Valencia: Second Time Around

At this point our 7-day cruise through the Mediterranean had begun. We set sail from Barcelona and the next day hit Valencia on the east coast of Spain.

I'll make another post later explaining everything about the cruise, though basically it was a week long, we stopped in Valencia, Palma de Mallorca, Marseille, Monaco (via Villafranche), Florence (via Livorno), and we got off in Rome.

Valencia is known for its City of the Arts and the Sciences, designed in large part by Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava. The City is an entertainment based cultural and architectural complex, and it's the most important modern monument in the Valencia. Among the structures in the City is Europe's largest aquarium, L'Oceanogràfic, which you see in the picture above.

Here we are in front of the Imax cinema, L'Hemisfèric. It's also a planetarium and laserium.

I am sitting on a sculpture here inside L'Umbracle, a landscaped walkway filled with plants and vegetation native to Valencia.

Rachel is seated here on the outside of L'Umbracle.

We're standing in the Plaza de la Virgen with the basilica in the background.

I had to show Mom and Rae what real horchata tastes like; so I brought them to an horchateria in the center of old Valencia. The cafes are really cool, with lots of mosaic tile depicting the harvest and growing of tigernuts (chufas) which are used in Spain to make the horchata.

Horchata originally comes from Valencia and it's thought that the tradition of using tigernuts to make the drink came from the Muslims who presides there from the 8th to the 13th century.

Horchata is sweet nutty type milk that tastes wonderful on hot days. It's typically served with a sweet bread rolls called fartones.

Barcelona - City of Modernismo

This was the third time that I visited Barcelona, and it was my favorite time even though I revisited some places I already knew. That's the wonderful part about Barcelona though, it's spectacular enough that you don't mind seeing things a second time.

Here's a sample of some pinchos we ate at a local restaurant near our hotel on the ultra chique street Passeig De Gracia, just above the Plaza Catalunya in the center of the city and Las Ramblas.

The Barceloneta: the beach and surrounding neighborhood where tourists and natives alike flock to take a dip in the warm waters of the Mediterranean. I remember that we didn't swim that day, and that it was windy and sand blew all over us. Some days you just gotta go to the beach though.

The coast of Barcelona is packed with piers, parks, boardwalks, shopping centers, etc. Just past the statue of Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus) and the famous Ramblas streets is this pier called La Rambla del Mar.

I'm standing at the base of the Columbus' statue.

Here the girls are in front of Antoni Gaudi's unfinished master work: La Sagrada Familia (Temple of the Holy Family).

Gaudi was a Catalan architect who was extremely influential in the Modernist/Art Nouveau movement. His style in many occasions mimics patterns found in nature, like the winding spiral staircase in the Sagrada Familia.

In the north of Barcelona is Gaudi's famous park, Parque Guell, where there are a collection of interesting architectural designs and creations. The park was originally designed to be a housing site, though it failed, and today there are only two houses there. The park serves as an important tourist attraction, however, and millions of people go there every year to see great views over Barcelona and to explore the wonders of Gaudi's curious and naturalistic designs.

Another picture of Parque Guell: I'm sitting on a mosaic tiled bench with some cavern like walkway in the background.



Gaudi designed a great deal of buildings in his native Catalunya, and in Barcelona. This house is called the Casa Batllo.


Here we can see a close view of the scaled roof and cross turret. It looks like the back of a dinosaur or dragon. I have many pictures of the inside of the house as well, which was equally impressive and filled with unique angles and geometric designs. I didn't add these photos to my blog because many of them didn't turn out as well due to lack of lighting. The Casa Batllo is an expensive tourist attraction (12 - 15 Euros), but I think my mom, sister, and I would all agree that it's one of the most enchanting houses we've ever visited. Well worth it.

Another jewel of Barcelona's collection of modern architectural marvels is the Palau de de la Musica Catalana (Palace of Catalan Music). My mom invited us to go to a Spanish guitar concert at this concert hall that dates back to 1908.

The Catalan architect, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, created a space that could be entirely illuminated by natural light during the day, much of which comes in through the stained glass skylight 'sun' in the center.


Here's a view of some of the pillars that line the outside of the concert hall. The colors and lighting of the building are beautiful, and I would recommend a tour if you're ever in Barca, or definitely whatever concert you can get tickets to; the building alone is worth it.

Bilbao & Sanse

Bilbao, the magnificent metropolitan capital of Biscay in the Basque Country, city of monuments of great modern architecture like Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum, pictured below.


My mom, sister, and flatmate Juan are standing on a bridge in front of the Nervion River in the old center of Bilbao.

The Campo Volantin Footbridge along the Nervion, designed by famous Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

Hilltop view of the Greater Bilbao, an urban area of around a million inhabitants. Bilbao is one of the most important seaports and industrial areas of Spain, and much of its growth was due to the industrial revolution.

Besides the factories, Bilbao is a city sprawling with commerical and cultural life. There are many parks, monuments, beautiful modern buildings, luxury shops, restaurants, hotels, museums, concert halls, and more. It's definitely one of the more interesting places to visit in Spain.

Now we change cities to San Sebastian, or Donostia in the Basque language of Euskeda. San Sebastian is the capital of the Basque province of Guipuscoa, and it's a popular tourist destination for all of Europe. Gail and Rachel are looking out over La Concha Bay from Mount Igeldo.


San Sebastian's old center is filled with wonderful restaurants dedicated to some of Spain's most elaborate and delicious pinchos.

Here Mom and I are standing in front of the river Urumea and one of the many bridges that cross it. You can see the cathedral in the background.

One of the most famous sites in the city is the lookout over the rocky coast near the base of Mount Igeldo where the Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida has several of his famous 'wind combs'. Interesting side note: I just learned that before he became a sculptor he was a professional goalkeeper for Real Sociedad, San Sebastian's football team.

La Concha Bay has a wonderful large beach shaped like a conch shell. The boardwalk that surrounds the beach is filled with restaurants, spas, cafes, clubs, parks, and more. It's a wonderful place to spend a nice morning, afternoon, or evening strolling around or just lying and relaxing.

Food you don't generally eat in the USA: salads with gulas (aka young eel). If the gulas (or regular eel would be 'angulas') are authentic they are a delicacy, and a very expensive one at that. Most times if you catch these slimy suckers in a typical restaurant or supermarket what you're getting is the imitation stuff, which is much cheaper. It tastes a little like crab... me thinks. Very good.

Big Vacation with Mom and Rae!

Oh man, it's time to write about pictures... here we go.

This was the first part of my big nearly four week long vacation with my mom and sister Rachel. They came into Spain via Madrid and managed to catch the bus up north to Logroño. Since both of them had been in Logroño before, we took advantage of the first part of the vacation to visit some places in the northern autonomous community of the Basque Country. The Basque Country, or Pais Vasco, is divided into three provinces known in English as Biscay, Guipuscoa, and Alava.

The Basque Country has a different climate than La Rioja, as the latter where I live is much drier and hotter in summer. The Basque Country gets quite a lot of precipitation as it borders the sea to the north. It's a fairly mountainness or hilly region with a lot of vegetation and forests in the north. There are also a lot of nice beaches along the coast that are completely different from the more famous Spanish beaches on the Mediterranean. The northern beaches are more natural, with hills, trees, rocks, and a more temperate climate, than those more well known beaches like around Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, Cadiz, etc. that tend to be flatter, larger, and more artificial.

This is Mundaka; it's not too far from Bilbao in the province of Biscay, or Vizcaya. The tide goes up, creating a river running inland, and down, revealing an expansive beach for surfers, sailboats, and suntanners alike.

This is a church outside of Mundaka called San Juan. It can only be accessed through the skinny stairwell that winds out from the shore to its peninsula location. The tide comes up and the stairs go away.

This is the castle of Butron located in Gatica of the Biscay province. The fairytale like castle dates back to the Middle Ages.

We owe many thanks to my flatmate Juan for taking us in his car to the many places we visited in the Basque Country. Here we are on the beach of Bakio, very near Bilbao in Biscay. Its close location to the metropolitan city leads it to be a very fashionable place for people to relax and catch a tan.


Here we are in front of the monumental vineyard hotel Marques de Riscal in Elciego of southern Basque Country in the province of Alava. The architect is Frank Gehry, the same man who designed the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, and the similarity between the two buildings is quite clear.

My mom is eating a pincho in Logroño with our friend Tony.

Laguardia: medieval village just north of Logroño in Alava, known for its hilltop location, vineyards, wineries, and beautiful narrow stonepaved streets.


Juan and the girls in the main square of Laguardia.


Lastly, here's Juan strolling through a portal in the center of lovely Gernika in the Biscay province. Gernika is most famous for being bombed by the Nazi Germany during the Spanish Civil War in an effort to overthrow the Basque and Spanish Republican governments. Pablo Picasso painted perhaps his most famous painting 'Guernica' in commemoration to the bombing.

Laguardia, Pais Vasco

I went to nearby Laguardia with Maria Jesus (one of the English teachers from my high school). Her boyfriend Jose Pedro is from there, and he gave me a wonderful tour of the medieval village. Laguardia is located in the autonomous community of Pais Vasco (Basque Country) in the southern province of Alava, which borders La Rioja, and is only about 18 kilometers or so from Logrono.

Laguardia is special because it's surrounded by medieval walls, inside which are narrow twisting streets packed with restaurants, bars, ancient buildings, churches, and nice plazas.
There are five ancient entrances to the old center of the city, one of which is pictured above.

Here's an example of some of the architecture featured on the side of the Church of San Juan (I believe).

Laguardia is an elevated village, and beneath it are hundreds of ancient medieval tunnels and hideouts that were possibly made during times of war. These caverns are also wineries or storage areas for wine. The exact origin of the tunnels is unknown, but they were once connected with one another underground, creating an elaborate system through which you could go arrive anywhere within the village walls. It's thought that these cellars were perhaps built at the same time as the houses. Today, these tunnels have been blocked off, separating them and the property of the respective owners. We visited a big winery in the center of town called El Fabulista. We climbed down into the caverns to taste the wines (a really nice experience).

Another church in Laguardia perhaps houses its most famous monument, a Gothic portico or arcade leading into the Santa Maria de los Reyes church/monastery. Constructed of stone in the 14th century and then painted for the last time in the 17th, this portico is unique because it has retained its color, and it's in really good shape. This is because there was a facade built around it that protected it and sealed it from the effects of the weather and erosion over the centuries.


Here is the altar inside the church. The shell design at the top is also quite unique, as I don't think I've seen it anywhere else.


Here I am standing with Jose Pedro, who's from Laguardia.


And here I am with my Maria Jesus. They were both incredibly nice to take me around and show me Laguardia. I would have never learned so much without them. We also had lunch together and they introduced me to several of the bars and restaurants. Thanks very much!


There are nice views from Laguardia of the surrounding countryside. Production of wine is very important to this region, and you can see many vineyards and wineries. The province of Alava, though in Pais Vasco, is close enough to La Rioja (and it's wine is close enough) that the wine produced there is tagged with the official La Rioja mark. The region is actually known as La Rioja Alavesa.
The mountains around Laguardia are beautiful. Most of the buildings in the valley between Laguardia and the mountains are wineries. One of them in the middle is a modern structure which attempts to mimic the shape of the mountains in the background. It might be hard to see the resemblance from here... This winery was designed by world famous Spanish architect Calatrava.