Barcelona and Beyond

I realize there are a lot of travel blog posts right now but we have been on the go...this trip was for work.  Jeremy/his company had a rewards trip for the top 10 Growers in Europe and it was in Barcelona.  I feel very lucky that I was able to come along.  They were really nice people and we had a great weekend.  We started off by flying the Vueling Airline, which is not for the claustrophobic...my knees even touch the seat in front of me, which is why it is so cheap to fly.  Luckily, it was a very short flight.

The first night we walked around Old Town and ran into a band and people dancing in the square.  We ate under this sculpture, which sort of looked like hangers that were untwisted and re-purposed into a piece of art.  

We were privileged enough to hang out with Dr. Brian Dixon for the week, what a good guy!

When in Barcelona....just kidding, I didn't.  I did have the chocolate gelato though and it was the best I've ever had in my life.  As the Usana employees had meetings, I was able to see some of Barcelona on my own.  Here is their Arc de Triomphe:

This was on the border of a cool park, with a fountain

The Barcelona zoo was also connected to this park.

Just your basic really frightening mannequin...why?

We got a tour of La Sagrada Familia and it was fun to get to go inside this time...  The light is where they say God dwells.  They say the architecture by Gaudi represented a concrete forest, which is exactly what it looked like inside.

The meals this weekend were great, and really stretched me.  At this tapas lunch I tried all of these things.  My least favorite was the Squid Black Ink croquette...it was the color.  Where I drew the line was the pork carpaccio...which was basically raw pork, I did take one bite but the texture was more than I could do.

There is the pork carpaccio...ugh.

My favorite part of Barcelona was being right on the water.  This ship sailed the world in the 1300's...(insert Pirates of the Caribbean theme song)

Some huge yachts were docked there and it was cool to see how the rich and famous travel...not Vueling.

The first day we did an ipad rally which was basically a scavenger hunt through Barcelona and you had to perform certain tasks or answer questions about the sights.  We had to taste Iberian Ham, participate in a Usana logo glass mosaic, find a marionette, take pics with strangers, etc.


This is where the gala dinner was held, appetizers in this lovely courtyard and then dinner in a beautiful room called the library.  I felt like a first lady having my picture taken a thousand times just because I was Jeremy's wife...I really married well!

Brian at the head of the table

Alan and his lovely wife Nancy.

Philippe (could he have any other name, he is as French as they get..he works with Jeremy), Mike (a guest on the trip) and Alan (Jeremy's boss)

This place was mechanically raining, it was cool.

The beach, the Mediterranean

Cool sandcastle

The final lunch was here over the marina...we had paella

Here is the mosaic that we all made during the scavenger hunt...Gaudi would be proud!

After lunch we headed to Nice to do another event the next evening.  We did have a chance to look around a bit.

Art????  Brings a new meaning to block head...

Yoga poses on big pedal stools....more art.  I did love the color of all of the buildings in Nice...pink, blue, oceany colors.  I kept thinking of my Uncle Dwight and Aunt Janine that won a trip here when they first were married.

I would swear this is the chocolate shop that they filmed "Chocolate" in...I wanted to go in but it was closed so I had to take a pic from outside.

Brian...he should go on "The Bachelor" and use this as his profile shot!  He would probably kill me for saying that but luckily we aren't friends on Facebook so he will never know...

So blue by the rocky shore...

An obvious choice for lunch

Crooked glass, very off-putting

Jeremy with the big man - Dr. Wentz!

Tours, a choral blast from the past

The last time I was in Tours, France was my first time in Europe and my first international choir competition with the U of U Singers and Dr. Brady Allred. 

I remember that we were worried that we weren't even going to make it into the final round of competition, but in the end we won the Grand Prize at the 2005 Florilege Vocal de Tours, qualifying us to compete the next year in Tolosa, Spain.  It was a great experience and one for which I am still grateful.  I also remember the rough hotel that we stayed in...the Premier Classe and that there was hair in the beds, an odor that Erin Gehrig tried to Febreze away and sewage that came up from our shower drain (luckily we were able to stay in another room, no thanks to our good friends Anthony and Taylor..ha ha!)  There was nothing Premier or Classy about that place...but the city of Tours was a nice place.                                 

2005

We did a lot of waiting during the competition and weren't able to see a lot of the cute town...so Jeremy and I saw that there was  the same choral competition this past May and thought we would go and listen to some fine choirs and explore the city a little more than last time.

Jeremy is a good sport carrying around flowery bags and even being creative with they way he carries them...here, as a side shoulder bag.

Doesn't it remind you of
Beauty and the Beast?

"Tale as old as time..."

We are getting used to exploring places in the rain, it does make for some lovely photos.

The mail is delivered via bike in France, just in case you wanted to know

This reminded me of my good friend Annie, we would have eaten there but it was closed.

Now as a backpack...I think next time we are in the States we will have to invest in a proper overnight bag

Where the competition took place

My second favorite tree...my first favorite I blogged about a month or so ago...this one would be awesome to climb!

Did you know you can take panoramic shots with your iphone....I didn't, but made good use of it once Jeremy showed me.

The Tours Cathedral Organ and interior 

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As many of you know I really would love to have my own pizza brick oven in my backyard, I thought this would be a cute model and that way if I move, we could take it with us.

Tours was a fun Saturday!  Always fun to remember good times with good friends.