Espana 08: Tapas, Wine and Gaudi...Oh MY!

It's almost been two weeks since we've gotten back from Spain and it seems like my mind is still there. I had to actually make it a goal for this week to update you folks on my trip and I've seemed to change the look of my blog as well. Two for the price of one!

Tapas, Wine and Gaudi...OH MY! That definitely captures the trip in one sentence, but of course I will elaborate more for your entertainment. Spain was such a welcoming country. You could definitely get by with hand gestures (I want this...and you point..simple enough) and the little Spanish that everyone knows, which we've quickly added to our every day conversation back here in the states... ¡Hola Bebé! If you hadn't noticed on facebook and kodakgallery and just talking to me in general, it's like our trademark salutation! I told you I would come back speaking Spanish.

The tapas. We definitely were told twice that we were ordering way too much food: once at Can Cortada, a renovated 11th Century farmhouse and again on our last night in Barcelona. Anyways, they were right and we were full. Enough said. The food in Spain is simple, but tasty. They seem to use the food's natural flavors to carry the whole dish. There were lots of Patatas Bravas (your basic Spanish french fries), mussels and cheese eaten. It was deliciously heaven!

The vino. Cheaper than water. Many, many many bottles of wine were consumed on our two week trip, but just think we probably saved a lot of euros by ordering wine instead of water! Wine always seems to bring people together as well as help create good conversation between good friends. I miss drinking a bottle of wine for lunch and dinner.

The architecture. It was absolutely amazing. I kept thinking how do we live, work and breathe in those straight-angled buildings...so boring...while Spaniards are lucky enough to walk in and walk out of these beautiful buildings with intricate detail. We saw most of Gaudi's famous works of art, La Padrera (was once an apartment, but there are 2 families who live there now), Casa Batllo (a house built for the Batllo family and is one of my favorites because of the vibrant color) and the Sagrada Familia (it's actaually still being built and they say won't be done until later in our lifetime). If you saw his work in person, you would have definitely thought: There is something wrong with this guy. He seems delusional...really out there, but he got all of his inspiration from nature...bones, shells, plants, etc. In conclusion, we analyzed the crap out of Gaudi (poor Gaudi) just from his work...we assumed that he was actually a homosexual, but living in a Catholic country and having very religious values, he was oppressed with his secret feelings, so he took it out on his work. Done and done.

Our experience in Spain could probably best be told through our thousands of pictures, so if you've got time and a glass of wine just look at our pictures and you will see Spain.

Barcelona

Hasta Manana Amigos!

PS. I'll post more stories about our trip. Stay Tuned!