Spain

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Spain....

The entire country felt a little like a stopover...we hadn't researched Spain much, so we basically arrived without a plan at all.

Madrid was made special by Duilio, a lighting designer that we met for the first time there. We had a great time touring the town in the late evening with him, sampling Tapas and drinking just a little beer.

We hopped a train to Barcelona, drawn there by many recommendations from travelers everywhere. We loved the place. There is a very positive energy in the city, with lively streets at all times of the day and none of the anonymous feeling that you get in a large city center. We happened to be there for the Barcelona boat show, which was a great excuse to wander around and check out all kinds of floating extravagance, none of which we could possibly afford. We made it down to the beach to see the start of an around-the-world sailing race, with plenty of hoopla and helicopters buzzing around...

We stayed in a hostel where we met some good natured Aussies; Michael and Karen. Another late night of drinking and tapas....we were getting to like the Spanish way of life.

Things were going along quite smoothly until I (Andrew) woke up the morning we were planning to leave with my right eyelid itching like hell. Within a couple of hours, it was swollen so much it was hard to see. Off to the hospital we went, to find out that I had a chronic condition of the eyelids called Blepharitis....great.

Straight from the hospital, we hopped a late train heading East for southern France.

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Photos

Madrid Barajas Airport
Of the 40 airports that we went through on our trip, this one by far our favourite

Sunny day in Madrid
Not a bad spot to spend the afternoon. We were cultured out...so instead of touring through the world class musuems, we sat in the warm sunshine, drank a few beers and did nothing at all.

Gaudi's Casa Batlló
We had a fun day touring Barcelona's collection of Guadi buildings

Sculpture
From the facade of the Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia
This crazy looking church is an impressively bold design...we might be able to enjoy the finished product when we are senior citizens, as it's scheduled for completion in 2026

Jen's favourite wave
Jen really liked this bit of arhcitectural oddity

Barcelona World Race 2007
Start of the Barcelona around the world double-handed sailing race...we've never seen so many helicopters in one place

Barcelona Marina
One of the boats on display at the Barcelona boat show - we had a fun day of checking out hundreds of boats we cannot afford

Annapurna Unknowed Territory Raid
We laughed several times on the trip when we saw the Canadian flag used by clothing manufacturers to market their cold weather gear. This one was particularly funny as their english translation was terrible, and the fact that Annapurna is a mountain in Nepal!

Torre Agbar
Barcelona's very own giant glowing penis office tower