Must Defend the Fort

I'm defending Barcelona from attackers by sea. I'm not sure when this gun was last used, but it doesn't look that old. It sits outside a fort at the top of a hill, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. We took the Metro (subway) to get to the base of the hill just to find out that the Funicular was under repair. There was a bus that took us up most of the way, but we had to walk the rest (no one else was walking up the path). From the fort we walked down to the Olympic stadium and then the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC). The Olympic doesn't look like it has been used much in the past year. Perhaps a soccer game or two. At this point I regretted not bringing my jacket, the temperature was turning cold and the wind picked up. I was glad to enter the MNAC to warm up. We purchased our tickets and proceeded to wander the four different rooms, which included art and sculptures from Roman, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and modern.There were people in each room that watched you very carefully to make sure you don't take photos or get too close to any exhibit. I tried to read some of the descriptions of the art work but after a while it just became a string of meaningless words. I'm sure my college humanities professor would have been proud of me for at least trying to learn something new. After a few hours it was time to head back to the hotel. A short walk to the Metro where we zipped to a stop near our hotel for a short break before dinner.

Group Photo in Barcelona

The only group photo we took in Barcelona. We're sitting at Park Guell, a place where Antoni Gaudi lived for a while. We stopped her during our last day as we rode a tourist bus. As you can see, it is a clear, sunny day. However, it was also quite cold.

Barcelona Vacation is over.

Another looong plane flight home yesterday may for a very looong Friday. Having a five hour layover in Madrid and a three hour stop at JFK didn't help. However, after a sleeping for 10 hours last night I am ready to adjust by to my normal routine. I'll have pictures to post soon from my vacation so stay tuned.

Happy Thanksgiving from Barcelona

I just had my first Thanksgiving meal outside the USA and for the first time in 38 years not with my dad or parents. I ate a turkey dinner at a Hard Rock Cafe in Barcelona. The food was just that, food, but still a fun experience spent with my sister, brother and sister-in-law. Tomorrow I wake up at 4:30 AM (that´s 8:30 PM for you folks back home) to catch my long flight home. Tired I will be but glad to sleep in my own bed.

Museums in Barcelona.

Today was a day of visiting museums. First off was Museu D´Historia De La Ciutat, which is built on Roman ruins. You walk down below ground, but above the digs. Kind of interesting to see the Roman influence in Barcelona. Next we went to the Museu Picasso, which had many of Picasso´s drawings, paintings and ceramic works. Evey room had a guard that watched your every move. There were only a few of his more famous ¨Cubic¨ paintings - mostly just drawings that look like they were drawn by a child. Lastly we journeyed to the Museu De La Xocolata. There is only so much to look at witm a museum dedicated to Chocolate. Some interesting chocolate scuptures and that´s about it. Our only plan tonight is dinner, and all the food thus far has been great.

I'm in Barcelona!

I'm finishing up my second full day in Barcelona, Spain. Somehow I lost Saturday. I left early Saturday morning and arrived Sunday afternoon. I set a record with about 27 hours of awakeness. I was sooooo tired on Monday, but that didn't stop me from walking almost non-stop for six hours. I will post photos of the sights I've seen when I return home. For now, I have two more full days to tour this unique city.

First Trip to Europe

This weekend I leave on my first trip to Europe. I am traveling with my family to Barcelona, Spain for one week. My only other trip out of the country was to Mexico, and that doesn't count. I will get my first stamp in my new passport, officially making me a world traveler. I will have my new digital camera and plan on taking photos of everything, including the pillows in the hotel room. Yes, there are many hours to be spent on an airplane, and I will be tired the whole time, but hopefully my excitement will keep me going. The only downside is that I may not have a job when I return!

Expensive Car Day

I took today off work to get some chores done, and ended up spending way to much money on my car. First I took the car to Toyota for an oil change, and asked them to look at my brakes, which felt "funny" when I press them. Turns out the disc was warped and I needed a complete front-end brake job. They completed that work within an hour and now by breaks feel great. I was stopping just for the fun of it. After a quick lunch I drove to Costco to get my tires rotated, which they do for free since I bought my tires there. When I went to pick up my car they said that there was a nail in one tire and it couldn't be repaired because it was near the sidewall. However, they told me that another Costco had the tires in stock and they could pro-rate a new tire or even two so I wouldn't have just one new tire. So I drove to the next Costco and after they looked at my tires, I found out that because I have an all wheel drive car, they have to replace all the tires, they can't do just two. That was the bad news. The good news is that since my tires were about 50% worn, they gave me a set of four new tires at 50% off. So now I have a new set of tires that will hopefully last for 40,000 miles (which is a lot for me because of the way I drive). So after waiting for over four hours for car work to be done and driving all over town, I can finally enjoy my day off work.

Angel, Fred, Illyria and Star Trek Figures

My next shipment of figures has already arrived! This time around not only do I get Angel action figures, but also Star Trek figures for the first time in over a year. Star Trek will never die.

Illyria from the final season of Angel.

Pylean Demon Angel. It was these episodes that got me watching Angel.

Fred, who was discovered in Pylea.

Vampire Angel with his son Conner.

Dax from Deep Space Nine, Trials and Tribble-ations episode.

Other figures I bought but are not pictured here are Sisko and O'Brien from DS9, The Ring Angel, Season 5 Angel and Shells Illyria.

Time to Vote

For those of you who are having elections in your state today, get out and vote! If you live in San Diego, you get to choose who your next mayor is. I won't tell you how I voted, but let's just say, stay away from "DF".

Hike in Los Peñasquitos Canyon

Crossing the "river".

Young's Double Chocolate Stout

One of the "Beers of the World".

Bones, The 4400 and Alias

Time for a post about television shows. I saw an episode of The 4400 at this years Comic-con and it looked good enough to add to my "watch" list. After viewing several episodes, I decided that I just wasn't interested in what happened to the characters, so I stopped watching. Time to erase this show from my DVR (Digital Video Recorder).

Last year I had a few people tell me how good Alias is, so I watched every episode last season. Each time I felt that I was missing something. The plots were too confusing and each episode concluded too quickly. The last episode of the season was a cliff-hanger, so I watched the season premier, and once again I was confused by all the plot twists. I understand the concept of "suspension of belief", but nobody can travel around the world that quickly! Since I have five or six recorded episodes to watch, I may just give up on this series and delete them all.

Another show I saw for the first time at Comic-Con was Bones. This series showed promise: good actors and original story lines. I finally saw the second episode last night and felt that the show still has potential. With a little work on the acting, writing and directing I believe Bones could be a hit. However, that doesn't mean it won't be canceled.

I try to watch new shows, but end up sticking with the classics like The Simpsons and Charmed.