It's been a while - now we are in Italy!

Sunday 11/22 I haven't blogged in a while so we have much to catch up on. Wednesday was another day in Barcelona with shopping and visiting the Casa Batlloí which is the house Gaudi designed for the Batelloí family. What a lot of funky architectural detail. I really enjoyed that and took a ton of pics (see facebook-11/18). Nightfall came quickly and we did a little more shopping and then back to the metro. Thursday was my !! 29th (haha) Birthday !! and it started with breakfast at the bakery on the corner. Down the street is a huge market that we walked through and enjoyed and then it was on to tour the inside of the amazingly huge temple called the Sagrada Familia of incredible architecture that Gaudi designed here! It is a tribute to Jesus and the 12 disciples which shows the nativity, the crucifixion, white doves and so much more. This temple begun in the early 1900's and is scheduled to be complete in 2030. We took the lift to the top of one of the towers where there were spectacular views of the city, only to find out the only way down was to walk the narrow spiral staircase. We felt as though we were about to be flushed out of the bottom. We made it down, but momís knee was hurting a bit so we stopped and rested a while. Where you ask? Ah - Starbucks, of course. That seems to be their favorite place and there were plenty of them in Barcelona - I think we visited them all. I, however, have a rule that when I travel I donít visit places I can go to at home. Kara thinks I have too many rules, but I think she needs a few herself-haha! 11/20 - Friday was our last and most beautiful day in Barcelona. We took the metro over by the Port of Barcelona and saw where the cruise ships come in. Itís a huge port for those cruising the Mediterranean Sea. We enjoyed soaking up the sun and seeing the sights. After leaving that area we went back to one of the most popular shopping areas called Las Ramblas. Mom and I got a little tired so we sent Kristy and Kara on shopping and stopped at a street side cafe'. She had her favorite, a cup of java and I since it was my last day I decided I needed to try one of their famous Sangrias (thanks Jana!). It was very tasty and made me feel very happy :). We headed back to the room to rest, but not for too long. Our journey that evening was to check out the Magic Fountain. A long metro ride and changing trains was on the docket. Kara is the metro guru and loves getting around on the subway system, so we just let her take the lead on that one and follow along. I believe sheís destined to live in a big city when she gets out of school. Somehow, donít ask me how, someone managed to pick-pocket my blackberry right out of the front closed zippered part of my fanny pack (mom had some money pick-pocketed earlier in the trip) while on the subway I guess. I can't even tell you that anyone even got in my personal space, but my phone was gone! I guess if that's the worse thing that happens to use, we're doing pretty well. The magic fountain, complete with colored lights and music was just marvelous. We headed back and stopped just around the corner at our favorite eatery, George's for cappuccino (them) and I had a bowl of fresh made soup (yummy)!. Yesterday (Saturday) was a travel day. We flew from Barcelona to Florence, Italy on an Airbus plane (Meridiana Airlines). They have pretty good prices but really up charge on the baggage weight. We got to the airport early so we could weigh our suitcases and shift some things around and make sure we made weight on all our luggage - success! When we arrived in Italy we claimed our bags and waited for the drug dog to sniff all of our bags ñ good boy! It was off to the taxi stand which proved quite comical. A bunch of taxi drivers grouped around and kept looking at us and our mound of luggage and was discussing or arguing (in Italian) how they could get all that in one taxi. We just stood there and grinned until they came up with a plan. A larger taxi drove around, got all of us and our bags in the car and off we went to the Firenze Loft where weíre staying. Riding in the taxi was pretty interesting. The roads are large enough for two cars wide and somehow they managed to get three cars side by side, barely scraping by the car next to us. Our residence has a lot more room than we did in Barcelona but the internet service is very spotty. Since I don't have a blackberry anymore, I feel as though I'm disconnected from the rest of the world. Thatís probably not a bad thing because there is much to see here and I donít have to worry about anything else being pick pocketed. The only thing I have of value now is my camera and it stays in my hand most of the time. Sunday 11/22 was our first day in Italy. Wow, what a town with a ton of history and building dating back to the 1300's. The food is delicious and the shopping is plentiful. The amount of people in this town is simply incredible. I was fortunate to find a leather purse that I'm just thrilled with so my (buying) work here is complete (short of seeing the historical sites). We did have a large lunch on the square and a gelato later in the afternoon- yummy! I think I am going to have to have a gelato every day that I'm here!