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This time a year ago, Bill had just returned home after being at the Thomas fire for 16 days. I remember feeling so anxious last December, worrying about Bill’s safety, about friends and family whom had lost homes in our wine country fires, and dreading Tori’s upcoming move to Oregon, which made us official empty nesters. What a special holiday gift this year not having to worry about Bill being on fires now that he is retired. Kayla and her husband, Forest are working hard in their careers and have bounced back after losing their rented home and its contents last year to the fires.

It’s hard to pick a favorite aspect of Sagrada Familia as there are so many wondrous artistic pieces throughout. If you’re interested in learning more about Sagrada Familia, their website has a copious  amount of information including details about its history and architecture, the meaning of the Sagrada Familia, options for visiting and you can even purchase tickets on this site, which you should certainly do ahead of your visit. And if you’ve always wondered how to pronounce Freixenet, it’s not Frex-in-ay nor Free-jin- ay nor Frex-in-net, it’s Fresh-en-net. We tasted lots of different cavas and had some Spanish tapas too, including that delicious tomato bread I mentioned in my Day One post.

It’s time for this week’s Seven for Saturday It’s ideal for this time of year when most of us want comfort foods. Shelia Jane’s Sonoma Wine Life Shop here. We are headed to California’s Central Coast soon to visit Bill’s son and his wife who live in San Luis Obispo.

After looking at lots of cruise lines and itineraries, we chose to cruise on Regent Seven Seas Cruises, taking off from Barcelona and arriving 10 nights later in Rome. A friendly driver met us at the Barcelona airport and took us to our hotel, El Palace Hotel in downtown Barcelona. The staff at El Palace Hotel was warm and friendly and so accommodating. After breakfast, we began our day of sightseeing and fun in Barcelona.