Beautiful Barcelona- Photos to come

Hi Again,

The site is working beautifully this morning, so I have managed to upload all of the Mediterranian Spain photos on one Post. Read Suzi's last post for details and photos of our adventures.  Barcelona was so amazing that it will be a blog post by itself!!! The artwork and architecture is astounding and I can assure you that we all had aching legs and necks after a day pounding the sidewalks and looking up in awe.

Many of Barcelonas famous buildings are the result of an architect named Gaudi who did his work at the turn of the 20th Century. There is a fine line between art and architecture when you see what he has accomplished, and we can assure you that the photos don't do justice to how truelly wonderful they are. Some of his buildings charge up to 18 Euro to go through them, more than some of the art galleries we have visited.

His unfinished masterpiece the Sagrada Famalia cathedral is still under external construction today, however the interior is complete. The detail and design is astounding in its complexity and ingenuity. After visiting the museum under the church dedicated to Gaudi, you can appreciate even more his influences when creating his designs. He loved nature so much that the marble columns are designed to look like tree trunks splitting into branches, huge knots representing the scars where branches have been lopped. 

On the exterior there are of course inlaid sculptures of biblical reference, however palm fronds, lizards, snakes and turtles are some of the other inbuilt sculptures that make this church unique. On the spires there are not only crosses, but also mozaiced structures that represent seed pods on grass and fruit. It has survived the Spanish Civil war in the 30's with some damage, however is nearing completion now. I am sure that they will then go back to clean up the older time worn sections and repair damage so that the whole exterior is similar in colour.

Barcelona is definitely on our 'come back to without kids' list which continues to grow by the day.

All for now. Sorry about sounding like an art critic, but 'when the boot fits!'

The Wockies

Happy Easter From Spain- (Photos Complete)

Adios Spain,

We have finally left our favourite (so far) European country after a week holidaying in a comfortable, spacious cabin just south of Barcelona. It had the most amazing pools and waterslides. Unfortunately the weather that week was the wettest we have experienced. I won't complain too much though knowing what everyone in Queensland has had to contend with this summer. Luckily sunshine has prevailed for the majority of our trip on both continents. Wet weather aside, the kids amused themselves playing ping pong and still braving the waterslides while Craig and I had some relaxing days.

Together we drove 745kms from Granada to Cambrils which was pretty tiring as there are always plenty of trucks and wild drivers on the road. Spanish drivers, like the Portugese are addicted to speed and kamikaze driving styles. Needless to say you need your wits about you as the average travelling speed is 130kms an hour, with the occasional European model (car that is) flashing by.  We have yet to see anyone pulled over for speeding, but have seen plenty of parking officers across the continent. Our faithful Peugeot has now clicked over 6000kms.

On Easter Sunday we spent the day (with numerous other Irish, English and Spanish tourists) enjoying the many caravan park facilities. After some gruelling rounds of ping pong, Jordan headed off for a game of volleyball with a Spanish boy and his mates. Sam and Jordan had befriended him a day earlier and communicated via sign language as he spoke limited English. Jordan thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon and managed to pick up some volleyball skills despite the language barrier. That night Ben and I watched a mini circus show at the main stage. As always there was plenty of music and dancing during the show as the Spanish really know how to party.

Both Spain and Portugal amazed us, so many stunning sights and places. Beautiful beaches, lakes, castles, mountains and vibrant cities full of happy, lively people. Wherever we travelled there was always music playing and people enjoying life. We spent a little longer than planned in that part of Europe but as far as European countries go, Spain is quite big. For those of you following our trails we left Portugal and headed straight to Seville. Another large, pretty city with plenty of old buildings, cobbled streets and you guessed it more castles. From there we headed south through the mountains (amazing scenery) to Malaga on the coast, where we timed our arrival perfectly with the finish of a soccer match, causing traffic nightmares as the crowds easily rival a Broncos game.

We navigated blindly through the city with every second street closed by police until we glimpsed our first view of the Mediterranian. The city had some amazing architecture, murals and artworks, and even though we blundered through the labryinth of roads and up the wrong way of 1 way streets, we managed to end up on the right path even though we had only a vague idea of which direction we were heading. An impulsive turn onto a narrow 1 way street on the beach found us face to face with a shirtless guy with an impressive beer gut on a horse with a pillion passenger. Beer in one hand and ciggy in the other, he casually waved us past like this was an everyday occurance. We steered around him as he sent children screaming and scattering while he and his horse mounted the footpath to make room for us. A sight you just don't see in Oz.

That night we stayed the night in a cabin in a van park that we still can't believe we found from directions given to us in Spanish, the boys experienced their first real taste of genuine Spanish cuisine at the attached restaurant (32 Euro with 2 large beers) and again ordered through sign language as no common language was available. This completed yet another massive day of driving. It was then back up through another different, yet equally as beautiful mountain range to Granada for two nights where we aimed to see La Alhambra, a Palace built over generations by the Arabs and Spanish (creating a unique tapestry of cultures). The Catholic Church took ownership and removed all traces of other religious worship, but it remains a Spanish treasure and the only Royal Palace that was not in some way sacked by invading neighbours.  This landmark overlooks Granada and the Sierra Nevada mountains, famous for the quality of skiing. So beautiful!!! Unfortunately, even with two attempts and lining up before the sun came up, we were unable to get tickets. Devastated! It means that Craig and I will just have to come back ourselves! 

To our delight both chocolate and good quality wine are cheap in Europe so life is good. After a bit too much indulgence over Easter, I went out for a run along the beachfront where some interesting fellows tried to sell me knock-off Prada/Gucci sunglasses and handbags. You've got to love a country where you can combine shopping and exercise. The day before we had spent a rainy afternoon in the various street stalls looking for T-shirts for the boys. Our main aim was to try to find Spongebob Squarepants shirts as the Spanish translation is Bob Esponje. It cracked us up the first time we heard it and we all agree the theme songs sounds much better when sung in Spanish.

Well that's it for now, enjoy the photos....

Wockies