Although we were both feeling a little travel weary, as soon as we hit Barcelona that changed. Spain was to be an indulgence of art and, Barcelona certainly was a fine introduction. With a special Art Ticket to visit 7 galleries we saw 4 of the 7 galleries with two of them specialist galleries of some of our favorite artists. Paul was meditative by the display of Antoni Tapies and for Robby the colour and the whimsical symbols of the art of Joan Miro. On top of these two exhibitions there was the wonderful display and retropspective of Picasso, the Barcelona Contemporary Museum and not having enough time we just have to return to see the Centre for Cultural Contemporary art and the fairy-tale-like structures of Guadi.
That wasn't all Barcelona had to offer. We found just walking along the streets of the Gothic quarters an array of wonderful architecture and myriad of squares with interesting gargoyles and sculptures. The markets - the fruit, vegies, cheeses and proscuito and the artesan markets with hand made jewllery, clothes, jars of jams and olives, as well as hams traditionally cured, pates and pastries to die for.
As we left Barcelona we were happy knowing that we would spend another two or three days before heading home.
So, we then headed for Valencia where we new there was much to see especially around the major Plazas and some modernist architecture. For the first time on this 7 month journey we arrived and was unable to find accommodation. A very friendly taxi driver took us to over 6 hotels without any luck plus phone calls to many pensiones and hostels left us homeless for an evening. The next best thing was to get on a train and head to our next destination Granada. We were lucky. The train didn't leave until 1 am which gave us 8 hours to see Valencia. The weather had turned quite cold and wet so the first stop was another art gallery with paintings by Valequez, Goya, El Greco and Van Dyke. We then walked and walked the inner streets of Valencia until we had had enough, found a bar then moved on to a paella café (Valencia is the home of paellas) and sat until it was almost time to catch the train. We arrived in Granada at 9:30 am.
Granada offered us the beauty of Alhambra. The only tickets we could get were to the gardens and to Generalife gardens. What a treat this was with the acres of very manicured hedges and colourful flowers and waterfuls. 4 hours walk went by without noticing. Today we are moving onto Malaga and looking forward to meeting up with a friend Gudrun.
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