Barcelona and Rome | Christmas 2006

December 2006

our first and only full day in barcelona, we went over the entire city. we woke up sorta early... around 9 or so and had breakfast.

it was horrible.

then we showered and set out to greet the world with a smile. or a yawn?

our first stop was La Rambla. we shopped and walked down the entire street and took pictures and laughed at the street perfomers. it was quite nice.

then we went to Sagrada Familia. it was unbelievable. pictures to come. in the meantime, look it up... you'll be impressed.

next we took the subway back to the hotel and tried to find the Picasso Museum. we got lost.

very lost.

but we stumbled into some amazing sites like the Mediterranean port... very beautiful sunset.

we finally made it to the museum about 6 or so... and so did the rain.

inside we... well, i... marvelled at the drawings and paintings of Picasso. wow.

we left and walked back to the subway station and took it back to La Rambla, and found this nasty little pita shop. it was gross. but it was warm. and tasted like food... sorta.

sleep.

awake.
food.
bus to airport.
wait.
wait.
security.
tj's passport was stolen. by security.

we confronted the guards... and magically it appeared on the conveyor belt.

planed to rome.

i died on the plane. out like a light.

got to rome, went to eat and shop before checking into our hotel.

i had the best meal ever. short penne pasta with salmon sauce. corvo wine is incredible. no it's immaculate.

checked into our hotel and then went to the colosseum. oh my good god... it was remarkable. pictures don't do it justice, and they even had a christmas tree outside of it. we walked around and took an insane amount of pictures. every angle. every scale. every pose. you name it.

ate lunch at this nice ristorante (that's italian) that overlooked the colosseum. had more wine. primitivo. better than corvo.

came back from the colosseum, a bit lighter than before (wine goes to your head)... and crashed hard.

woke up early and trained 4 hours to the north western coast of italy. cinque terre.

it's comprised of five cities: Monterosso, Veratza, Corniglia, Manarola, ?????

we went to Monterosso and Manarola. by train. I HAVE NEVER SEEN SOMETHING AS BEAUTIFUL.

we took sooooooo many pictures and i did not want to leave.

i will definitely be going back some day. some day...

would you go with me?

i'm back in the hotel now and i can't decide if i want to go to the vatican tomorrow for mass on christmas day. there is a red alert out for terrorism strikes... subways, trains, vatican center... i probably won't. perhaps i will and everything will be fine. it is christmas after all.

merry christmas from rome.

until next time...