Barcelona or bust

We´ve had fantastic time in Barcelona. We have managed to squeeze all the museums we wanted to see in. Picasso and Jean Miro had some very interesting work to ponder; who could have thought Picasso could be so rude? The church designed by Gaudi is uncompleted after 100 years of ongoing work but is absolutely incredible, with huge soaring curved columns, towers topped with immense bunches of fruit covered with bright Venetian glass and very striking sculptures. He did not like any straight lines in his work, because they are not found in nature, and the private house he designed feels a bit like a brightly coloured Dr Seuss book. We have now seen more art in the last six months than ever before. Even if we often stand in front of a piece of work with the same puzzled look on our face, there is a lot of it that we have loved.

A highlight of our stay here was to meet up with Pascal and Emmanuelle, a French couple we met in the USA. He is the chief French diplomat to Barcelona, and we were very impressed with his swanky apartment! After travelling for a long time, it is fantastic to meet up with friends and have a dinner and a laugh, and they have promised to come and visit us in Melbourne some time in the future. A bientot nos amis!

Adam is very sad to be leaving the excellent tapas behind. Our friends proposed a minute´s silence last night ´because tomorrow Maddi and Adam will be eating English food!´ We are flying to London today, for a 3 day whirlwind tour. Adam has not been there before, so for the first time on our trip we are considering being total tourists and buying tickets for an open air bus tour of the city, as we do not have enough time to do everything slowly. We are also hoping to visit Maddi´s friends in Cambridge, with their new baby, and see the Tate Modern (Maddi) and Stonehenge and Bath (Adam). Time to sleep when we are on the plane!

This will probably be our last blog entry, as we will be home in less than a week, so we would like to thank all of our patient friends and family who ploughed through our pages and pages of blog. Thank you also to those who sent us much appreciated comments. Adios amigos, and we will see you all soon.

Madam xxx

Piano accordion hell

We have really enjoyed our tour through Andulucia (Anduluthia to the locals, they lisp at everything) in the southern part of Spain. Several days in Seville admiring the Islamo-Christian history was highlighted by a visit to a local Flamenco bar. The singing sounds somewhat arabic but is specific to this region of Spain. No one is sure if it is a style derived by the gypsies or borrowed from the Muslims; striking and fascinating nonetheless. The accompanying guitarist seemed to have fingers that danced over the fret board and had Adam in complete envy. Needless to say, the Flamenco dancers were both outstanding and full of passion. Clearly we enjoyed the experience. We were similarly in awe of the grandeur of the Alcazar, the former Islamic and then Christian palace.

Our most outstanding food story has us wondering where the lovely ham we were eating was stored. Easily answered by looking at the ceiling of the bar, where around 30 or so uncovered legs of ham were hanging amdist the pall of cigarette and cigar smoke. Each leg had a little cup hanging at the bottom to catch fat, so as not to drip on the customers. Knowing all that, it was still amazing ham!

From Seville we moved on to Ronda, a small town perched high on a mountain but spilt into two by an enormous gorge. The old part of the city on one side dates from the 12th century during Muslim occupation and was one of the last places to fall to the Christians, no doubt due to its strategic place atop the mountain. Lots of little streets to wander around and a mix of architectural styles. Maddi would like to add that she ate the best suckling pig ever. Yes, that´s right, she ate "Babe".

Back to the piano accordion. From Italy through France and Spain we reckon we have heard the same 6 songs belted out on piano accordions nearly everytime we sit down. We both never want to hear "I did it my way" again. Its not particularly adventurous stuff being played. Maddi gives top marks to the slightly addled old bloke we saw just yesterday shaking a single maracca while singing along to his handheld boom box. It´s that sort of ingenuity we wished we saw more of.

We are in Granada now with (unfortunately) less than two weeks to go. More adventures soon.

Buenos dias

We spent four lovely days in Paris, though the city of romance didn´t really turn on the weather charm, and our umbrellas got a workout. Our hotel was in the middle of a busy bar and restaurant area, which made for good nights out and short walks home, but drunken singing outside our window in the middle of the night (not by us). We met up again with Emmanuelle, a lovely French journalist who we initially met on an Indian reservation in South Dakota. She gave us some tips on what to see and do, and took us out to a restaurant owned by a couple of her friends for some true french bistro food. We are planning to catch up with her and her partner again when we get to Barcelona.

We managed to combine some classic tourist stops with a little soaking up of the culture of the streets of Paris. In one eventful day we went to the Museum of Modern Art at the Pompidou Centre (very modern and eye opening, but we have decided that we just don´t have the art appreciation gene, and sometimes just don´t get it!), the Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees, Eiffel Tower, and the Louvre! We managed to put a lot of ticks on our tourist checklist that day. Maddi had previously avoided the Louvre as a lot of the art is quite old, and it is huge. We did the right thing though, and saw the Mona Lisa (tick!) as well as a random selection from the vast array of art on display.

Adam was very excited to learn that the Paris Motor Show was on while we were in town, as you would know if you have looked at the photos. In perfect man/woman style, he spent the morning there while Maddi went shopping in the Marais district. Not much money was spent, but lots of window shopping. We had considered waiting to get our haircut until we got home, but we both got sick of looking shaggy at the same time, and figured Paris was as good a place as any. It was pretty funny though, because Maddi´s high school French did not stretch to complex haircut terminology, and not much English was spoken by the staff. Still, we both escaped happy with their efforts, despite Maddi´s transient mullet fears as her guy scissored and razored away with abandon.

We are now in Madrid, where the weather is warm and sunny, and the people are out late partying. Standard dinner time here is about 10pm, and even as we head home at midnight, others are just sitting down to eat. We do have a Spanish phrasebook, but when the tapas menu has 30 options, it takes far too long to look up every word, so we do a little bit of random hopeful ordering. No food disasters yet. There is a really great vibe on the streets at night. It is still warm enough for people to wander around wihtout coats, eat outside, and spill out onto the streets from the multitude of bars. It must go off here at fiesta time.

We have missed bullfighting season, but after seeing 15 minutes of it on TV yesterday, that is not a bad thing. A little too much bleeding (by the bull) and poncing about (by the bloke) for our tastes.

Off to the south of Spain tomorrow, so we are looking forward to the Moorish influences on the architecture and food. Adios!

New Photos

It's been a bit wet in Paris, so we went and had our hair coiffeured and have spent some time, looking stylish, uploading photos for you to enjoy! Included are Tuscany and France with hot off the press pics from the Paris motor show.

Bonnie Beaune

Since our last entry, we have continued our wandering through the French countryside. Adam was very excited that we achieved 5.3 L/100 km, for those of you with any interest in diesel engines. An afternoon trip to Avignon to visit the famous bridge, after a lunch in Chateauneuf Du Pape (which may be familiar to the wine buffs out there). We had an absolutely scary drive through pelting pouring rain and crazy French drivers along the freeway back to Nice, and after some superior navigating by Maddi in trying conditions, made our train with 2 minutes to spare.

On to Dijon, where we didn't try a skerrick of mustard, and then the gorgeous walled hill town of Vezelay (where relics of Mary Magdalene's body are reportedly in a casket in the Basilica). Ugh! We also spent 3 nights in the wine centre of Burgundy, another old town called Beaune. More wine tasting and cheese eating ensued.

For those of you with a taste for bad food experiences, Adam had his life's worst one on this part of the trip. Suffice it to say, he ordered it by accident, it consisted of tripe and other unidentifiable animal based items, and (as Maddi can attest)it tasted absolutely appalling. With amazing fortitude, he ploughed through 3 quarters of it by slathering it with mustard, while Maddi looked on in awe. Even now, we both gag at the memory.

With that we bid you a fond farewell. Off to Paris!