spain

barcelona was the next leg of our trip. and in my brain, spain equals GAUDI, as much of it as we could squeeze in:

la sagrada familia

casa batilo in the middle

park guell

of course, there's also joan miro (his museum was located in montjuic, with quite a view)

and who can forget dali? or picasso for that matter but i don't have any photos from his museum. dali's was an epic and round funhouse designed by the man himself.

on the way back from dali, we found another toy museum! it has this fabulously cracked out mickey mouse.

and it goes without saying that the food was just as fun too: i didn't eat this but saw it at a bakery where we snacked. now who wouldn't love you if you brought cream puff face man to a party???

inside la boqueria, barcelona's famed marketplace

CHURROS are a must!

this block of buildings was sherbet colored.

portugal

i'm back! more like, i've been back and been busy with stuff and too lazy to blog. now that i am experiencing a small bout of insomnia, i thought it'd be a good time to share vacation pictures. at first i was going to post photos from all three countries but i decided it'd be better to divvy it up. so my lovely readers, i present to you LISBON, city of tiled buildings!

confeitaria nacional

BICA, portugal's powerful espresso, with a croquette and pastel de bacalhau

the museu calouste gulbenkien had a very well curated collection including some unusual textiles (old velvet!) and funky tapestries:

my mom and i also took a day trip to SINTRA to see the pena palace, which is the most magical castle i've ever visited in europe. eclectic architecture and superb views from its position on a mountain.

on our way down from sintra, we visited a toy museum!!! totally a tchotchke hoarder and flea market fanatic's HEAVEN.

indescribably delicious PASTEIS DE BELEM: burnt creamy custard in a tart shell made of something like a very crisp phyllo. we ate in the bakery and they came to us warm... i think about these way too much.

do stay tuned for the next city: BARCELONA!