Friday, July 10, 2009

Barcelona and AJ's Pink Electric Guitar

I hope you had a good rest from the trip to the Bahamas cause now, we are going to Europe, specifically to Barcelona. It's Saturday so it's time to go sightseeing but first let's flaunt our pinks and join Beverly at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/ so we can check out everybody else's lovely pinks.
Below is AJ's Hello Kitty electric guitar that John bought for her when he worked in Sanford near Orlando. I lived in Port Richey then and AJ and I would drive to Sanford every weekend, drag this guitar and the amplifier and she would take lessons downtown Sanford. Unfortunately, she was fairly young and did not quite take an interest in it. So, we asked my nephew to put it in his vehicle last weekend when we met in Destin and so we can take it home and we will try to get her some private guitar lessons here.

Isn't it just the cutest thing? Sorry, the amplifier is still in the garage so I did not take a picture of it but it is a Fender amp.


I thought I would insert Mr. Linky below so if anyone wants to join and post their own sightseeing pictures, you can link them here. It is after my sightseeing post. This is the first time I am doing this so please bear with me if there is a problem.

Now, let's go to Barcelona! These old beautiful European buildings immediately attracted us.






Here is one of Antoni Gaudi's architectural creations built b/w 1905-1907, Cassa Batllo, a concrete Mediterranean apartment building. Sorry, I couldn't take a better picture. The street was very busy with big buses and our tour bus was moving fast.

Sagrada Familia Church (Holy Family) is truly the MOST amazing building that I have ever seen! Located in Catalonia in Barcelona, these pictures do not do it justice. All you could hear from everybody in the tour bus were "Ahhhhhhhs and wooooows", as soon as the bus turned showing this incredible building. This is another creation by Gaudi, who died in Barcelona in 1926. He started building this church in 1882 and it is so elaborate that to this day, it is not completed. It is projected to be finished in 2026, 100 years after the designer passed away.

The details are truly amazing!

Picasso's early drawings.


Unfortunately, we had a bad experience in Barcelona. Walking through the Ramblas, John got pickpocketed. We were warned by the tour guides so before we started touring, I asked John if he wanted me to keep his wallet. He said it's ok, cause it is safe and he is keeping it in his front pocket.
Las Ramblas is a walkway through the very heart of the city center, where stalls, restaurants, street performers, bars and living statues can be seen on both sides. It is very crowded, thousands of people promenade up and down the street until early hours of the morning. For this reason, it has become a target for pickpocketing.
Would you believe how fast those gypsies are! We just started walking through the Ramblas, in fact, John had just taken the first pic of AJ and me with a living statue (give them a coin and they will pose with you) when he noticed his wallet was gone. A guy with a briefcase walked in b/w me and him, looking confused and then walked back the other way. For the meantine, I believe another guy (his partner in crime), reached for John's wallet while the well dressed guy with the briefcase was distracting us. I tell ya, they are experts so you better be careful if you ever go there. If you want more info about pickpocketers in Spain, go to http://www.travelinginspain.com/safety.html
We did not let the bad experience deter us from having a good time. But it surely took off some exciting energy. It wasn't as much the lost money that was demoralizing but the time and hassle it took me to call and cancel all of the credit cards and bank accounts. And the feeling that you were outsmarted did not feel nice either. It was so unfortunate that John took a lot of cash there (he usually just takes a few hundreds and 1 credit card per port and leaves everything else in the safe) but this time, he just grabbed his wallet with all his credit cards, all his euros and dollars and even 2 blank checks and driver's license, so you can just imagine me on the phone all afternoon trying to figure out the cc numbers and cancel them all. Luckily, I have a ship VIP status that I do not have to stand in line at the purser's office everytime I need to use the phone. I guess it was meant to happen and the insurance would not cover cash because it is impossible to prove how much was really taken.

Look at this tall monument of Columbus!


Our Barcelona trip ended up with filing a police report. We had to, since John's entry card to the ship was in the wallet that was stolen and we could not just get back in. I tell ya, I got to practice the Spanish that I took in HS and College (which was more like Spanglish) cause the cops did not know how to speak English. I asked the cops why they could not solve the problem. I would think they can just install videos along the Ramblas and it should be easy to solve and the cop said out of 3000 people, if only 3 people got victimized, that was good. Hmmm! Not true though, there were more who did not report because it was such a hassle to report. And I think one victim is one too much.
This is a little souvenir that I took home wth us.
I hope you enjoyed touring with me. I think we, including AJ, learned a lot especially about being more careful, on this trip. And in spite of our bad experience, we want to go back. It is a beautiful city. John wants to go back with sharp pins in his pockets, lol! Actually, he travels now with his money in a sack hanging from his neck, inside his shirt.

I would love for you to join me for Sightseeing Saturday. If you want to participate and show us any of your trips or any scenery that you would like to share, please enter your name and your permalink below after your post is published.

Please copy and paste the Sightseeing Saturday logo into your computer so other bloggers will know you are a participant. You can copy it from my side bar.

Below are participants for Sightseeing Saturday. Let's all check out what interesting places they want to take us.




Thank you all for coming along and thanks, Beverly, for hosting Pink Saturday!

23 comments:

Debby@Just Breathe said...

Beautiful pictures of Barcelona. I am from Chicago originally, now I'm in California. My family is in Palm Harbor, I try to go there once a year. It's a small world. The guitar is so cute.

KBeau said...

Barcelona is definitely on my list of places to visit. Thanks for the tour.

Candy said...

What a lovely trip and sorry to hear about your brush with crime.

Candy

Chandy said...

I love Barcelona through your pictures! I so need to go there someday for some genealogy! And how cute is AJ's electric guitar! Is she gonna form a band soon! Record it so we can hear, ok? She's one lucky girl...

Tara said...

The dirty rotten thieves! What a hassle. I know people make fun of fanny packs, but I think there is a reason so many travelers use them. The Hello Kitty guitar is adorable, I hope she learns to play. Tell her Sares said to "Rock On". Happy Pink Saturday and thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures of Spain.

Pat@Back Porch Musings said...

Beautiful photos of Barcelona, Christine!

I love AJ's guitar! Cute!

Anonymous said...

Now that guitar is just too cute. I'm sure she will learn to love playing it :-)

Oh wow! The Holy Church is just a-m-a-z-i-n-g! I like how it's not smooth at all. Very, very interesting. And the living statues. Don't they feel tired at all?

So sorry to hear 'bout the bad incident that has happened. It can really take the fun away at times.

SmilingSally said...

I'm so sorry that you guys were pick-pocketed. The world is full of people making bad choices.

Barcelona looks interesting; I've never been there. Thanks for sharing.

Chari at Happy To Design said...

Mornin' Girlfriend...

I just read your note and would love to join in with your Sightseeing Saturday...although, I'm afraid that my Corpus Christi post really doesn't offer too much in the way of sightseeing photos. I did add my link...so happy that you got Mr. Linky figured out...he can be a tricky guy...hehe! I wish you the very best with this Saturday meme...I think it'll do very well! Especially with so many traveling over the summer and wanted to post about their experiences!!!

I loved seeing Barcelona! Russell keeps talking about going there...maybe someday! Girl, I just can't believe the Sagrada Familia Church...I've never seen anything like it! It's magnificent!!! Gaudi was definitely an architectural genius...there's nothing else like it!!! I'm so sorry that John was pickpocketed there...I guess that's a worry wherever you go and especially in the big cities! We were warned when we went to Paris...thank God all went well! Oh yes, I just can't imagine the hassle of having to cancel everything! I'm so glad that you didn't let it ruin your trip though!

Well my friend, thank you so much for taking us to Barcelona with you...what a grand place to visit! Oh yes, love AJ's pink guitar...it's too cute! Hehe! Thanks for inviting me to join in with your Sightseeing Saturday!

Love ya,
Chari

Unknown said...

What beautiful pictures. Sorry about your pickpocketing experience.

Regina said...

Nice, my daughter would love that guitar.
Beautiful awesome trip and Sightseeing meme.
Happy PS and nice weekend.

Nancy said...

I love your trip discussions so much. I'm glad they coincide with Pink Saturday.

You always make me homesick for the south again, Destin, our vacation spot for years.

Happy Pink Saturday!

♥Mimi♥ said...

I'm so sorry about the theft. You hear about things like that and never believe they will happen to you...sigh.

Your blog is always so sweet and pink on Saturday! Thanks so much for sharing this week.

Hope the sun is shining in your corner of the world and that your weekend is filled with happiness surrounded by everyone you l♥ve.

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

Oh Christine, I love AJ's guitar. So cute and pink. Your trip to Barcelona looks like you enjoyed such beautiful scenery, but your experience was so sad. What a shame to have such a wonderful trip interupted with such a bad experience. Loved all the pictures, they are fabulous. Hugs, Marty

Unknown said...

Happ Pink Saturday Christine! AJ's guitar is so adorable! Your Barcelona trip photos are so beautiful! Sorry to hear about your bad experience. Good for you to not let it ruin your lovely tour.

Enjoy your weekend!

Tina

Connie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Connie said...

Hi Christine, Thanks for stopping by. My door is finally open again and I'm not sure what happened.
Your tour of Barcelona is lovely. How nice it is to sit here and take in all the sites.
You really do a very good job !
Do you like to travel yourself ? Funny, when I first started reading your posts a
year or so ago, I thought you were away on these trips. You fooled me. That says you did a good job with your posts.

Need to read on some more now......
Enjoy the day!

Tootsie said...

is there any place in the world you have not seen yet? I just love traveling with you!

{Bellamere Cottage} said...

Lovely tour! I'm so sorry about the pickpocketing incident. YIKES. They told my niece, when she went to Spain, to sleep with her passport ON her person....Whew....hang on!

Hugs,
Spencer

The blog of MBW said...

Hi, Christine! I finally got around on joining you on Sightseeing Saturday. I love Barcelona. (food, weather and the people) I've been there and I want to go back again. Sorry about the pickpocketing. I guess, that majority of tourist spots are infested with thieves and they are very skilled.

The electic guitar is just so cute.

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

Christine, how wonderful that we were able to take the trip without risking getting our pockets picked! Beautiful pictures! John's is usually carrying your purse. This is one time he should have let you carry his! laurie

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

Forgot to tell you to tell AJ I think her guitar is sooo cool! She will be so cool when she is playing that guitar. laurie

Terry said...

Howdy Christine
I am so thankful that you are all okay ,I am truly sorry you were robbed.
However you always make the very best out of your circumstances
and that will reward you in time.
Blessings to you and yours.
As usual your photos and words are simply fabulous and make me want to travel.
Thank you so very much for sharing the beauty of your life.
May you have a fantastic rest of the weekend.
Happy Trails
Hugs

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