Fin de Semana Espanyol

This past weekend was wonderful. Friday night I went with Bartec and Carolina (my two polish flatmates) by train North of bcn along the coast to a town called Mataro. We met up with about 25 other iaeste trainees, had some drinks on the beach and then went to a dance club until they kicked us out around 6. Two trainees, both of whom have been here since the beginning with me, live in Mataro, and let us sleep in the morning at their flat.

Then Saturday afternoon, my flatmates, a german friend named Uwe (pronounced 'Uva') and I went a little further up the coast to a small beach town people at work had recommended, called Caldes d'Estrac,... the beach was amazing! We just spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping and recooperating on the beach. It was really really hot, so being able to swim every 5 minutes was perfect. I just love floating around in the salt water. The water temperature was perfect (cold enought to cool you off, but warm enough you felt that you could stay in it forever) That night we just rested and relaxed back in bcn. The four of us get along really well, and I think a group of 4 is perfect for travelling together,... not too many or too few.

Sunday we went to Monjuic (a big park by my apartment), and visited a village pavillion called Poble Espanyol. This village is made up of a bunch of buildings containing restaurants, shops, and art studios which are themed after the many different regions of the country. We walked around, and then found a nice cafe to have a coffee,... then all of these spanish people sitting at a big table beside us just broke out tons of different instruments and started playing and playing. It just seemed so classically spanish. A hot hot summer evening, relaxing at a cafe, great scenery and company, good coffee and drinks, everyone is very relaxed, and then the music begins and people just start dancing. Those are the best moments, and at times like that I think that I could live here.

I really enjoy how lifestyle is so important to most europeans,... they unconciously make it a priority. I think in North America we more often make work a priority over our lifestyle, especially when we're young (maybe less so as you get older). I hope that I will be able to keep this focus in my life even after I return.

Anyways, the four of us finished off this fantastic weekend with a picnic on the Barcelona beaches Sunday night. Carolina is an amazing cook (apparently all Polish people are), so we ate very well.

Home for the weekend

This past weekend was spent staying around Barcelona, which was actually a nice change of pace from the previous couple of weekend. Friday evening I met up with about 15 other iaeste students to go to an open air cinema in Monjuic Park. The films were shown in a open field beside Monjuic castle which is at the top of the hill around which Monjuic park is based. While I'm sure the main film was excellent, as the director was Canadian, the plot would have been easier to follow had it not been in French. Oh well,... it was still nice to see everyone. I think we will be returning to see another film (Everything is Illuminated directed by Liev Schreiber) tomorrow evening.

Saturday morning Lily and I meant to see the Picasso museum, but by the time we arrived the line was way too long, and instead we went shopping. At noon I got a call from none other than Ms. Miranda Chow, (Miranda has just graduated with me from Queen's, only in mechanical) who just happened to be in town! We met up with her, and spent the afternoon walking around downtown and of course more shopping. That evening we went to Placa Espanya to show them the fountain, as I think it's so nice and relaxing, no one should visit without seeing it. Miranda described it as the 'Fantasia' fountain in her blog (see link), and she's absolutely right; that's definitely be best way to picture it.

Sunday morning, Lily and I took the train up to Girona (which is a small city 1.5 hours north of Barcelona). There we saw the amazing cathedral, and the cloisters, which are quite famous in this city. As well as the Arab Banys (the Arab baths), which were built during the time when the Moors controlled Catalunya, and were modeled after the Roman baths with cooling systems. We had lunch at a nice cafe and wandered around for a bit. On our way back to the train station there was a electronic sign which gives the current temperature,... it was 42 degrees in the sun,... brutally hot! I'm just not used to these high temperatures.

Sunday night Lily and I again met up with Miranda, and her best friend/travelling partner, Andrea. They are both from Calgary, and have now been travelling europe for 10 weeks. We went out for dinner to La Fonda, and if it was possible, my dinner was even better than last time I was there. It was great to see these girls, pass on our advice about Spain, and wish them well, as they left of San Sebastan, in the North of Spain, Monday evening by a night train.

Congrads mum and dad on your 28th wedding anniversary.

Carino, Sarah

Coastal Mini-break

My first Canadian visitors arrived last week and their stay was not long enough! Dara and Sean, who have both just graduated with me from Queen’s in chem eng and civil respectively, left for Paris Saturday morning after 3 days here, acquiring a taste of Barcelona (BCN as I will start referring to it). They are close to the end of their 25 day Europe adventure, and they had lots of opinions on where I must and must not go during my stay. It was so wonderful to talk to them (it’s becoming a treat to speak quickly in full English sentences,… it’s funny the small things you begin to appreciate and look forward to).

During the day they would tour around and see the sights while I was at work; and then we would meet up in the evening. Their second night here we went to an amazing restaurant that had been recommended to me by many people at work, called La Fonda. Let me just say that anyone who comes to visit me will now be taken to this restaurant. It’s very classy, the food is amazing, and best of all it is extremely cheap relative to any other restaurant of this calibre in this city. We had a wonderful meal, great conversation, and then walked around the gothic quarter for a bit. On their last night here (Friday night) we decided to go cheap, and went for a picnic on one of the BCN beaches. Dara and I went for a swim, while Sean played in the sand (see pictures). Then we went up to Placa Espanya (a large museum area close to my building) to see the fountain. Every night, Thursday through Saturday in the summer, the fountain is lit up in multicolours and choreographed to classical music. It was beautiful, and a very relaxing way to spend the evening. I know I will be back there many times. I will miss those two friends very much, and I look forward to Dara’s return to Europe in October when she begins her Masters in chemical engineering at a university in Stuttgart, Germany. Stuttgart = home of the Mercedes-Benz: see http://www.stgt.com/stuttgart/homee.htm

Saturday morning 36 Iaeste students here in BCN, and surrounding areas, (our numbers are growing very quickly!) met at the train station and travelled up the coast (towards France) to the town of Figures. This town is known for being the birth place of Salvador Dali, and today it’s main tourist attraction is the Dali museum. This extremely eccentric man was boarder-line genius and insane, and this is very obvious after touring an entire building that he had created. I found some of his art to be very dark and morbid, but most of it incredibly interesting. Five minutes into the museum I realized any attempt to imagine what was going through his mind, or life, while he was creating his art was futile and a waste of energy; I think that he must have been very disturbed, and enjoyed the shock value of abnormal extremes. Although I find him to be very creepy, he is truly an amazing artist, and every piece of work that I saw was completely unique. Any barriers in artistic style and content which may have existed prior to Dali were undoubtedly broken over his lifetime. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dalí The pictures below are some of his more famous pieces.

Saturday afternoon, following the museum, we travelled by bus a little further up the coast to the town of Cadaques. This small city is breathtakingly beautiful. I was one of the lucky few who were able to get accommodation at a small hotel, we wandered around the town to find dinner, and then everyone went night kayaking around 10pm. A guide took 20 of us across the harbour bay full of yachts to a small beach where we went for a swim. This night swim was really cool as I had never been in the ocean in the dark before, and whenever you moved the water, or splashed, the phosphorescent plankton would light up and make the water sparkle. I know this is nothing new, but I was still very impressed by the natural beauty of plankton at night (yes, I’ve obviously never lived by the sea). We hiked along the coast (in total darkness along a tiny path with a crazy cliff on one side,… exciting) to a lighthouse where we watched the stars and had a drink called Rom Cremat (burnt rum). This is essentially rum with cinnamon, sugar, and lemon added to it, set on fire, and burnt for about 1 hour. We returned to the city at about 2am.

Sunday morning we wandered around the town some more, and went to one of the few non-rocky beaches to sunbathe and swim. If I ever return to this city I will bring a mask and snorkel as the water is unbelievably clear, and there tons of schools of fish and other flora and fauna to watch and swim with. Late Sunday afternoon we took a bus back to BCN. A great weekend all in all.

Finally, the latest news highlight I've received from Canada (I'm sure it almost made the newspaper headlines this morning): Wils scores his first hole-in-one on the Osprey golf course! If you get a chance to ask him about it, I'm sure he'd be thrilled to relive the moment. :) Congrads Dad! I wish I could have been there. Miss you, Sarah.

French Paradise

I can see why so many famous artists found the inspiration for their art in the region of Southern France. Cezanne, Picasso, Monet, Brauque,... the list is long, and well known.

My host and hostess over this past weekend were Alain and Myrna Magnan, as well as their son, Michelle, and dalmation, Nemo. Their home is in Bouc-bel-air, which is a small town situated inbetween Aix-en-provence, and Marseille. The property owned by the Magnan family has a natural beauty about it that is classically french while at the same time very unique within it's community and region. It is the most relaxing place that I've ever been to, after Georgain bay; and anyone who knows me would know that that is the ultimate in compliments.

Alain is just about to retire from his career as an astrophysitist with CNS (the european equivalent to the American's NASA) after the launch of the satellite he has been developing for the past 10 years. While his career has been focused around cutting edge science and technology from which todays science fiction is based, Alain's artistic side can be seen in the beautiful oasis of a property that he has created. Over the last 30 years he has transformed his ~1.5 acres into a lush green garden which strikingly contrasts to the much dryer, arid french landscape. His art is not in the form of manicured lawns or sculpted bushes; instead it is perfect in the most natural way possible. He has brought plants back from many of the places he's travelled to; and his ponds, full of goldfish and carp, also contain wild irises from Georgain Bay, and even pink waterlillies from Canadian Tire :)

His main garden contains a mixture of flowers and vegetables such as peppers, cucumber, eggplant, melons, tomatoes, lemons, olives, even tangerines. And around the property you can find trees bursting with apples, pears, peaches, cherrys, plums, appricots, figs, almonds, walnuts,... and I'm sure there were more that I've forgotten. Needless to say I feasted on all of the fruit in prime season. Vines, some with grapes, encase the 2 houses on the property. After entering the front gate the first house is now the guest house, and then as you continue up the winding driveway, past the beehives where they make their own honey, you come to the garden, the main house, and then finally the swimming pool! This gorgeous pool is the only way to cool down in the afternoon's +35 degree heat.

Although I missed out on seeing the renowned Cezanne exhibit currently on in Aix, I did manage to see another gallery showcasing some work by Georges Brauque. Myrna, who is an English professor at a university in Marsielle, was able to give me some insight into the fauvism and cubism styles, and the many influences of different periods and painters that we saw.

Saturday night Micheal, the middle child, was my official tourguide as we walked around the city of Aix-en-provence. We stopped at a cafe for some drinks, and did lots of people watching. There is a good reason why the town is called the 'City of Fountains'.

Early Sunday morning Myrna and Alain took me for a hike up one of the huge hills close to their house. From there, in the early morning, the views were spectacular. On one side you could see Aix, and on the other side Marseille and the ocean, as well as Cezannes famous mountain which he's painted about a million different times from every angle possible.

That afternoon Michelle left for Paris, and we were off to a french garden party with some of the "socialites" of Aix. Quite fun, excellent food, and although I couldn't understand all of the conversation, I knew enough to tell that the majority of it was around that evening's football game. Unfortuantely France lost the worldcup final to Italy in a shootout, 3-5. :(

Monday I slept in a bit, and then the three of us headed east along the coast to the other side of Marseille to have lunch at a very nice, extremely secluded, restaurant that even many locals don't know about, let alone any tourists. You have to walk to get there, or access the area by boat; no cars. I love fresh seafood! The water was an amazing bright blue and turquoise, and the shore is all grey limestone with many sharp cliffs that drop off into the mediterranean.

That afternoon I had one last swim in their pool, and a gazpacho dinner with some of their friends; and then at 11pm I was back on the bus on my way home to Barcelona.

I could very easily get used to such a glamorous lifestyle!!! It was such a treat to be so thoroughly spoiled. I could not have wished for a more perfect first impression of a country. Wonderful food, scenery, art, gardens, and of course company; I cannot wait to return. The plan is to visit their chalet in August. I am so lucky! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamonix

~ Saludos a todos