Yesterday was a great day which we spent mostly on learning about Joan Miro, an artist born in Barcelona. We also spent some of the day looking at the Sagrada Familia in more detail, unfortunately not going inside though as there was a huge queue to get in 😦 .
We started the day by taking the bus to Barcelona and taking a tube to where we’d hopped off the hop on hop off city tour busses the day before. However at the tube, (or metro as the Spanish call it) station, my ticket got jammed in the machine and one of the tube staff had to get it out for me! When we got to our destination on the metro we hopped on a hop on hop off city tour bus on which we went to the Miro Museum and saw lots of Miro’s paintings (which weren’t the most fascinating things in the world, to me at least, apart from one or two which I quite liked). After that we went to have lunch and to see the Sagrada Familia where we went into the gift shop and saw ‘The Cryptogram’ which Gaudi created. The cryptogram goes like this:

I found this interesting as every straight line of 4 numbers, including diagonal adds up to 33 (Apparently there are 310 combinations of numbers which all add up to 33! See how many you can find!) Why the number 33 you may ask, well the the reason is this is the age that Christ was when he died.

Milan

Today was a beautiful day which we spent in an amazing city. For me the day was all about discovering and learning about the famous architect Antoni Gaudi.
A city tour in an open top bus took as to many of Gaudi’s important buildings, including the Basilica and Temple Sagrada Familia which Gaudi designed and where he is buried. This amazing building has been under construction since 1882 and is still not completed.
We got off the bus at Park Güell and explored this beautiful park, watched the tourists, took lots of photos, & enjoyed a picnic lunch in the shade of palm trees some of which were nesting parrots. We also decided to visit the house in park, now a museum,l in which Gaudi lived for nearly 20 years.
Day one of our Barcelona visit ended with passing by the stadium of the Barcelona FC, (to the boys excitement) and tapas, with squid rings and patatas bravas as favourites!

Maria

A change of scenery today, from the mountainous terrain of the Pyrenees to the cityscape of Barcelona, where we have found another great campsite at the coastal town of Mataro just north of the City.
After 5 weeks on the road we have learnt a few things about living and travelling in a campervan. We are now also becoming much more adept at “setting up camp” where the key tasks and roles are clear. Efficiency is the name of the game!
Here are a few lessons learnt thus far:
– Use as few dishes as possible. One pot & one plate meals consumable with one utensil are preferable
– If it doesn’t make it’s own way into the washing bag, it probably doesn’t really need to be washed.
– A random state of possessions is not an option. Everything has a place and make sure everyone knows where it is.
– We really only need half of the stuff we have in the van. If we haven’t used it yet (except for the first aid kit!) it’s only just contributing to fuel inefficiency
– Space for food (esp refridgerated) is limited. If it was you that suggested we buy it from the supermarket then its your responsibility to ensure its eaten!
– Depending on the proximity to our pitch, going to the bathroom can be quite an excursion. Manage your intake of beverages accordingly, especially at night!
JR

Today, after yesterdays thrilling walk, Faja de pelay, we decided to go on another walk which had views of the waterfalls and it was bit flatter and there was less climbing. There was waterfalls with great views of it, it had about 8 viewing points for it and it was quite big too. We walked about 6 Km and then we decided to turn back, because it was quite far and we’d seen most of the waterfalls. There was a stream next to us and we decided to bath our feet in it because they were aching from the walking. The water was ice cold and we couldn’t keep our feet in it for too long. Then we decided to go back and just when we started I sprained my ankle so I used a stick that we found to help me. After a few hours we finally got down and went back to the camp after another great day of walking.

Nilay

Today we went to do one of the walks in the Parque Nacional de Ordesa in the Pyrenees. We chose a supposedly easy walk which didn’t turn out to be the easy route we wanted to do and we ended up climbing the best part of one of the mountains. However in was worth it when we finally got to the top to see a magnificent view of the Pyrenees on a balcony made of stone approximately 600m above where we had started.

Here we had a lunch break, a bit late as it was already 3pm, and then carried on for about 15 mins but then decided the walk was too long and there was a risk of having to walk in the dark so we turned back to climb back down the slope we’d come up.

Finally after a tiring day of walking, we tucked in to a dinner of 9 vegetables soup and pasta with a tuna sauce!

Milan

We have made it to Spain! Yesterday we packed up and then spent most of the day travelling from Saint Emilion to Torla on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees. After travelling through a wine growing area with vineyard after vineyard and picturesque chateaus and villages at the start of our journey, we crossed the Pyrenees and the scenery changed to high mountains left and right and winding mountain roads as we approached Torla.
On the way, we stopped at a a little cheese shop where I had a chance to sample various local cheeses and decided to buy a nice piece of basque Berger cheese.

Torla is a little town near the Ordesa National Park in the Pyrenees. We are staying in a campsite just outside the town with magnificent mountain views which we enjoyed while barbecuing for dinner!

Maria

As all wine experts will know this refers to a classification of the vineyards (Chateaus) in Saint Emilion (near Bordeaux) where we have had a fantastic day learning about winemaking as well as experienced this picturesque medieval town. World famous steeped in history, its idyllic soil conditions (situation on some old limestone quarries), have produced some of the worlds best wines for centuries. We also had tours at 3 Chateaus where the boys learnt (but not experienced of course!) the technical subtleties of wine tasting!
Some facts & figures: A barrel holds 300 bottles of wine, which, made of French Oak, typically cost 700euro each (empty!). There are around 200kms of limestone tunnels under the town many used as cellars. Grape varieties in the area are predominantly Merlot & Cabernet Franc. Recent vintage years were 2005, 2009&2010 with fingers crossed for the 2013 harvest which will start in Oct. A 5 hectare estate will produce 15-20,000 bottles a year. Sadly for winemakers in the area, thanks to “new world wines!”, it has become increasingly difficult to remain profitable.
We are staying at a great campsite set amongst one of the vineyards and thoroughly recommend a visit to the area which is also a cyclists and runners paradise!
JR

Today we went to a viewing tower in Arcachon near Bordeaux called L’observatoire, and we climbed the spiral stairs which were hanging from ropes and very shaky. At the top we had awesome views of the sea, beaches, the town, and the land beneath us where our mum was sitting on a bench because she was too scared to come up! :P. LOL!

After that we travelled for an hour and a half to a camp site called ” Yelloh! Saint-Emilion” which is near LOTS of vineyards and sells wine from them which we bought a bottle of wine. The campsite has crazy golf, boats for hire, a swimming pool with an awesome slide which we just went into, giant chess, and quite a nice camping spot, so lots to do!

Nilay