After a day and a half in Venice, we got on the train and went to our room. That room was a step up from the one on the train from Munich to Venice. It had 4 beds that hung from the walls, and was pale yellow. I took one of the top beds, and after eating and exploring the train a bit, we went to bed. Thankfully there was a net on the wall above my bed where I could put my glasses for the night 8-)

One of the parts of the trip I really don't remember was going from the train station to the hotel. Anyway, finally, we were in Barcelona, the last major stop on our "tour". The hotel (the Silken Diagonal Barcelona) was modern...I don't know what you'd call the design, but there were a lot of metal shapes on the wall. We had two separate hotel rooms; this picture was taken from the room my dad and I shared. Looking over the pics I took of the area around my hotel, I realize now that I didn't really get any good ones, so this will have to do. I posted this one more for my own memory of the trip.

What's funny is that the Flickr map has this hotel marked there...but on the satellite view, it's still a construction site. Get with the times!!

Tags:   Barcelona Spain city buildings construction flare circle window window frame trees road sky Europe Canon Rebel XSi 450D vacation

© All Rights Reserved

This is the view out my mom and sister's hotel room. I made two edits; this one where I adjusted the tone, and another where I cranked the saturation. The other one looked ridiculous, so this is the one that made it to Flickr.

Tags:   Barcelona Spain Espana city freeway highway road trees urban hill buildings Europe vacation Canon

© All Rights Reserved

Something's not right. All my comments on a certain contact's photos have disappeared, and they're removed from my contact list and I'm removed from theirs...and I never said anything nasty or critical to them or about their photos... so either this contact suddenly thought I was crazy, or someone hacked one of our accounts...
------------
When a picture is washed out...bring it back to life by making it it look like a Nintendo 64 game! The building in the middle is the hotel we stayed in. This picture was taken from an open area next to a mall, which you'll probably see in the next picture I post.

These bicycles were on a rental system; you could get a pass, as you would with a bus pass, and that would allow you to take a bike for a certain amount of time.

Tags:   Barcelona Spain hotel building black and white more like white and black bicycles bikes woman skirt men trees shapes shadows light public transportation Canon Rebel XSi 450D Europe vacation

© All Rights Reserved

There wasn't a whole lot to do in the immediate vicinity of our hotel, so we went over to this mall a few times. I took this picture from the courtyard, which had a bunch of restaurants around the perimeter. The mall looked pretty small on the outside, but it extended inwards into a 2-storey wraparound design.

At one point we went to McDonald's, which is hidden by that bush on the lower left corner...we ate outside and gave the pigeons some fries! And yes, I know that fries are bad for pigeons.

I bought a pair of flip flops at a store called Jack and Jones on the second floor. Big mistake. One evening we took the streetcar down to the beach to find a restaurant. I might add that the streetcars in Barcelona look like they're from 1996 at the very oldest...although they're not single-unit cars like the ones in Toronto; they're like a 5-car electric rail thing; kind of like if the Scarborough RT was made to look more modern.

Anyway, we took the streetcar down as far as it would go, and then got off and started walking. Holy ouch, Batman! By the end of it, the areas between my big toes and the next one over were rubbed down and sore, and I remember it didn't go away until after we came back to Toronto. I could not understand how so many girls wear flip flops all the time.

Tags:   Barcelona Spain mall red stairs windows food court courtyard blue

© All Rights Reserved

Later that day, we went up to the roof of the hotel, which was a wooden deck with a small pool, a bar, and a glass wall about 3 feet high, which I guess was to provide safety and keep the wind down, without obstructing the view. It also provided a solid platform for me to rest my camera on, which is what I probably did when I took this picture.

Tags:   Spain Barcelona road elevated road house building construction site backhoe tractor graffti people trees streetcar transit

© All Rights Reserved