Barcelona, Spain....Part I

bus to plane to train to getting really lost while walking to my first hostel. thanks to friendly spaniards and their ihones, i found my way. hello barcelona.

i'd hate to spoil it for you, but this is now a shopping mall. 

this is what 30 euros gets you. clean-ish bed and a good location (barri gotic). sometimes it comes with a urinal sink as well.

the mediterranean sea. this is 9:30pm barcelona time btw.

all across europe are magnificent churches with incredible details built long ago. truth is, after a while they all start to look the same.....until you come across la familia segrada. Next few pics are of this church. Minor Basillica status, and its not even complete.

antoni gaudi took over responsibilities of overseeing the design in 1883. in 2011, it's still going up......

  

More Gaudi. Casa Mila

More Gaudi. Casa Batllo. Looking at Gaudi's life work is a bit mind blowing. Its nothing would ever think a building should look like, yet makes perfect sense at the same time. Trying to process what i see makes my head hurt. The pics do not do it justice.

The following are views from Montjuic. I couldn't find the funicular so ended up walking up (and then down) the entire mountain.

Lisbon, Portugal

originally i planned on heading up to Porto after a day in Lisbon but a) Lisbon was irresistible and b) i realized after running through the Bilbao / San Sebastian like a fugitive, traveling every other day is exhausting (less from actual travel and more from trying to see EVERYTHING in a day). so i spent four days in Lisbon and loved it.

subway to train to plane. hello lisbon

i got the the love suite bitches! or the valentines day suite. or 15 yr old girl suite. not sure which one. the hearts on the wall help me stay in touch with my soft side though.

plenty of these tolleys in lisbon. in terms of topography, think san fran but with streets / sidewalks paved with old stones. good for aesthetics (the stones) but quite slippery even in dry weather.

 

i eat good.

sample of the incredible and abundant, almost ubiquitous, tile work here:

 

pena castle / national palace. the royal family lived here until they fled the country in exile.

moorish castle in sintra

who dat be!?

not my art, of course, but wanted to provide some impressions what they have here. 

galo de barcelos

Bilbao / San Sebastian

I Started flying solo on June 19th. first stops: Bilbao and San Sebastian, two Bask (Euskadi) cities on Spain's north coast. I was only here for two days, planned on spending more time but I sprained my knee and couldn't walk for 3 days. So had to delay my arrival. C'est la vie.

The Guggenheim Bilbao. I've seen plenty of pictures of this place but in person its everything you expect and more.

Koontz dog sculpture. medium: flowers.

watch out for people late for work?

in casco viejo, Bilbao

San Sebastian - European Capital of Culture 2016 Candidate City

taken at the bar near the top of the mountain with the statue of christ. if you're ever in san sebastian please go to this bar. incredible view and good vibes.

this is going up there as one of the most beautiful vistas in the world (my list) . A close second behind the mountaintop view looking into kowloon bay.