
We also visited Cascais, a town west of Lisbon on the coast, at the mouth of the

The next day we saw a few more Portuguese sites (old town called Obido, big beautiful cathedral … the usual European stuff) and returned to Salamanca.


We also took a day trip to Montserrat, an hour west of Barcelona, where there is an amazing, old monastery. Napoleon came through and destroyed the monastery, which had been built in the 13th century, and killed all the monks. But eventually it was repopulated and rebuilt, still in the same picturesque locale. A picture of the mountain as we approached is below. We took a tram to the monastery and then another tram a little higher, and then hiked two hours to the highest hikable point.
After 5 days, we rented a car and drove north through Catelonia, near and along the coast. Catelonia is amazingly beautiful, and we found Catalan people to be exceptionally friendly. It is a fiercely independent, and international, part of Spain, where they speak their own language – Catalan. But everyone also speaks Castillian Spanish. Catalan is not a Spanish dialect at all, but really its own language, an interesting mix of Castillian and French. It is just one of Europe's many Latin languages, with apparently very complex grammar. During Franco’s dictatorship over Spain from 1936 until his death in 1975, he forbid the use of Catalan, which of course ensured that it thrived after Franco died, at which point Catelonia established Catalan as the official language of the province. All signs are written in Catalan and Castillian, and since the province is so international, also very often in French and English.Catelonia includes Spain’s Costa Brava along the Mediterranean Sea. First we went to Cadaques, the most easterly point of Spain, a small peninsula that juts east into the Mediterranean just south of the French border. Salvador Dali lived here and we visited his house, which is now a museum. The picture at right is at Dali's house, near the pool. He had a thing for tires... there are three plastic Michelin Man statues surrounding the pool, plus this 'lips' couch underneath four Pirelli tire signs.
Near his house is a picturesque rocky point with a lighthouse called Cap de Creus where we ate dinner.
We also visited, for an afternoon, the town of Figueres a bit inland to see Dali’s museum, which he created himself. It was fascinating, and both the house and museum gave us new appreciation for Dali, especially his sense of humor, and new understanding of how broad his work was. He didn’t paint only those odd, surrealist, Freudian paintings.
On our way back to Barcelona, we stayed the night in Tossa del Mar, a very quaint, beautiful, seaside town. Then we drove back to Barcelona, walked around a bit more, and flew that night (June 7) to Madrid.We stayed in Madrid until the end of our trip, June 13, and took a day trip to Toledo. Toledo is gorgeous and very old, and in fact is one of 11 cities in Spain listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Jewish neighborhood was especially cool and provocative. The picture at left is a synagogue in Toledo: Sinagoga de Santa Maria La Blanca.
In Madrid we took a couple hours to see dozens of famous Velasquez and Goya paintings at the Prado Museum. The last day, Brady also visited the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum, a great place with a fabulous array of art, but despite the fact that Natalie had never been to this museum and really wanted to see it, she was exhausted and knew standing in another museum in front of more art would make her cranky, so she sat in El Parque del Buen Retiro instead, like Central Park for Madrid, and relaxed to the sound of running water and chirping birds.
The next day we flew back to Tucson. We are currently packing the van back up, and we expect to be back in Portland on June 28. We can’t wait to see our own bed again…. Thanks everyone for following along and reading about our 2006-07 year of adventure.
For more pictures: www.flickr.com/photos/bradyandnatalie
2 comments:
That is the prettiest picture of you with the sunset.... You should have that framed.
I'm so jealous about the Dali, like I told you.
Glad you guys are back now! The trip seemed amazing, all around!
-Alissa
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