Spain and Portugal

Our Trip to Europe

April 13-23, 2007

Part 1: Seville, Lisbon and Barcelona

We arrived at the Madrid Airport and took the high-speed train (called the AVE) to travel down to Seville, enjoying the ride with our traveling companion "Monkey Face," while relaxing with good books to read. Our ten-day European trip was targeted to see our "boy," Cristián, in concert, in Barcelona, Spain. Once in Europe we planned side trips to Lisbon, Portugal, and then Holland to see his girlfriend, Antonia, and a few million tulips that were in spectacular bloom as you'll see below.

The Chilean musical group, "Les Carillons," came to Spain to participate in a multi-day multi-city concert tour. Cristián's apartment was the central command station for the group. In a few days we would see them in a much more formal setting to enjoy their beautiful music at a Barcelona concert hall.

While in Seville we also got to meet several of Cristian's good friends there. We went one evening to a typical neighborhood outdoor cafe to enjoy "tapas," small plates with assorted compositions of ingredients and flavors.

Next stop: Lisbon.

Cristián drove most of the way, traveling west in a rental car from Spain to reach Portugal, and then a bit of travel north to the city of Lisbon (called Lisboa, in Portuguese).

We arrived in time to enjoy the evening, browsing wide and narrow local streets with their mosaic tiles worn smooth from hundreds of years of pedestrian traffic.

The central plaza with its mosaic tiles is very reminiscent of Rio de Janeiro. Not a surprise, considering that Brazil was founded by the Portuguese conquistadors. These national heroes are memorialized in the huge statue below. Look closely to see our hero!

Another hero is silhouetted in front of the hilltop castle that we went to explore.

There were many lovely views in the castle on the hill.

Later we also saw another castle, the summer palace, on a hill in a small medieval town outside of the city.

Other sights in and around the city included the cathedral and an historic aqueduct.

A special highlight of our trip to Lisbon, was a quick visit with Artie's cousin, Ronnie and his wife Tess, who were coincidently in the same place at the same time on a European tour. We met at their hotel for a brief reunion.

Our traveling companions, Monkey Face and Mega Monkey, are already waiting in a suitcase for the next legs of our vacation!

On to Barcelona ...

We flew to Barcelona to attend the Les Carillons concert. We explored the Rambla while Cristián and the others were rehearsing.

We have gone to Les Carrillons concerts for many years, and this one was their best yet! Fantastic!

Cristián had found a good deal for us at a very modern luxury hotel with an amazing rooftop pool. Cool!

The next morning, some of the group joined us for a few hours of sightseeing in Barcelona. We enjoyed the flavor of this old city and went to see the very unusual cathedral, designed by Gaudi, which is still under construction after more than a century of labor. It was interesting to see this mixture of styles and the dedication of the workers.

Our next and final country: Holland

Our Trip to Europe
April 13-23, 2007		Part 1: Seville, Lisbon and Barcelona


We arrived at the Madrid Airport and took the high-speed train (called the AVE) to travel down to Seville, enjoying the ride with our traveling companion "Monkey Face," while relaxing with good books to read. Our ten-day European trip was targeted to see our "boy," Cristián, in concert, in Barcelona, Spain. Once in Europe we planned side trips to Lisbon, Portugal, and then Holland to see his girlfriend, Antonia, and a few million tulips that were in spectacular bloom as you'll see below.

		The Chilean musical group, "Les Carillons," came to Spain to participate in a multi-day multi-city concert tour. Cristián's apartment was the central command station for the group. In a few days we would see them in a much more formal setting to enjoy their beautiful music at a Barcelona concert hall.
		While in Seville we also got to meet several of Cristian's good friends there. We went one evening to a typical neighborhood outdoor cafe to enjoy "tapas," small plates with assorted compositions of ingredients and flavors. Next stop: Lisbon.

Another hero is silhouetted in front of the hilltop castle that we went to explore.

There were many lovely views in the castle on the hill.

		Later we also saw another castle, the summer palace, on a hill in a small medieval town outside of the city.


Other sights in and around the city included the cathedral and an historic aqueduct.

We flew to Barcelona to attend the Les Carillons concert. We explored the Rambla while Cristián and the others were rehearsing.


We have gone to Les Carrillons concerts for many years, and this one was their best yet! Fantastic!


Cristián had found a good deal for us at a very modern luxury hotel with an amazing rooftop pool. Cool!


The next morning, some of the group joined us for a few hours of sightseeing in Barcelona. We enjoyed the flavor of this old city and went to see the very unusual cathedral, designed by Gaudi, which is still under construction after more than a century of labor. It was interesting to see this mixture of styles and the dedication of the workers.