Mid-life gap year Tanya and Craig

Our absolute highlight was the Basílica de la Sagrada Família or simply La Familia. Construction started in the 1880’s and it is scheduled for completion in 2026. It is the masterpiece and life’s work of architect Antonio Gaudi. The building is organic, audacious, crazy and brilliant and almost every detail came out of one man’s imagination. The eastern façade was completed early in the construction and is more traditional in its appearance depicting 3 events from the life of Christ: Birth, Death and Resurrection. The western facade is modern with sculptures depicting the passion of Christ. These sculptures are the work of artist Josep Maria Subirachs and his team. They began in the 1990's and took over twenty years to complete them with each figure carved in situ. The Familia is hard to photograph from the outside due to obstacles such as fences, trees, roads and people. Inside I found it impossible to capture the scale and feeling of light. I am not religious but ...

Our Madrid adventure started at the Puerta del Sol, a large public square in the centre of Madrid. Exiting the railway station we saw the statue of the bear and the strawberry tree. The statue is a representation of the emblem on the coat of arms of the city. Next stop was Kilometre Zero, which now contains a plaque, but in its day was where all distances in the Spanish world were measured from. We walked past the Palacio Real de Madrid (the royal palace) and the Madrid Cathedral to Templo de Debod. In 1960 the construction of the Aswan Dam in Egypt meant many significant sites were to be lost below the water. Spain provided knowledge and assistance to relocate many of these. Egypt thanked Spain by donating the 2 nd Century BC Temple which now stands in a park in Madrid. We spent the rest of the day walking the streets marvelling at the ornate buildings, stopping for beer / wine and tapas when the mood took us. Day 2. We headed st raight to the Reina Sophi...

White flat-rooved buildings, largely built on hilltops around a castle ruin dating back to the Moors. A very large ornate Catholic church in the centre of town, usually built on the site of the old Mosque surrounded by smaller Catholic churches. Possibly a remaining synagogue. Streets and gardens lined with tart Seville Oranges which the Moors introduced for aesthetics and scent. The back lanes are narrow with glimpses of the surrounding hills. The countryside is covered in olive groves interspersed with a patchwork of  grapes, avocados, citrus and vegetable greenhouses. Small herds of goats or sheep for milk and meat, horses for parading, donkeys and bulls for ring fighting.   We have to confess our knowledge of Andalusia was scant before visiting. Yes, we knew a bit about the history, the major monuments such as the Mezquite and Alhambra, the white villages, etc., but beyond that our knowledge was limited. Some of our highlights of Andalucía are:...

From 700AD to the mid 1400’s the Moors occupied the Iberian Peninsula. They came from northern Africa and bought their own culture, food and religion. Their impact can still be seen everywhere in Southern Spain. Seville is one of Southern Spain’s premier cities. It is renowned for its architecture, food, orange trees and flamenco dancing. It is the city from which the Spanish sailed to and from the new world; Seville is a stunningly beautiful, vibrant city.  The Andalusian or Seville orange was introduced by the Moors for their scent and aesthetics. They are tart and more suitable for making marmalade than eating. Across the region they are planted everywhere that an ornamental tree could be planted. The Alcazar is a former royal residence built in the post Islamic Christian era but the Moorish influences are undeniable. Every turn, every view, every archway, every tile, even the stone floor has a noteworthy beauty factor.  The Seville cathedral is...

You can fit a lot into eleven days. We met our friends, Jim and Laurel from Brisbane in the beautiful Spanish city of Salamanca. The old town is a city of ornately carved sandstone and dates back to celtic times. The city university was founded in the 11th century and became a centre for learning in the 15th century. The city library is stunning and was originally a cloister with a well in the middle of the courtyard. After Salamanca our next highlight (other than seeing otters on a lake near Castelo Branco where we camped) was the Portuguese village of Monsanto. The village is literally nestled in and around the granite boulders. On top of the hill was an 11th century castle ruin built by the Knights Templar. It was foggy with light rain when we visited. We have since seen images of the rock formations and views on a clear day; and it is even more spectacular.  Since hearing about the huge winter surf at Nazare Portugal we have wanted to visit and were not disappointed. Fr...

The city of Perniche is on a peninsular jutting out into the Atlantic, about an hour's drive south of Nazare and one hour north of Lisbon. It is a typical Portuguese coastal town with fish drying on racks in narrow streets. It has a small market that sells local produce to local people.  The town is renowned for its fort, city wall, surf, handmade lace production and fishing industry. Our friend Laurel was particularly interested in the lace production so we visited the museum / school and saw first-hand the craft that has been done for 400 years in Perniche. I couldn't have imagined that anyone could manage more than 75 bobbins at once: spinning and choreographing them quicker than my eye could follow. Such skill! We visited Fortaleza, a 16th century fort in Perniche which was later used as a jail between 1934 and 1974 for 2500 dissidents and opponents of the fascist dictator Salazar. It is now a National Museum of Resistance and Freedom.  The museum is inte...