Welcome to Barcelona!

Welcome to Barcelona! We got into Barcelona at 7:30 in the morning and had been up for more than 24 hours. Our hotel took our luggage for us and pointed us to this wonderful little neighborhood street that we could walk down to the beach. The first glimpse of the Mediterranean was beautiful. We loved Las Ramble Poble Nou. I only took a few shots here but you can see the fun windows and doors. You will see throughout this blog that I absolutely love windows and doors. I love these old ancient cities. I love watching the people. Natalie and Tyler had such a great time but feel a little funny about their photos. They don't like looking like an engaged couple but every time I told them to look at me, they would mug for the camera. I hope you enjoy the photos. I loved this trip. I loved having my camera with me. This blog represents only a few of the photos that I took.

The center of the Placa'de Catalunya. This is a hub of activity. It is at the top of Las Ramblas which is a street that has open air markets and street performers and vendor. It was so much fun. There were lots of people and music. It felt very festive.

There were dozens of team of these kids dancing and hitting the sticks in their hands against the sticks in the others hands. As soon as they were done the would move down the street and another team would do their dance.

After the gelato

Love flowers!

One of the street performers with Ty and Nat

Fun in the Sun

Enjoying the sun and the blue, blue Mediterannean Sea. This was the morning before we were to go to the ship.

Setting Sail

Boarding the ship

The ever fun life boat drill. Check out those stylin life jackets.

Cool, four person comfy chairs on the top deck of the ship. This was the one and only time we got the chance to enjoy because someone else always had them first.

Love Malta

We were told to be on deck by 7:00 a.m. if we wanted to see one of the most beautiful harbors in Europe. We were not disappointed! The harbor of Valletta, Malta is the deepest natural harbor in the world.
This is a lighthouse at the end of the breakwater.

The harbor is amazing, lined with ancient buildings, cathederals, and bastians.

Love this shot. This was right across from our ship.

This is a view of the island of Malta. It is a very old country. There are no rivers and no lakes. The people are required to have both a well and a cistern to gather rain water. They have also learned to de-salinate the water from the sea. The people are very educated. They are required to know Maltese and English. By the time the are done with secondary school, they are required to know another two languages.

The dome in the cathederal

The podium

The entrance into St. Paul's catacombs

Inside the catacombs. They would hollow out spaces in the limestone. Some were small just for a baby or small child. Some were large enough

for two and some for a whole family.

The apostle Paul was shipwrecked on the Island of Malta. This is a statue of him.

A view of the top of St. Paul's cathederal

A beautiful shot from across the street from the entrance to the ancient city.

The gate to the ancient city of Mdina. The name is pronounced em-deena. It dates back to 1000 years before Christ

Nat in the stocks

Window of the palace

This is St. Paul's Cathederal

The ceiling

I love this painting of the enunciation

Lots of cute kids in school. This little guy was mugging for the camera.

When I would read novels that described the bougainvillea hanging from the balconies, I always hoped that I would be able to see bougainvillea in person. I was definately not disappointed. It comes in colors from white to pink to purple. There are photos of bougainvillea throughout this blog.

Cool window coverings

I love this street with no cars, moped and people

These oleander shrubs lined all of the road ways on Malta. They are in shades of light light pink to dark pink.
The ancient city of Mdina from the craft mall.

A glass blower in the craft mall on Malta

Glass plate blown by the glass blowers