FUN-travel: Barcelona, Spain – Day 3
September 21, 2012 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Barcelona, Spain – Day 3
Trip Day 53 – Saturday, September 1 – Barcelona, Spain
Parc Güell Entrance
What I LIKE
Dragon Mosaic
- bright sunshine – cool breeze
- Starbuck’s isn’t open
- coffee is better across the street from hotel
- 9:30 – hop on, hop off bus (take the one with the most # of buses so don’t have to wait long)
- Barcelona Sightseeing is run by Grayline – has 2 routes & covers large area too big to walk
- 2 day senior pass only $22 Euro!
- 12:00 – 1st stop – Parc Güell – 30 acre garden designed to be a 60-residence gated community
- 2 gingerbread gate houses flank entrance
- ceramic dragon fountain on steps up
- 100 columns – each different, decorated with colorful ceramic, broken bottles & bric-a-brac
- snack break – cappuccino & tomato, onion, feta tapas
- 2nd stop – Block of Discord – several colorful Modernista facades compete for attention on
- Passeig de Gràcia – all built by well-known 19th century architects
- Casa Batlló – Gaudi design with shell-like balconies & soft-ice-cream-cone turret roof
Casa Batlló
- celebrating our anniversaries (1st date was 8-31 – got married on 9-6)
- 2:00 – lunch @ 5 J – greek salad, fried egg with ham & broad beans – nice light, crisp white wine
- siesta
- wonderful Sylvia @ front desk recommends Bembi Indian Restaurant – have her call to find out what time they open – reservations full but will take us @ 8:30 when they open
- 20 min, nice walk – lovely atmosphere & service – scallops in light cream sauce, rice , garlic nan, dal & chicken vindaloo – the best so far!
- 10:00 walk back to hotel
- Gallery Hotel area – has all of the high end designer stores on both sides of the streets for several blocks
What I DIDN”T LIKE
- Don’t remember a thing!
FF (FUN-fact) – All over Spain you will pay extra to sit at an outside table.
FUN-travel: Barcelona, Spain – Day 2
September 19, 2012 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Barcelona, Spain – Day 2
Trip Day 52 – Friday, August 31 – Barcelona, Spain
Cathedral of Barcelona
What I LIKE
Sagrada Familia
- Wake up to sunshine!
- breezy & very cool
- breakfast not included (save $36 Euro)
- Starbuck’s around the corner
- 9:00 – head out on walk
- 1st stop – Casa de les Punxes
- 2nd stop – Segrada Familia – Gaudi’s cathedral started in 1883 – line wraps halfway around entire block – glad I saw it in 2000! (need to buy tickets ahead of time)
- 3rd stop – Placa de Catalunya – filled with fountains, statues & pigeons
- continue walk to Arc de Triomf
- 4th stop – Cathedral of Barcelona – 14th century colossal Gothic church ringed by distinctive chapels
- continue walk through La Ribera – streets where wealthy shippers & merchants lived are lined with grand mansions
- 5th stop – 1:00 – Picasso museum (good time to go as line is quite short) – best collection in the country & best of his early works anywhere
- 6th stop – Las Ramblas stroll – colorful, gritty tourist-filled pedestrian thoroughfare
- 3:30 – lunch @ Sagarra – tapas of Greek salad, fried calamari, bowl of lentils with vegetables & beer of course!
- nice afternoon breeze – high of maybe 80
Arc de Triomf
- 4:45 – head back up to hotel
- big day of waking so need siesta
- 8:15 – dinner Brown restaurant on Passeig de Gràcia (we couldn’t get in last night – rain caused everyone to stop & eat) – quarto formaggio pizza, caprese salad, nice red wine – pizza so-so
What I DIDN”T LIKE
- worst coffee ever at Starbuck’s on Passeig de Gràcia
- try to get return flight home on 1st with no luck
FF (FUN-fact) – Placa de Catalunya is the center of the world for 7 million Catalan people. It is the hub for transportation and where they demonstrate, celebrate, and enjoy outdoor concerts and festivals.
WOW Word-Of-the-Week #424: Epicurean
September 19, 2012 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on WOW Word-Of-the-Week #424: Epicurean
Epicurean – devoted to the pursuit of sensual pleasure, especially to the enjoyment of good food and comfort.
We had some of the best food on our Uniworld Rhône River Cruise in August. Half way through Chef Roger treated us to an Epicurean dinner. It consisted of tastes of three appetizers, soup, an entrée and dessert. I remember thinking, “I’ve heard this word but don’t really know what it means.” So I did some research and this is what I found on Wikipedia.
“Epicurus believed that pleasure is the greatest good. But the way to attain pleasure was to live modestly and to gain knowledge of the workings of the world and the limits of one’s desires. The philosophy originated by 
Epicurus in 307 BCE, flourished for seven centuries. It propounded an ethic of individual pleasure as the sole or chief good in life. Hence, Epicurus advocated living in such a way as to derive the greatest amount of pleasure possible during one’s lifetime, yet doing so moderately in order to avoid the suffering incurred by overindulgence in such pleasure.
The emphasis was placed on pleasures of the mind rather than on physical pleasures. Therefore, according to Epicurus, with whom a person eats is of greater importance than what is eaten. Unnecessary and, especially, artificially produced desires were to be suppressed. Since learning, culture, and civilization as well as social and political involvements could give rise to desires that are difficult to satisfy and thus result in disturbing one’s peace of mind, they were discouraged.
Knowledge was sought only to rid oneself of religious fears and superstitions, the two primary fears to be eliminated being fear of the gods and of death. Viewing marriage and what attends it as a threat to one’s peace of mind, Epicurus lived a celibate life but did not impose this restriction on his followers.”
So this week my thought is to focus on the enjoyment of good food (in moderation) and comfort, knowing that who we share a meal with is more important than what is eaten. My dad is turning 94 on Sunday and we plan on taking him to Anthology to hear Count Basie’s Band. It’s is a supper club so we will be indulging lots of different pleasures! Have you ever had an Epicurean experience? What Epicurean experience could you offer your customers, guests, clients, members, family or friends?
Reader Responses
“Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Thank you for sharing!” – Linda
“Happiest of Birthdays to your dad! I hope he enjoys the concert and have you all around him. What a wonderful gift you are giving him – have FUN!” – Mary
“Thank you so very much Susan for your WOW words. You are amazing!” – Lily
“Hmmm so thus the root of an “EPIC” party.” – John
“I have heard the word epicurean, but I never knew what it meant and never looked it up because I never used it. I enjoy a leisurely meal with friends and family. And I agree, the meal is incidental to the company, the conversation and the relaxation. I guess as I get older, I am interested in simpler things, like a nice meal, a great concert (like the Count Basie show), a sporting event or simply going to the park with my four-year-old daughter. As much as I enjoy the physical pleasures, it is the pleasures shared with others that make my relationships blossom that I seek out. Leisure is what our lives should be about every day. We don’t set enough time aside for those epicurean delights. Thanks for the word, Susan. Have a wonderful weekend.” – “Warrior” Joe
FUN-photos: Spain 2012 – Movie Trailer
September 17, 2012 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-photos: Spain 2012 – Movie Trailer
Chris has started editing the many hours of video I shot. This is a very short snippet. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_U6YhAajoE
FUN-travel: Chiva to Barcelona, Spain
September 14, 2012 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Chiva to Barcelona, Spain
Trip Day 51 – Thursday, August 30 – Chiva to Barcelona, Spain
Placa de Catalunya
What I LIKE
Casa de lesPunxes
- our neighbor called to see if we were back yet & to tell us everything was fine & they were leaving to go to Hawaii
- 9:00 – ready to go to hit the road for Barcelona
- 11:00 – starts raining
- 1:30 – arrive airport Hertz
- didn’t have any accidents in Spain
- TI @ airport finds us a **** room in Eixample for only $137 Euro
- 3:00 – taxi to downtown $30 Euros
- Gallery Hotel is in great location – big comfy room
- 7:15 – nice big walk to ECI – El Corte Engles for provisions
- you can get an additional 18% vat tax back on items you don’t consume
- 8:45 – dinner Tenorio – tomato, mozzarella, tuna belly salad & broad beans with ham & shrimp – mushrooms & duck with fried egg on top & tomato bread with parmesan slices – Pagode los Capellanes, Ribera wine is young & fruity
- 10:15 – rain stops – only short walk back to hotel
Placa de Catalunya
What I DIDN”T LIKE
- cell phone rang @ 6:20 am
- now worried something might be wrong back home
- can’t get coffee until 7:00
- don’t have a room reservation
- ECI gives non-residents 10% off everything and no one told us until now
- walk out and it’s pouring rain – no umbrella
FF (FUN-fact) – Barcelona is Spain’s second largest city and their motto is, “You’re not in Spain, You’re in Catalunya!”