Category Archives: Spain

Spain

4 D movie of Gaudi

We went to a park in Barcelona, called Park Güell. It was designed by two famous artist, Eusebi Güell and architect Antoni Gaudí. They began this project in 1900 after working together on other projects.

The Park Güell is located on a mountain called “Muntanya Pelada (bare mountain). Its location was unbelievable, with amazing views of the city and Mediterranean Sea.

We began our walk up steep roads working our way towards the park. On the way up the steep road there was a store called Gaudi Experiencia. We stopped there to look around and catch our breath from the steep walk. The store had some neat souvenirs and others information on Guadi and the Park Güell.  It also had a theater which advertised a 4D movie about Güell. We never experienced a 4D movie so we decided to check it out.  Basically a 4D movie is a 3D movie that combines other features like motion seats, wind, strobe, fog, rain and even odours or scents.

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Inside the 4 D movie theater in Barcelona
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Ray and Shelley wearing 3D glasses and buckled into their chair.

We went into the theater and found perfect seats and put on our 3D glasses. We also had to buckle up in the chair which felt more like a race car seat that a theater seat.

When the show started it was a full sensory experience, the chair moved in the motion of the movie. We flew through the air dipping and diving around obstacles. We felt the wind blowing from a dragon and felt the mist of the waterfalls we flew near. The experience was focused on all our senses and quite an enjoyable experience.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

Spain

Unique and quaint restaurant

On Tuesday evening we went out with friends to a quaint Spanish restaurant called “La Taberna Iberica”.  The restaurant is in the old quarter of Alicante in a small alley up some stairs.

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The walkway towards La Taberna Iberica Restaurant

Inside the restaurant, we were greeted by the owner who welcomed us more like family than customers. We sat down in the quaint restaurant and chatted with the owner for a while.

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Inside La Taberna Iberica Restaurant
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Mike, Ray Liz and Shelley at “La Taberna Iberica” Restaurant

We did not have a menu and only ordered some red wine. What was truly enjoyable was the fact that she decides what to cook and serves us a variety of different dishes.

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One of the many courses served to us over the evening

We were served numerous courses of food, including tapas, fish, shrimp, ham, cheese and an assortment of sweet treats for dessert.

When we were leaving the restaurant she took the time to chat with us and walk with us to the door. It was a very nice spot and the service was friendly.

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One of the owners of “La Taberna Iberica” Restaurant

After our meal, we took a walk and stopped at a terrace bar in a small hotel called “Les Monges Palace”. The terrace bar was quiet and we had a perfect spot to enjoy a nice after dinner drink. The view from the terrace was beautiful and we could see the Castillo de Santa Barbara.

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View of the Castillo de Santa Barbara from the terrace bar

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

Spain

Cruising the Mediterranean

We have been thinking about taking a cruise for quite some time now. We finally decided to take a cruise and selected the Norwegian cruise line with a 7-day Mediterranean cruise. The cruise took us from Barcelona to Naples, Rome, Florence, Cannes, Marseille and back to Barcelona.

This was our first cruise and we were not sure what to expect when we arrived to board the ship. We arrived early and found a lineup of people with suitcases in tow getting ready to board the ship. We Got in line and managed to board the ship easily with a few stops to fill out paperwork.

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Checking into the Norwegian Epic cruise ship in Barcelona

We walked a long gangway to the cruise ship called the Epic.

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View of the side of the Norwegian Epic ship from the gangway

The ship is the very impressive and it has the longest water slide on any cruise ship.

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The Epic claims they have the largest slide on any cruise ship
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The waterside goes right around the top section of the deck

We walked through the ship checking it out. On one of the decks, there is a section with several different restaurants and shops. In the centre of the floor area was an opening with a large crystal chandelier hanging down to the floor area below. It was quite impressive and a nice feature for the restaurant below us.

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The Epic crystal chandelier claimed to be the largest of any cruise ship

Our first evening on the cruise we went up to the top deck area and enjoyed a relaxing beverage and watched the sun set over the  Mediterranean sea.

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Sunset viewed from the upper deck of the Epic

On one of the lower decks, there was an outdoor track where we could walk and look out over the side of the ship.

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Walking and running track on the Epic cruise ship.
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view from the walking/running track on the Epic ship

We took several excursions when the ship was docked. We tried to explore as many places along the trip as possible.  On one excursion we could not dock on shore and had to take a boat to ferry us to shore.

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Leaving the cruise ship by boat to head to shore.
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View of the Epic ship from our boat
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View of one of the boats used to bring people to shore

The cruise was different from what we are accustomed to for travelling, the pace is relaxed, the downtime is full of things to do and the food was extremely good. We enjoyed the change of pace by travelling via a cruise ship.

Here is a short video of some of the highlights of the cruise ship “The Norwegian Epic”.

https://youtu.be/_UvmNK-7Ylo

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

Spain

The town of Figures Spain

We took a tour to the Town of Figueres which has a population of approximately 45,000.  The town is beautiful and located  approximately 2 hours away from Barcelona. The town of Figueres is also the hometown of Salvador Dali. The Dali museum is located there and was created when Dali was alive. It holds the largest collection of Dali art in the world.

We arrived at the Dali museum and saw this very unique building. The structure itself is a piece of art and reflects Dali’s style.

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Dali Museum

We entered the museum and was amazed by the dynamic and strange displays of Dali art. The main entrance introduces you to the creative, complexity and strange world of Dali. It took us time to observe all the areas of the entrance seeing new things at every turn.

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first room once inside the Dali Museum
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The first room in the Dali Museum
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View in first room of Dali Museum

The museum was like a maze with different and amazing items at every turn. Some of the displays required a second or third look to see the layers of complexity in them. You would walk through a doorway and not realize that the doorway was a piece of art.

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Doorway in Dali Museum

In Dali’s later life he lived In his home town of Figueres until he passed away at 85. He was entombed in the Dali museum and is part of the exhibits on display.

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Tomb of Salvador Dali

In one area of the museum, we came across a mural painted by Dali on the ceiling that was beautiful and very intriguing. The painting which is called “ The palace of the winds” was done by Dali when the building was a theater in 1970. The mural alludes to the Catalonian poem about the rain that falls when the west wind turns to become the east wind. In the poem, the east wind has a married lady love in the west and whenever he beholds her he turns about again and returns weeping.

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Mural on ceiling in Dali Museum
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View of the center of the ceiling mural

Other areas of the museum were quirky and strange. We went into a room that had Dali’s signature” lip couch” on display.

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Dali’s Lip couch on display with fireplace nose and painting eyes.

We noticed a set of stairs that had a lens overlooking the display. We went up the stairs and checked it out. The image changed to a full face.

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Dali full face exhibit

The whole museum was more of a surreal walk into the mind of Dali. Here are some of the unique things we saw.

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Hanging part of light system in stairwell of Dali Museum
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Full wall painting by Dali which is across from the main entrance area
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Dali “rock” sculpture
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Dali sculpture

There were many different and unique pieces of art. What was even more amazing was that Dali also designed jewelry and dresses for his wife “Gala”. The creativity of the jewelry and dresses was truly amazing. Below are a few samples of the jewelry and dresses he designed.

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Eye brooch with a clock in the eye
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Gem covered heart
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Dresses designed by Dali for his wife Gala

 

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Display of different dresses designed by Dali for his wife Gala

It was a great museum and was an experience we enjoyed immensely.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

Spain

Trip to Barcelona

We went to Barcelona for a few days to check out the city before heading out on our Mediterranean cruise. We took the high-speed train from Alicante and arrived in just over five hours to downtown Barcelona. The train ride was very relaxing and there were some beautiful views of the Mediterranean along the way.

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View on the train ride to Barcelona.

The city is beautiful with numerous architectural features and historic buildings. The city is quite large with a population of approximately 1.8 million.

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View of Barcelona from the hilltop of the National Art Gallery

We walked through the downtown core area and in the old quarter of the city. Some of the buildings were unique and old.

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Building in Barcelona
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Statue in square of Barcelona
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Typical walkway in old quarter of Barcelona

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One building, we particular liked was the art centre.

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Unique art centre building in Barcelona

There was a statue that was very neat and you could look at it from different angles and it would change its shape.

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unique statue that changed depending on where you looked at it

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We took a break and stopped at a restaurant in a large plaza that had numerous restaurants. The food was very good and the salads were very tasty.

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unique Salad from a spanish restaurant

After lunch, we did more exploring and came across a store that had miniature characters of famous people. Below are a few pictures of some famous people. Can you figure out who they are? We found over 10 people we recognised.

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caractures in store in Barcelona
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Characters in store in Barcelona

We walked about 12 kilometres throughout the day and finished the evening sitting on the rooftop terrace of our hotel admiring the skyline. It was a long day but very enjoyable.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”