by Lois Winston
Back in May my husband and I took a Mediterranean
cruise, traveling to Toulon and Villefranche, France and La Spezia,
Civitavecchia, and Naples, Italy. The cruise left out of Barcelona, Spain.
Since neither of us had ever been to Spain, we flew in a day early and hopped
aboard one of those double-decker sightseeing buses for a whirlwind tour of the
city.
I’ve seen those buses just about all my life in New
York. I’m constantly accosted by tour guides whenever I walk around Times Square
(something I try to avoid!) So I had a very negative opinion of them. I changed
my mind in Barcelona. We were able to plug into an audio system that gave us
lots of information about the city as we drove around and were able to get on
and off the buses at our leisure throughout the day as we explored various
sights. The bus stops are clearly marked, and I don’t think we ever had to wait
more than five minutes for one to pull up to take us to our next destination.
 |
| Parc Güell |
Barcelona is a city of amazing architecture,
everything from Gothic churches to Antoni Gaudi's Modernista masterpieces to modern skyscrapers. However, it was Gaudi’s work, especially his mosaic
covered Parc Güell, that made me fall in love with the city.
 |
| Parc Güell staircase leading up to terrace and marketplace |
Wouldn’t it be great, I thought, to send Anastasia on
an adventure in Barcelona? And that’s just what I did in Mosaic Mayhem, the second Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mystery
which is now available.
 |
| ceiling of Parc Güell's Sala Hipostila marketplace |
Anastasia is thrilled at the prospect of three days
in Barcelona. She thinks all she has to worry about are making sure her
passport is still valid and finding someone to care for her semi-invalid
mother-in-law while she’s gone. However, within hours of arriving, she’s
staring down the barrel of a gun and trying to convince a Spanish crime
syndicate they’ve kidnapped the wrong woman. So much for a romantic getaway...
 |
| mosaics decorating terrace of Parc Güell |
Mosaic
Mayhem is available as an ebook from
the following vendors:
***
Award-winning author Lois Winston writes the
critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series featuring
magazine crafts editor and reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack. Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the
first book in the series, received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Kirkus Reviews dubbed it, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to
Stephanie Plum.” Other books in the series includes Death By Killer Mop Doll, Revenge
of the Crafty Corpse and the ebook only mini-mysteries Crewel Intentions and Mosaic
Mayhem. Lois is also published in women’s fiction, romance, romantic
suspense, and non-fiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name.
Visit Lois at www.loiswinston.com, visit Emma at www.emmacarlyle.com, and visit Anastasia at the Killer Crafts &
Crafty Killers blog, www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com. Follow everyone on Twitter @anasleuth.
10 comments:
There's nothing like exploring a new destination to get the creative juices flowing. I've never been to Barcelona - it looks absolutely beautiful x
Beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing.
Suzie, you should put Barcelona on your "must see" list.
Angela, thanks for stopping by!
I went to Barcelona and loved the city. I can see how it inspired you. We took the same type of bus to visit Naples. Great pictures.
Very neat pictures! I've never been to Spain but Taiwan (the good China) has a lot of mosaic work on many buildings & nice people too. I'm sure you'll agree that family events as well as places often can stimulate creative juices, even those initially causing emotional discomfort. Finding out that my late father had a tryst while he was stationed overseas is what started my series of novels.
Mona, since we were on a cruise, we only had 1 day in Naples and spent most of it at Pompeii. We did get to a few of the sites around the harbor, though, including Castel Nuovo.
Glad you enjoyed the pictures, Vamp Writer. You're so right about family stimulating the creative juices. Lucille, Anastasia's communist mother-in-law, is taken almost entirely from my own mother-in-law.
Have always wanted to see Barcelona, especially after the Woody Allen movie of a few years back, Vicki, Cristina, Barcelona. Looks lovely!
It's definitely worth the trip, Deborah. I've been meaning to watch the movie again to see if I can spot places we went.
I once enjoyed visiting Barcelona, although I'm not a fan of Gaudi. But it sounds like the *perfect* spot for Anastasia!
Thanks, Kathleen! Anastasia had an interesting visit.
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