Portugal & Spain...Finally!







After a long time with no internet service and then being unable to get into blogspot, I finally got up and running today. And even though I've practically forgotten the details of our April vacation I'm going to post some pictures and captions. Enjoy.

Our favorite place. San Miguel Island in the Azores

The hot springs in the Furnas Valley

This little village is situated in the middle of a volcanic crater

Sete Cidades Lake. Also inside the crater

A tea plantation near Ponta Delgada

The coastline of Puerto Banus near Malaga Spain

A city park in Marabella

A pedestrian walkway from the city center to the beach is lined with 15 Salvadore Dali sculptures

Another espresso break

The Monastery of the Virgin Fuensanta near Cartegena Spain

Downtown Cartegena

Lots of shops and outdoor dining spots

We love Spain's unusual architecture

The central square in Valencia

Gorgeous entrance to the Plaza de la Virgin catherdral

Amazing statues and artwork inside the cathedral

Through the entire downtown of Valencia a dry riverbed has been converted to a public green space. 15 miles of water features, soccer fields, running and bike paths, the Opera House, Art Museum and a sports arena

The Opera House is shaped like a giant fish

We disobeyed the rules and took a quick picture in the San Jose Caves, the longest navigable underground waterway in Europe. We took little boats that are moved by a guide with a pole. It's pitch dark and in some spots really claustrophobic. But it was a great experience...once.

The Town Hall in Valencia

An office building in the town square

I love the European's love of flowers. This was only a small part of a long walkway that was filled with bright red geraniums. So so pretty!

The Segrada Familia Cathedral absolutely dominated the Barcelona skyline

We walked to a wonderful park on a huge hill in downtown Barcelona. The park and the buildings were all designed by Antone Gaudi. His Sagrada Familia is incredible but alot of his other buildings are quirky and fun.

It's not French food but we loved the tapas and wine at dinner

We took a day tour to Monserrat and stopped for wine tasting at this lovely vineyard and winery

The family owned Albet y Noya Winery. We bought a lot of wine but unfortunately we forgot to order any for ourselves. We've got a wine buyer here in Oregon looking for their yummy red here in the States.

The crazy rock formations that lead up to the Benedictine Monastery of Montserrat. It was a long and sometimes perilous bus ride

The view from the Monastery 

The Monastery/Abbey complex

The main entrance to the cathedral

The main alter. A life sized crucifix hung from the circle above the alter. Above that in a high alcove was the scu;pture of the Black Madonna, the Patroness Saint of Catalonia

Back in Barcelona we spent lots of time shopping and eating on the La Rambla

And finally, after three glorious weeks, Christopher Columbus points us toward home

Finally.

It's about time I got some of our vacation photos published. After multiple stops and starts I think I can get this done today.
In mid April, Al and I flew to New Orleans for a 3 day pre-cruise weekend. It just so happened that the weekend we chose was the weekend of the gigantic French Quarter Jazz Festival. And what a great weekend it was. Gorgeous weather, 21 stages around the Quarter with 24/7 jazz music, an outdoor art festival in Jackson square and tons of happy friendly people. We did all the touristy stuff including plantation visits, trolley car rides into the Garden District (fabulous homes), a walk thru a famous "above ground" cemetary, and plenty of yummy yummy food. After 3 days in the Big Easy, we boarded our cruise ship for a 16 day repositioning cruise to Barcelona Spain. We stopped in the Bahamas and the Azores and then 2 ports in Spain. It was a fantastic trip across the Atlantic with "pool weather" every day but 1. It was glorious! When we reached Barcelona we went to the same hotel that we've stayed at before and spent 3 days enjoying 1 of our favorite cities. On May 3rd we headed home relaxed, a little tan and full of wonderful experiences and memories. Pictures of Europe coming soon.

New Orleans

French Quarter balconies covered with plants and Mardi Gras beads

Jackson Square Art Festival

A dock on the Mississippi that was damaged during Katrina



Laura Plantation

Beautiful Oak Alley Plantation

A gorgeous venue for one of the 21 stages set up for the Quarter Festival

Nassau Bahamas

The Atlantius Resort on Paradise Island



The Atlantis Marina



The Queen's Staircase carved out of solid rock during the reign of Queen Victoria

A prison cell at Fort Fincastle

 Shipboard Fun

The Mall that ran almost the entire length of the ship

 

An after dinner Bailey's



The Champagne Bar. I'm having a champagne margarita and let me just say, YUMMMM!



9 out of the 10 days at sea Al and I lounged around the pool

On our balcony

The staircase that led to the art gallery ice skating rink and disco



At our Murder Mystery Dinner, Al won third prize, a bottle of yummy champagne



Al goes casual after one of our fromal dinners



Al on the rock wall








The Olive and the Grape

Saturday night Al and I met JJ's folks, David & Jean, at a lovely little boutique eatery in Lake Oswego. The Olive and the Grape seats about 20 people and once a month serves a "Neighborhood Dinner". It is owned and operated by a wonderfully friendly couple who know almost everyone who comes in. Chris is the wine expert, host, waiter and busboy while Ellie cooks up some really fabulous food in the kitchen. And I mean FABULOUS! When we arrived, we were handed a flute of yummy yummy sparkling white wine and things only got better from there. Chris served us our four courses and a beautiful red wine over about 3 hours. No decisions to be made except which course was the best. We feasted on the best antipasti and garlic crostini I've ever eaten, a delicious radish and avacado salad with Lime vinaigrette, grilled marinated flank steak with chimichurri and for dessert a lemon glazed butter cake with fresh strawberries and blueberries topped with fluffy whipped cream. You can't imagine how delightful the entire experience was. We ate and drank and laughed and enjoyed a lovely time with 2 great friends. Thanks for the invite, David and Jean. Can't wait till May 26th and our next Neighborhood Dinner.