Feliç Aniversari

Hey!  It's my birthday!  Last year we had a wonderful time in Luchon - full of adventures.  This year Roger came up with the brilliant idea of our spending my birthday in the Spanish Pyrenees directly behind Garvenie. 

In Garvanie they were disparaging about the Spanish Pyrenees, telling stories about how they used to ride their donkeys over the mountains to the dustbowl of Spain.  With much tutting and frowning they warned us that we wouldn't want to go there... which of course made me want to go!

And I'm so glad we did...

The day started with fantastic sunrise

...  and handmade cards from Roger and Caleb.  

Roger's sketch of the old converted barn opposite our hotel room

And typical Caleb card..... Love it!

Then the precipitous drive along the canon road...How ever did they build it?  We snaked through tunnels, our wheels held perilously to the edge of sheer drops and we breathed a sigh of relief, at least  it was a one way road... that is until we saw cars hurtling towards us from the other direction.  "You'd really have to be unlucky to die on your birthday!"  I thought.

Then the most spectacular walk, past hermit caves, along dry stone walled walkways, through tunnels of trees, across streams and under waterfalls!  It doesn't get better than that!

Cànon d'Añisclo

And then the mists rolled in.....

We eventually emerge from the hairpin bends into the tiny village of Tella, with a total population of just  nine people, a tourist office, a one roomed museum of witches (one plastic witch stirring a cauldron  surrounded  by potions), houses perched precariously on the hillside. 

Loved the stunning views espied between the narrow cracks between houses.

Sagrada familia

I first visited Sagrada Familia in the 60's with my family, again in the 70's on a hitchhiking trip with my flatmate Kim, four years ago with Roger and here we are back again and it is still a building site!

What hasn't changed is the never ending stream of tourist contorting themselves to take the next photo.

But the sheer colours of the windows, magnificence of the architecture and superb sculptures make this an unforgettable experience.  In 2010, this was a maze of plastic sheeting, extension cord and dust illuminated by the sparks of welders.

Last time we had been awestruck by the height of the towers, this time it was the amazing lighting, all from natural sources.  Isn't stained glass wonderful! 

 Maybe next time we visit, the huge central spire will have been built.

La cultura a Catalunya

We were disappointed that we had just missed a major festival (by one day) that included a huge procession of these giant figures, but it was great to see them in the museum.

We are only a five minute walk from the Cultural Centre and so eagerly we booked tickets for a "classical" concert.  We should have read more carefully as it was a carefully prepared history of Catalunya with occasional music. Ah well a good night none the less!

Lovely piano bar at the theatre where they have jazz, will have to save that for another night.

La Boqueria -Taste and Cook

We loved the cooking school in Italy and so we thought we would do it again here in Barcelona. 

We find ourselves in a very modern kitchen with some impressive Paella Pans, very different from the homely kitchen in Assisi.  In Assisi, all of the cooks had been professional chefs, but here our fellow cooks like us are all inexperienced.  We are a group of six Americans and a German couple.  

No pressure at first as we just trailed along behind Maria while she did all the negotiating for supplies and we just sampled!

It wasn't long though until the pressure was on... Not only were we perplexed but at times so was the chef!

In Italy we were challenged by a three course menu... here it was seven courses!  Roger was first cab off the rank, organising the Serano ham, olives and of course wine. 

Next came quite a complicated number which involved making a rich Romesco sauce which was stuffed into baked zucchini and served with blanched asparagus along with another swish of the salsa... phew! Glad that is all that was expected of us.

It looked and tasted so good when we had finished though!

Next we prepared three different cold soups... "Ajoblanco de melon (Garlic Almond and melon), my favourite; Gazpacho de Remolacha y Sandia  (Beetroot and watermelon gazpacho; and - finally Salmorejo a tomato based soup with  jamon and quail eggs.. I can tell you we were chopping and beating like the world was coming to an end!

Good fun ... although we all got a bit serious at times!

Four hours in and we still haven't done the Paella De Marisco (Seafood paella)... Well here goes.

First get your HUGE paella pan and  select the ingredients.

Then add a few more.... can you smell it cooking?

And then its time to prepare the desert .. Crema Catalana

Wow, we started at ten and finished cooking and eating at about five.  We were exhausted.  Couldn't believe it when Roger said "So what's for dinner?"

Have the recipes if anyone would like them!

Bonjour Alix, Laurent et Myriam

In 2012, we exchanged with a wonderful French family from near Chamonix, Laurent, Miriam and Alix.  When we told them we were coming to Barcelona they said "Let's meet up!" and so we did.and shared some great memories of walking in the Alps and of taking them for a BBQ at Manly Dam.

We were to meet up again on the Monday but for them it was one of those nightmare trips!  Alix had a terrible asthma attack and so no one had any sleep.  Finally they decided to fly home early to get medical help, BUT Barcelona had a horrendous storm... lightening and torrential rain and so they were delayed for 4hrs.   

Not the weekend we had all planned!

Had to laugh at 3 year old Alix's blog ....
Caleb, you’ve been my first boyfriend, and I assume I’ll remember that all my life! Mom and Dad enjoyed your appetite too, and Dad the surf session. Thanks again for your artwork, I’ll hang it on a wall as soon as I’m at home!

Ha! Ha!

Labarra Tapas

One of the great things about home exchange is that you get to meet the friends and family of the exchanges and this time was no different.  Elisa a researcher at the local university invited us to try the tapas at a local restaurant.  

This was not the push and shove or excitement of San Sebastion or Pamplona but a very sophisticated experience.  It is always so good to be able to ask all those questions that as a tourist you are not really aware of and of course have no one to ask!

Coming from the UK, the "Scottish" referendum is very much in the air and so the conversation turned to Catalunya.  Its a heated issue and with strong feelings. It was clear that it was not a topic of conversation for dinner! Elisa tells us that it is not something she can talk about.

In a couple of weeks, Elisa and her children are leaving Catalan for the US, feeling that the constrictions here are just too great.  She will continue to work for a US university and her children will study there.

In the town we are aware that Catalan is the language to be spoken and not Spanish.  However, Sant Cugat is a wealthy suburb with music and dance schools and a university which is well stocked with American lecturers, so its almost a life within a life with a detachment from many of the local issues.

  

Languidity

So you thought I didn't know how to relax Huh?

Settling into life in Sant Cugat

Languidity is a way of life in Sant Cugat and we starting to get the hang of it.  Each day, we stroll, just like locals, down the broad shady avenue that shelters us from the blistering sun.  Our obedient shopping trolley trundles behind us (just like the local's do!)  First stop the market where we sample the olives, pick up our warm bread, buy a few slices of the superb jamon and politely decline the offer of pig's trotters.  

Our shopping trolley is neatly locked in place while we shop at the Supermercado.  The town square beckons us to morning coffee and then its time to stroll back up the leafy avenue for a swim and siesta.

Ps Think I've found my new car!

The local fish market is fantastic.  Doing cooking classes in Barcelona in a couple of days time can't wait to find out new ways to cook all these delicious crustaceans.

Pastries, bocadillos, wines, croissant, home  made chocolate 

... what more can I say

We've just won! Wicked Campers have apologised, and committed to removing all misogynistic slogans from their vans within six months.   

Nothing has shifted them in the past. Complaints. Fines. But after initially responding to the petition saying they "didn't care about the uproar" – they've apologised and will re-spray the offensive, sexist vans.

This was a people power win.  120,000 people signed within just four days! 

The kind of sexism and misogyny on those Wicked Campers vans isn't trivial – it's degrading to women, harmful for our children to consume, and condones a rape culture that sees one-in-three Australian women sexually assaulted in their lifetimes. 

Please keep calling out examples of misogynistic and offending Wicked vans by contacting the company (email: ross@wickedcampers.com.au) and posting on social media about them –  I certainly will be keeping those emails flowing.

News from Nowhere and Everywhere

Of course once we get settled in, we can't resist dipping our toes back into life back in Oz.  What better way than through SMH cartoons... not much of a laughing matter unfortunately.

Just click here  to see some of my favourite cartoons and more  or for Cathy Wilcock put this address in your browser.
file:///Users/juliedawson/Desktop/blog%20notes%20spain/wilcock%20cartoon/cathy-wilcox-20090909-fhd6.html
or for Moir put in this address 
http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/alan-moir-20090907-fdxk.html


I find myself signing the usual petitions, to try to stop the steady creep of misogyny - Wicked Campers being the focus this time.  This is only one of many horrendous and for young girls corrupting slogans.  I'd urge you to sign the Change.org petition.

“As long as she thinks of a man, nobody objects to a woman thinking.” 
― Virginia Woolf, Orlando



More petitions to challenge the churches' continued protection of pedaphile clergy. 

"One in 50 clerics is a pedophile", Pope Francis said in an interview published Sunday, in which he also hinted that the mandate of priestly celibacy may one day be lifted. 

Francis condemned child sex abuse as a "leprosy" in the church and cited his aides as saying that "the level of pedophilia in the church is at 2 percent." That figure includes priests "and even bishops and cardinals," Italy's La Repubblica daily quoted Francis as saying.

The figure represents about 8,000 priests out of more than 400,000 worldwide, according to the latest statistics from the Vatican."

And so on and so forth.... Budget unfairness to the poor, appalling treatment of refugees,  even the absolutely ridiculous law which no longer ensure that financial advisors have to work in the best interest of their clients, make my blood boil.

Steam is pouring from my ears so guess its time to go back to holiday mode for a while.

La casa

It's amazing how quickly the "Spanish" paintings and furniture feel just like home!

hola España

There is nothing quite like the excitement of opening the door of your new home exchange... and this was no different.  

Our plane touched down effortlessly at 10.00pm and a circuitous and expensive taxi ride later we are at the locked gate of an apartment block.  The taxi driver prowls and we press buttons anxiously.  Nothing happens.

We look around warily.  It's dark and we are not sure we are in the right place.

The gate swings open sharply and surprises us all.

A smiling, welcoming face.  "Hi I'm Freddie, sorry the bell doesn't work.  You must be Julie & Roger.  Come on in."

One minute later, he's gone and we are looking at the door and trying to figure out which of the keys fit.


We're in... let the adventure begin...

Goodbye UK... ¡Hola España

Over the Dartford Crossing

Over the English Channel

And off to Spain!

Ghosts, Oliver Cromwell & English Country Gardens

Just loved walking around Ely to look at the houses; their wonderful gardens & the motifs.  Absolutely loved the fresh flowers that adorned the entry to the church Not too sure about Oliver Cromwells house though.  Touristville gone crazy, with the obligatory plastic models and fake ghost stories!

Poets House

Don't you just love the internet?  On a whim and a fancy decided to stop over in Ely as neither of us had ever been there before.  Checked out the internet specials and found Poets House (no apostrophe?).  We paid a ridiculous last minute price and expected to be tucked into a dingy basement room but no...Suite 5!  Just loved it.

Oh for the Wings of a Dove

Can't believe its time to leave UK for our trip to Barcelona. ... decided to break our journey in Ely.  By chance caught up with Paul Trepte the Brother of our Sister-in-Law, Jane.  He's a well known organist, composer and the Music Director of Ely Cathedreal.  

You can hear Paul and his choir Click here 


or put this address in your browser https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53-FM7MMPmQ

Go Caleb and Sabine

T'Tour - Le Guide

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

It was one of those balmy summer's days when families, throw off their shoes and their cardies and stretch out on the soft, green grass.  Acres spread before us, trees, huge sheltering trees, placid lakes and sheep meandering past huge sculptures... bliss!

For years now as we have driven back and forth from Sheffield to York we have passed the sign "Yorkshire Sculpture Park" and promised ourselves "We'll visit next time!"  and finally we did!  

I think it's set to be a regular stop off in the future.

 A surprise was just how big it all was.  We had a taste of two exhibitions and a walk around one of the lakes. Ursula Von Rydinsvard, a truly monumental artist who I'd not heard off, creates these huge sculptures from cedar beams.  She  cuts the beams into thousands of pieces and then assembles and laminates them, finally rubbing graphite to create intricate textured facades.

The voluminous and airy gallery was perfect for these sculptures, allowing visitors to wander around and to appreciate the deep chasms and hollows in the works as well as the sheer size of them.
    

A second surprise was to see Ai WeiWei's sculpture "Iron Tree"  I've only seen photos of this in indoor settings, so it was a real treat to see it outdoors.  The exhibition nudged me into checking out what was happening with Weiwei and I was saddened to see the change in him from the time of his film "Never Say Sorry" to now.  Why is it that tyrants and dictators fear artists so much?  

Come to think of it why is the Abbott government cutting funding for Fine Arts degrees?  

Let's hope this brilliant artist who designed the National "Birds Nest" stadium in Beijing gets his freedom to inspire us all again.

Can't wait to visit again!