, and eat. Everything had a look of those hot dogs that role around in their own grease under heat lamps at the 7-11. Tapas and food in touristy areas were just gross. If you got off the beaten path however, you could easily find freshly prepared tapas. One of my favorite places was Tapas 24. I had a huge plate of some really good fried anchovies. Our local neighborhood bar, El Roble, had some high quality Tapas too. Pau Gasol even thoguht so!

As for meals that weren't tapas, I never really figured out what Spanish and Catalonian cuisine were. There was definitely a lot of seafood, and meat, but it wasn't prepared that differently than you'd find anywhere else in Europe or the world.

Drinking in Barcelona was pretty good. Sangria was a popular drink for us. Every restaurant had their own way of making it and we had our favorites (nice smooth fruity taste) and non-so-favorites (too much alcohol, not enough mixing.) The only beer Catalonians seemed to drink was Estrella Damm. It's light and not that great tasting. Spaniards just aren't into beer. One day my sister turned me onto Clara which is a mix of Damm and Lemon Fresca. That was definitely a good drink that was really refreshing on warm summer days. I can't wait to recreate it for friends.

One habit the Catalonians had that annoyed me was not finishing their beer. Typically they would drink from their glass until about three quarters of their beer was gone. Then they'd stop and just leave it. Apparently the Spanish are afraid of those last 2 ounces of really light beer getting them completely wasted. No local ever left an empty glass at the table. I tried it once and didn't like the custom.

Finally, the owner of a fondue restaurant turned me onto a drink called Ruavieja. It's a really sweet drink meant to be shot. I brought some bottles back.