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.