Catalonia, Spain

We hadn't expected to visit Europe, but when we researched flights from Thailand to the Galapagos, we found most of them headed west and had a connection in Europe.  We took advantage of the connection, and spent over a week in the Catalonia area of Spain.

Barcelona

One of the most beautiful cities I've ever visited.  Great train/subway system, tree-lined streets, outrageous architecture, and cafes everywhere!

It looks like a gecko that crawled through wet paint, but they call it a dragon

Another splendid day overlooking the Mediterranean from Park Güell

Cool passageway in Park Güell, which Gaudi designed to be a functioning place to live and work among works of art

Two of Gaudi's buildings in Park Güell

Enjoying the narrow corridors of a historic Spanish village in Barcelona

Flamenco dancing - check out the wear on the floor from the foot stomping

Another of Gaudi's famous works of architecture in Barcelona

Gaudi's masterpiece (still under construction after 140 years) - the La Sagrada Familia

Valls 

The village of Valls is the birthplace of human towers ("castells") that have been a tradition for hundreds of years.  We were fortunate to be able to visit when a castell celebration was occuring.

There are hundreds of people supporting the base, and castells can rise up to nine levels above the base.  We saw one collapse, but fortunately, nobody was injured.

It's surprising how young the castellers are that climb to the top, such as those climbing up here

Montserrat

The monastery at Montserrat is over a thousand years old (although the current structure was rebuilt more recently), and still functions as an active monastery.  It's also a spectacular location in the hills outside Barcelona, with conglomerate rock cliffs above and below it.

The spectacular setting of Montserrat Monastery

St. George, waiting for dragons to appear

Anna.  From Jaume Plensa. This sculpture is located in the atrium which precedes the Christian Basilica. "The placing of this work has a clear meaning. It is a fundamental principle of Christian Humanism that human beings, with their longing for life, for happiness, and for beauty, are the true path that leads towards divinity."

Candlelit passageway in the Montserrat monastary

Katie, Alex, and I climbed the large tower on the right, called Gorro Frigi

Alex pulling cobblestones in Montserrat

Alex combining the last two pitches on lead to the cross on top top of Gorro Frigi

Siurana

Siurana is a beautiful mountaintop village a couple of hours from Barcelona.  Although small, it has been inhabited for at least a thousand years.  It is also renowned for the limestone sport climbing.

Charming cobblestone streets and buildings of Siurana

Enjoying a beautiful day in the hills of Catalona

Katie in failure-is-not-an-option mode leading a climb in Siurana

Katie, still on lead, suddenly found something scarier than the climb to worry about (I'm not sure what that was).

Alex clipping on lead in Siurana

Pretty sure I was thinking "Don't fall with all that slack in the rope!"

Castelldefels 

We stayed in Castelldefels just outside of Barcelona.  We were in walking distance of the beach and local rock climbing.  It worked out as a good base camp for our visit, with easy train connection to downtown Barcelona.

"Say, you wouldn't happen to have an extra hat, would you?  Shade's gettin' scarce in these parts."

We didn't get many windy days; this one was the best

The water wasn't quite as warm as Thailand

Katie had more fun being a submarine than she did actually kiteboarding

No wetsuit and still smiling!

Katie digging trenches in the beach

Alex on liftoff

It looks like Alex is pushing Katie on a swing; he's actually supposed to be holding on to her so she doesn't fly away...

Figueres

The village of Figueres is the home of Salvador Dali, and the home of a museum he created to display his artwork.  It was an overwhelming display that ranged from genius to baffling.  Here are just a few pictures to get an idea of the craziness.  These are among the less perplexing works in the museum.

One of several works in the series called Ten Recipes to Immortality.

The sculpture is of Moses in the style of Michelangelo.  I can't begin the explain the octopus, rhino head, or the cubic-alien-humanoid-with-two-bird-heads.

Mae West - larger than life.  This is a room-size piece; the lips are the size of a small couch.

Next stop

Our next and final stop will be in Ecuador to visit the Galapagos Islands.

Thailand

Thailand was an adventure!  A few highlights:

All of us except Katie got trapped in the elevator in our apartment building in Phuket.  It was pretty much straight out of The Hangover Part 2, except nobody got a tattoo or lost a finger.  Eventually, we were able to pry the door open and scramble out.

As Alex and I walked home from climbing in Railay one evening, we heard a monkey screeching (it sounded more like laughing) on the cliffs above us.  We looked up to see a real-life sock monkey.  We didn't get a picture, but you can see one here:  Dusky Leaf Monkey  As soon as we looked up, it threw a giant tree branch down and nearly hit us, which it found very amusing.

We knew there would be an abundance of outstanding food in Thailand.  The fruit shakes were a pleasant surprise - and we had lots of them!  An unpleasant surprise was durian fruit.  Known as the "king fruit,"  it looks cool, and smells horrendous.  Anthony Bourdain says "Your breath will smell as if you’d been French-kissing your dead grandmother," which pretty says all you need to know.  We tried it, but won't try it again.

Phuket

Smiling Gold Buddha at the Big Buddha temple above Phuket

Guatama Bhuddha, the enlightened teacher, is 150 feet tall

Sunset in the gardens of the Big Buddha

Thai dragon clouds

Wat Suwan Khirikhet  temple in Karon

This rather bizarre altar is also part of the Karon temple

Alex making a friend at the Phuket Elephant Sanctuary

The Phuket Elephant Sanctuary buys elephants that are injured or too old to work in logging or tourist camps, allowing them to retire in peace.  A noble mission, although we struggled with whether that helps perpetuate businesses that are based on elephant labor

Thai chefs in training

The ingredients we prepared for tom kha gai soup

Top Chef Thailand

Railay

Railay is a ferry ride across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket.  It is particularly known for the climbing on the limestone cliffs that rise straight up from the beaches.

Katie and I climbed the highest wall in the area, and into a deep, steep, dirty, and hot cave.  The coolest part was that it was full of bats.  We were there at dark, and the bats flew around us (and into us), with their echolocation clicks echoing off the cave walls.

Railay and Tonsai beaches

Katie exploring the crazy tufa limestone caverns around Railay

The Thaiwind Wall rising above Railay...Katie and I climbed on this wall, and into a cave that traverses through the center from left to right.

Wild tufas above Ao Phra Nang beach

The overtly explicit Princess Cave shrine

Alex disappearing into the start of the Groove Tube climb

Katie making sure to use both sides of the Groove Tube

Longboats lined up along Railay Beach

Alex hoping the massive overhanging tufas above him stay put for a bit longer

Katie in the pitch-black, hot, bat-filled, very dirty and slippery cave on the Thaiwind Wall

The Thaiwind wall cave was hotter and dirtier than it looks

Tufa-filled cliffs above Tonsai Beach

Koh Lanta

Koh Ha lagoon was a fantastic spot.  We went with a dive boat, and were the only ones who snorkeled (Alex and Katie aren't certified).  We saw two black-tipped reef sharks, but weren't able to get pictures.  We were able to get pictures of turtles, fish, coral, and a sea snake.

Turquoise waters of Koh Ha lagoon

Posing for the reef sharks

The rare blue-gilled green turtle

Koh Ha coral

Girls in paradise

Swarming butterfly fish

We don't need scuba gear!

Keri guarding the convict tangs

Nice hair!

Mermaids are real!

There were a lot of fish!

Hawksbill turtle cruising by

This sea snake appeared out of nowhere right next to Alex!

Sirinat National Park

We spent the final days in Thailand learning to kitesurf at Sirinat National Park.

Just another day in Thailand

Alex aced the trainer kite stunt flying

Keri building up a dive on the trainer kite

Intense concentration

Katie and Alex getting the most out of the day's lesson

It's easier to get moving in the water

Body surfing in opposite directions

Lessons are starting to pay off a bit

Heading out to sea...where I lost my board upwind

Kitesurfer boy

Next stop...

We planned to finish our trip with a visit to the Galapagos Islands.  However, we found that most of the flights from Thailand to Ecuador actually head west (through Europe), not east.  So, we're going to stop over for two weeks in Barcelona, then finish with the Galapagos.