Back in the U.S. of A.

I am working on a top-secret project. Tara is too. We will keep you posted as soon as we can, and we will also post some pictures from our recent summer travels as well.

ttfn,

sasha

Finally, BIKES!

Since I am typing this on q French Keyboqrd; I hope you zill ignore the occqsionql typo or mis-punctuqtion:

Ze visited the Eiffel Tozer:

qnd q funhouse (zith some very good friends),

The next dqy ze zent to see the Tour de Frqnce:

we waited

and wqited

and zqited

and waited

and zqited some more

Finally; BIKES!!!!

Thqt zqs it: I think ze saz Lqnce Qr,strong: Nobody fell dozn: So ze left qnd zend to the Gqrdens of Versqilles:

It zqs beautiful111

kisses!

Vive lq Frqnce1

The keyboards are all wrong here.

San Sebastian, Spain

During our five hour drive this morning we watching the landscape slide from the hectic city of Barcelona, to the rocky Rioja vineyards surrounding Navarra, through the mountains and into the lush San Sebastian. Today was rainy on and off and. . . cold! We were in jeans and jackets all day!

Sasha and I walked thought the park overlooking the harbor.

FYI all of the above are strictly forbidden in this harbor. hummm...

Small but ride-able surf today-- if you brought your wetsuit. Air temp is 14*c and water is colder.

Hump. Oops.

Watched three great street acts- this one was two acrobats! So much talent.

Dinner of pintxos and wine. I LOVE the food culture in this town! You grab a plate and pile on the little finger foods. At the end of your feasting, the bartender has magically kept track of what you ate and the price is often very reasonable. (notice the iberian hams hanging behind the bar, they are my new favorite food)

Gaudi

Antoni Gaudí was an architectural mastermind of his time and still is today!

The buildings he constructed were so well thought out and every detail was given great attention. He was big on excluding the use of straight lines and believed in using nature as his guide. His use of color and natural light were two pillars around which much of his architecture revolved.

We took hundreds of pictures but have only posted a few here.

Click here to see highlights of Spain.

Barcelona take 1

Arrived in Barcelona in the afternoon so we parked the car at Bill's place and trained into downtown. We walked along the harbor and stopped in a chandlery to check inventory and prices (old habits die hard). Below is a haul out facility like none we've see before- ask Sasha for details.

Then we took a FUN-icular ride across the harbor for great views of the city.

The funicular dropped us in the park so we walked back into town and found a cervasaria and tapas place for a late lunch.

Did a little window shopping.

Walked La Rambla and admired the street performers.

Almost bought some flowers..

Almost bought some chipmunks...

Decided to buy some coffee instead.

For a good time, drive the N-II

The pics are all blurry but you get the idea. The girls are not allowed to "do business" within the city limits, so they set up shop along the highway.

Sasha was amused.

Maps and Photo links

Be sure to check the SPOT Map. We try to check in at least twice a day. You can see where we are!

Also, our Google Map highlights some of the places with a little more information.

Finally, there are a lot more photos uploaded on our Picasa Web Albums.

Dali & Llafranc

Today we drove from Chateau Le Bouis to Costa Brava which was a short drive so we made a few stops. One stop was at the Salvador Dali theater. This place was nuts. The photo above was taken in the large foyer area. The painting on the left viewed close up is a nude looking out a window and at this distance is Abe Lincoln.

This was a ceiling painting.

View from our hotel in Costa Brava.

Our local wine with dinner.

This picture should make my parents happy! We've actually slept separate more often than not- between crashing with family and staying in a couple economy hotels.

Sunday Church

Well, it's Sunday and we are off to church! We decided to visit a chapel that was reccomended to us by a staff member at Chateau Le Bouis. When we followed our directions and pulled into a parking lot, but did not see a church. Until we got out of the car and looked up the hill behind us. We hiked about 20 minutes up a pretty steep hill to reach the church and found out that it was well worth it!

The church was a dedicated sailor/ seamen church. The walls were covered with paintings of different boats and photos of sailors and fishermen who sought the lord's protection along their work and travels.

It was an ornate chapel.

Sasha was very happy to have found this place.

Another weird name connection/ coincidence.

All the way up the hillside leading to the church are memorial plaques for sailors lost at sea.

After visiting the church we took a few hour hike to a look out tower- picture are included in the France highlight link.