I'm Back!

Rock hopping in Cadaques

It has been a while but the blog is back! Two weeks ago, I met my grandparents in Barcelona and we've been rip-roaring around northern Spain ever since (they're letting me drive - scary thought I know, more on this later). It was a bit of a change from being completely alone to having family with me, but I've really enjoyed it - solitude doesn't have to mean isolation!

Barcelona!

We found out that we are all very bad tourists during the first couple of days in Barcelona - I don't think we got out into the city before 10:30. And when we did, it wasn't to sight see (that was reserved to a two or three hour period after lunch and prior to siesta - I would blame the siestas on the two jet lagged members of the party, but I was the one who made sure to get a solid nap in every afternoon) it was to slake our hunger! Those of you who know Jim and LeAnn are aware of their love of good food and drink - and mine as well, for that matter. The most memorable dish was octopus - I've always had an aversion to trying this because, well lets face it, it's kind of a weird thinking about eating a slimy mollusk, but when cooked right it is delicious. The times that we did get out and see the sights we focused on the Gaudi buildings like the Parc Güell, Sagrada Familia, and Casa Milà. The Sagrada was definitely the most striking but I felt like it was a lot hype for what was a huge jumble of stone and concrete. The Parc Güell on the other hand, was one of the best things, besides restaurants, that I experienced in Barcelona.

The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona

Detail of the Sagrada

Sculpture on the "new" side of the Sagrada

Tecolote!

Look at me!

Walkway at the Parc Güell

Candyland at Parc Güell

Detail of window at Parc Güell

Mosaic at the Parc

Gaudi's Casa Milà

Mi abuelo

Tapas time

Ooooooh pretty picture

A non-Gaudi building in Barcelona

Girona

After nearly a week in Barcelona, I was happy to be moving on from the big city. We headed up to Girona, which is actually where a lot of professional cyclists spend their off season. I hadn't considered going there, but Jim had read about it and said it could be worth checking out. It was a very interesting place, especially the old walled city, I'm glad that we spent almost a week here. This was also my first driving experience in Europe, which started off with going the wrong way down a one way street in the the old city. Cobblestones and walled streets only big enough for one car are not very conducive to turning around....

Pride in Catalunya

Old City in Girona

Something out of the past

Already framed!

I love how the walls are able to "grow"

Cool metalwork

Fall is creeping into the air here

My favorite walkway in Girona

Figueres and Cadaqués

Since we were in Girona for six nights, we decided to spend some of the days exploring the surrounding areas. Just north of the city, is the town of Figueres, which is the birth and death place of Salvador Dali. We stopped in for lunch at a place which turned out to be one of his favorites - it seemed like the perfect opportunity to break out my best Dali impression (see below). After that it was up the the Costa Brava to the town of Cadaques. There is only one road that leads to this town, and it's very narrow over and down a mountain pass (much to my excitement and Jim and LeAnn's fear - little did they know that this was a comparative super highway to what we would be driving on in a couple of days). The town was very beautiful - all the buildings are whitewashed and have bright, royal blue shutters. The rock work that has been done in the area is amazing too. Rather than move the rocks out of the way, buildings and roads are simply integrated into the existing geography. Also, the surrounding mountains are covered with man-made stone terraces that have to cover a couple hundred square miles - very impressive work.

Jim

LeAnn

Dali channeling......well, whatever it is that he channeled 

Me channeling my inner Dali. Now if I could just find a pet ocelot....

Cadaqués

Walk along the sea

The whole town is build on rocks like this!

Formaggio!

View from the church

The Casa Blau

Pretty swanky windows

I'm guessing this took quite a while to do....

We are currently on the northern coast of Spain, in San Sebastian - hopefully I'll get some pictures of that and the trip over here posted in the next couple of days. Until next time!