http://lembergstravels.com Sharing the World As We Travel Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:02:02 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en After years and years of travel, I have come to realize that one of my favorite things in life is people watching. So sitting at an outdoor cafe like this one, as long as it has foot traffic, is heaven. This one is just steps from the Jaume 1 metro ... http://lembergstravels.com/2009/08/spain/424/ Spent the better part of six hours in this turn-of-the-last-century amusement park on the highest peak overlooking Barcelona. Beautiful place filled with antique rides cheek-by-jowl with a state-of-the-art roller coaster. I think my kids went on six times. Took trains, automobiles, trams, and a 100-year-old funicular to get here ... http://lembergstravels.com/2009/08/featured/tibidado-amusement-park/ This is the mighty Panorama, perched high up over Barcelona at the Tibidabo Amusement Park. Take your kids here. Mine loved it. And this is the fearless Tibidabo Flyer. As you can see from the tail markings, this plane was pressed into amusement park service in 1928, and is still going ... http://lembergstravels.com/2009/08/featured/399/ La Rambla is the best known street in Barcelona. Don't come here if you don't like crowds. I do, so I'm happy here. I was feeling a bit over-protective of my family when we came here last night, however. (That's why I didn't manage any photos.) In ... http://lembergstravels.com/2009/08/spain/the-ramblas/ Instead of renting hotel rooms or suites everywhere, we did something different on this trip. In the places we stayed more than 2 days - Madrid, San Sebastian, and Barcelona, we rented apartments. More work, more variability, but definitely more room. In Barcelona we have a 110 square meter ... http://lembergstravels.com/2009/08/spain/our-digs-in-barcelona/ Got to Barcelona on Saturday evening. Sunday, we hopped on the hop-on-hop-off bus, which is something of a ritual we've adopted. While a little touristy-tacky, it's a neat and easy way to get an overview of a city.  Some people actually use it to get around and stop at ... http://lembergstravels.com/2009/08/spain/336/ Growing up in Brooklyn, we called places like this "pork stores" although the official Italian name for them is "Salumeria."  I may have said it before, but Spain is big on pig, and you can't turn around without someone selling you something made from Pork.  I thought this store was ... http://lembergstravels.com/2009/08/spain/spanish-meat-meets-clint-eastwood/ Ken Follett's novel, Pillars of the Earth, is the story of vision and devotion, and the construction of a great cathedral over the course of about 200 years.  Throughout Spain there are examples of these great works of faith.  In Barcelona there is actually one in progress: Antonio Gaudi's Sagrada ... http://lembergstravels.com/2009/08/spain/pillars-of-the-earthbarcelona/ After two weeks of gallivanting around Spain, we decided to chill for a few days before heading off to a week in Barcelona.  Problem was we needed a hotel room soon (like the next day) and weren't sure where to go that would be easy and low-stress.  Rick Steve's guidebook ... http://lembergstravels.com/2009/08/spain/307/ If you've ever traveled in Spain you've seen Bull Boards.  These are bill boards but in the shape of a big black bull.  They don't advertise anything.  They just remind you that you are traveling in the land of El Toro.  My family loves Bull Boards, as I am sure ... http://lembergstravels.com/2009/08/spain/302/