Beach Day Barcelona, Spain: June 29, 2017

To be on the beach in Barcelona, it has been something I've dreamed about since I planned this trip.  Today this fantasy came true.  We got packed up for the beach, got on the bus, and away we went.  Just a 30 minute bus ride and we were at the beach.  I have to say, it was as beautiful as I'd imagined !

The sky was so blue and the ocean was a clear blue as well.

We set out our towels and relaxed.  In just a few moments a young man came by and sold us mojitos ! 

 It wasn't long before we met a young woman traveling around Europe named Ariel.  We ended up hanging out with her the whole day.  It was really fun.  All of the beaches in Spain are topless, some are completely nude beaches.  It is amazing how free it feels to just take your clothes off.  No one is starring or making comments.  It's very "normal"  Old women, young woman, fat, skinny, etc.  no one cares.

On the way to the beach we saw this ad for McDonald's Delivery !  I thought that was very interesting !

Off to Barcelona !: June 28, 2017

Our day began VERY EARLY as our flight from Paris to Barcelona left at 6:20am !  We called an Uber and made it to the airport without any problems.  The flight was smooth and we were in Barcelona by 8:30am.  Again, we had to figure out the transportation system, but we had lots of practice and it was easy to navigate to our Airbnb.  When we arrived we were only able to leave our baggage there, not check in as it was so early.  We were thankful for that although we both would rather have just gone to sleep.  We took off in search of breakfast.  Once we'd eaten, (and I'd had coffee) we were much more ready to begin our explorations !

 Here is the bus stop we needed to be back to in order to get back to our place.  

 Unusual statue in the square.

 Plenty of naked women statues here ! 

 THOUSANDS of pigeons in the park.  These could feed a lot of hungry people !  Wasn't there a time not too long ago when people raised and ate pigeons ???

 While the square was beautiful and spacious, the streets were very narrow. (as they are all over Europe)

 Barcelona Cathedral

 Here are some photos from inside the cathedral.  I liked this one better than the one in Prague.  It wasn't as ostentatious and gaudy.  While waiting to get into the cathedral there were women selling scarves that they said we needed to use to cover ourselves (because our shoulders were showing).  I didn't want to buy one because I think it's a scam.  When I got to the door, the doorman said I had to cover my shoulders or I couldn't go in.  He said I should buy a scarf from one of the women.  I said, "no, I'll just come back tomorrow".  Just then another girl who was leaving the church handed me her scarf and said "here, you can have mine".  Before I could even thank her, she had disappeared into the crowd.  KARMA.

 As part of our ticket, we were able to climb up to the roof !

 It was VERY WINDY !

After the cathedral, we had lunch and went back to the house to take a much needed nap !

Paris Day 4: July 26, 2017

Today was a huge mess.  We decided to go visit the beautiful palace of Versailles as it is only 30 minute train ride outside of Paris.  We looked up the directions, packed a lunch, and took off to ride the bus to the train, to the palace.  After finding the correct train to ride, we got on and started the journey. (by train it is 1.5 hours.) We were talking to a couple on the train about how excited we were when another woman on the train told us that the estate was closed today due to some event.  As soon as I verified this on the website, we got off the train.  We didn't know where we were nor what we would do next.  Rachael wanted to just walk around while I wanted to go back to the Cathedral to see inside.  We argued and went our separate ways.  Later on we got to the cathedral and got on line.  It began to rain so we took cover at a cafe and had lunch.  We tried some Indian food which was mediocre at best.  Once the rain stopped, we went back to the cathedral but the line was still very long so we decided to go to the Paris City Museum instead.  After wandering around for about an hour looking for the place, we were told where it was, BUT that it has been closed for the past year for renovations !  We were feeling very unlucky at this point and headed back to our place to relax.  Once there we stayed in and watched a movie.  Tomorrow WILL BE BETTER !

Paris Day 5: June 27, 2017

This morning we woke  up late and hung around the house drinking coffee before we decided to spend the day IN the Louvre.  We got lots of pictures of the outside of the museum, which is a piece of art in itself, but I wanted to see the treasures inside and I knew it would take at LEAST one whole day.  Here are some pictures of the treasures I liked best.  I would also mention that the inside walls and ceiling of the rooms were also pieces of art.

He is captivated by her, and she's my size !

Belly doesn't stop her admirers !

Beautiful !

How did MY ass get painted on this woman ? !

These paintings really impressed me because I am always getting on to myself about my weight.  Although I'm not obese, I do have a bit of a belly and it sometimes makes me feel unattractive.  Here, there are paintings of woman who look beautiful in spite of (or because of?) their extra flesh and they are being idolized and admired.  How did our generation get so enthralled with being "skinny" ?  I don't think people should be overweight or obese, but 10 lbs over one's ideal weight shouldn't make us feel like failures.  I hike, practice yoga, and eat very healthy (except when on vacation), and I'm still a bit over weight.  I wish I could focus more on my health than worry about how "fat" I look.  Maybe seeing these paintings will help me (and maybe you) accept my/our selves the way we are.

I then went to see the famous "Mona Lisa".  I was very disappointed because the crowd was so big that it was difficult to even get near the portrait.  Also, they had it roped off AND in a glass case so that it was impossible to see any detail. 😕

Rachael was in another part of the museum, so I tried to take a selfie.  I think I look good enough today that someone should paint MY portrait !

Here are some more of my favorites.

 Egyptian stone paintings: unbelievable that even the colors have endured the passage of time !

 Marble painted ceiling in one of the rooms.

Beautiful Statues

 What is he doing with that Duck !

Statue of an intersex person (hermaphrodite)

Girls just want to have fun !

We stayed as long as possible in the museum.  (they had to ask us to leave because they were trying to close) I could have spent days in there !  After the museum, we had a quick bite to eat and went back to our place to pack for the next leg of our journey.