Hi again. I am back in Cyprus. It’s hard to keep up with myself these days. We had a lovely time in Spain. I didn’t get to finish my list of things to do in Barcelona since we stayed in the lovely little town of Gerona/Girona which is about an hour and a half away (two hours by train). But of course, even in the countryside there is so much to see.
The first day we took a little road trip to see some local sights, 
most of which were medieval castles and churches. In the small village of Calonge we weren't able to go inside the church, as everything was closed up for the local Fiesta. They had many large floats, and all manner of costumes. It was very colourful.
The next day in Barcelona we went to the Temple de la Sagrada Familia which was designed and started by Antoni Gaudi. They are still using his plans and the work continues to this day, as it must be completed by donations only (probably not in my lifetime). It is a massive undertaking. We also went to Guell Park, which was again 
designed by Gaudi, but paid for by his very rich friend and admirer, Eusebi Guell. It was later donated to the city, so all may visit. Fascinating, although not to my taste.
Back to the area around Gerona, we found some caves that have been unearthed with many artifacts dating back to the Neanderthals in Serinya. We also went in search of volcanoes, but they are so old they are overgrown and have been made into lovely nature hikes – nothing to see of the volcano.
We spent our last day walking around Gerona. It is very quaint, and fun to visit the shops and sights. We did have a problem with meals though. Lunch is from 2:00pm until 4:00pm, while dinner starts at 9:00pm. We 
had to search high and low to find something that was open and even then had to hold off until 7:00pm (and it was just OK). The one place we went to and made dinner out of Tapas (appetizers) was called Lizarran. There was one in Barcelona too, so I can recommend it as a tasty alternative to waiting until bedtime to find dinner.
My flights home went fine, although a ticket agent in Barcelona was insisting that I needed a visa to go to Cyprus, until he finally 
phoned a supervisor to check. The Canadian passport is truly worth its weight in gold. It was a weird routing though - from Cyprus to Amsterdam then on to Barcelona, and again in reverse. A long day, 14 hours travelling – and only an hour time difference so nothing to blame the jet lag on!
So now we have about ten days in Cyprus (Dale will have seven) before we leave for his annual recurrent training in Delaware. We are still planning on being in Comox around March 5th. I am hoping we can get another day or two of touring here before we head off, so I will fill you in if that happens.
Take care.
Love,
Laurel
http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/spain/barcelona/sagrada/sagrada.html
http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/gaudi/park-guell.html
http://www.euroresidentes.com/euroresiuk/guides-spain/guide-to-girona.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment