We started off the morning by taking a stroll through Montecatini which is a resort district. Unfortunately, Javi and one of the leaders had to take a student to the embassy to replace a stolen passport. We left for Pisa at around noon via motor coach.

No, this isn’t it. We rode this trolly from the parking lot to the tower….

Here’s another one of those images that will be forever stuck in my head.

This is what tourists do. Everyone was sticking their arms out and having their picture taken.

This is what a lot of the restaurants look like. I took this while eating gelato. At this point in the trip, we’re eating gelato for appetizers as well as desserts….

That night, we caught a ferry that would take us across the Mediterranean. It was time to say ciao to Italy and ¡hola to Spain.

There was a disco on board. Students took advantage and danced the night away. I actually used this time to catch up on my sleep. This was “half-time” for the trip.

For more Italy photos, click here.

Day 7 was pretty much a travel day. It was uneventful. The food was expensive (and not the best.)

At least the cabins were nice. This was our best accommodations so far. Hot water and water pressure are luxuries….

I spent most of the day reading Hunger Games in the dining area of the boat.

I got a lot of rest. One thing I was glad I packed for this trip was Airborne Chewables. It gave me an immunity boost each morning. That stuff really worked.

We arrived in Barcelona in the afternoon. We checked into the Hostal Lami.

Here’s the view from my hotel window. Happy to be in Spain….

After taking a bus tour around Barcelona, we arrived at the Parc Guëll. This park was created by the architect/artist Antoni Gaudí.

The weather in Spain was spectacular. In fact, we were blessed with great weather every single day of the trip.

This was another dream come true for me. The la Sagrada Família…. I was surprised to learn that Gaudí only finished a small portion of it. They are hoping to complete it by 2026, the centennial of his death.

Lunch was awesome! We had seafood paella.

Not only was this the best meal of the trip, this was one of my best meals ever. It was savory, flavorful, and so good.

Speaking of food…. I have to say here that although I had my best pasta and pizza on this trip, the food in Europe did not blow me away. I knew that we weren’t going to the restaurants that Anthony Bourdain would go to…. Still, we went to the places that most tourists would go to. The food in Spain was better than in Italy, but not as good as what I had in Japan, Australia, or even what I have in my own neighborhood in Kaka’ako.

We took a stroll down the famous Las Ramblas and found a marketplace called Mercat de la Boqueria. There was rabbit meat and all sorts of unusual fruits.

We had a buffet dinner at the pier. I collected a lot of bread rolls here.

We took the high-speed train to Madrid. I had to sit by myself, so I had to make sure that I was awake to catch my stop.

We checked into our hotel, which was probably the best that we had on the trip. Even the wi-fi was good here. Happy to be in Madrid….

We walked over to the Prado Museum from our hotel. We saw incredible masterpieces by Velázquez and Goya.

I was lucky to have taken this pic of the church next door….

We then walked over to Buen Retiro Park. It’s huge, over 350 acres. There was a rose garden and turtles in the ponds. We had lunch there. I had a bocadilla with serrano jamón (cured ham.)

We looked inside the Crystal Palace which used to be a greenhouse.

We then took the Metro to Plaza de España.

I really loved this particular square. I wish we could have something like this back home. There were food booths and vendors and benches to hang out.

And the sausage was incredible. Salud!

We had a nice dinner. After dinner, half of the group attended a flamenco show. The rest of us boarded the Metro back to our hotel. This time, the Metro was incredibly packed. We were literally stuffed liked sardines. Unfortunately, there was a one-day labor strike in Spain, and all of the protestors (and everybody else) decided to catch the Metro at the same time. Fortunately we made it back. The flamenco people had to walk home….

On Friday, we visited the Royal Palace. It’s where King Juan Carlos lives. It was an incredible tour with interesting things to see. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed inside the palace. We also checked out the Royal Armoury.

We took a bus tour around the city. Madrid is filled with fountains.

We had lentil soup and really nice pork chops for lunch.

We were given 3-hours of free time at Puerta del Sol.

There were cafés, shops, street performers, and street vendors.

We then walked over to the Plaza Mayor. This used to be the main square in Madrid.

Just outside of Plaza Mayor, we had our tapas dinner at the Pub La Mazmorra. It was great fun. There was live music and the sangria was flowing….

For dessert, we had chocolate churros. It was alright….

This was our final night in Europe. We didn’t want it to end. We took the Metro back to our hotel.

For more Spain photos, click here.