Category: Tourism

Castellón / Tourism

The worst flavor of soda

*Since literally five minutes after I looked up the location we’d been placed in Spain on a map, my puerile mind has been obsessed with the name of a nearby town: Peñíscola. To us, the tilde and accent there seem pretty important; to the Spaniards, it Ain’t no Thang and is in fact well-known as a beautiful beachside town with a sweet old castle. We had to visit. This was a location that needed to wait to visit until we had a car due to the lack of convenient rail service. Thus, with car in tow, it was a clear winner for somewhere to go

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Castellón / Tourism

The €8 ice cream cone

We toured the Caves of St. Joseph in the nearby town of Vall de Uxó this past weekend. One of those activities we had been waiting for a car to get to, this one did not disappoint. With my Spanish host family in town after Thanksgiving, we decided to give it a whirl. Fun facts about these caves: they contain the largest subterranean navigable river in Europe, which goes so far inward that nobody has yet been able to trace its origin inside the cave. They have been known for over 15,000 years, and of course maintain a constant temperature

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Tourism

La Pedrera – Gaudí Scares Some Witches

While Doer felt a slight preference for Palau Güell, I fell hard for Casa Milà, popularly known as la Pedrera (which translates to “stone quarry”). It’s famous for its undulating stone facade, and (of course) its iconic rooftop sculptures. This was designed to be an apartment building, and people still live in some of the units today.       Once again, the roof was the crown jewel of the structure. Although they were the first part of the tour – you begin by taking an elevator to the rooftop, then you slowly make your way down – I’m going to

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Barcelona / Tourism

Halloween in BarTHelona

We. Love. Barcelona. (and apologies for the Photoshop work above; it was an idea of Dreamer’s that made me chuckle) We had such a great time there Halloween weekend, and there is still so much more to do. By the way, Halloween is very much a thing here now. Lots of people in Barcelona in their costumes all day on 10/31 and 11/1 in the metro and on the street. Another American export the world can thank us for! Dreamer is writing about all the cool architecture we saw and I’m taking a stab at everything else here. Let it be said

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Barcelona / Tourism

Palau Güell – Our First Brush With Gaudí

  During our Halloween-weekend visit to Barcelona, the modernist architecture of Antoni Gaudí captured our hearts and imaginations. But we didn’t get our fill. Visiting the famous Catalan architecht’s works should not be a rushed affair; that, combined with sold-out tickets at Park Güell and a ridiculously long line at Casa Batlló definitely guarantees we will make a second trip to Barcelona (and hopefully many more – it’s an amazing city). Not to mention we didn’t get anywhere close to his magnum opus, la Sagrada Família. We saw it from a distance on several occasions, but never passed the threshold. Our first

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Barcelona / Tourism

Funiculì, funiculà!

My obsession with funicular railways probably started with a birthday at the Olive Garden (probably also their TV commercials). And maybe other “Italian” restaurants in my youth as well. Like most Americans, I didn’t really realize this at the time. But that melody you most closely associate with Italy indeed commemorates the opening of the first funicular on Mount Vesuvius. Have a listen; everyone knows this one. Bet’cha didn’t know what it was about, though. As an engineer, the idea of building a safe machine on the side of a steep incline, composed of two balanced, cable-pulled cars of opposing weight really fascinates

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