Spain is Sweet.

Hello everyone!

Since our last post we have travelled through Biarritz, France and down into Spain stopping in St. Jean de Luz (France), Bilbao, Leon, Pamplona and now Barelona. We will be leaving Barcelona this afternoon and heading south along the Mediterannean coast to Valencia before heading back inland to Madrid later in the week.

Biarritz is the surf capital of Europe (according to all the tourist brochures) and a super sweet place to stay. Great pedestrian streets along the coast and some amazing coastal views:

Looking south along the coast from Biarritz.

We hiked down the coast along a cool trail from Biarritz to St. Jean de Luz. We camped out and enjoyed another crazy stormy and windy night with the rain lashing down against our tent... it only seems to rain really hard on the nights we decide to camp out...

Looking back north towards Biarritz while on our way to St. Jean de Luz.

Wildlife along the trail...

After the wet night of camping we made it to the train station in St. Jean de Luz where we took a short train ride to Irun and then a bus into Bilbao and we were in Spain! Bilbao was a pretty hip town with a very cool old town quarter and, of course, the Guggenheim Museum.

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. The building was the coolest part of the museum.

We spent two days in Bilbao and had some great Basque food. Then it was onto Leon. There is an older, more ghetto train line that runs along the north coast of Spain called Feve. Ryan had the great idea to take this train to Leon and ´really get to see some sweet scenery´... which we did - it just took a really really really really long long long time. Fortunately we were able to purchase a bottle of wine while on the train which made the last few hours pass nicely.

The cathedral in Leon. Has the highest glass to concrete ratio of any gothic cathedral. Looking from the inside out through the most beautiful stained glass we´ve ever seen was really amazing. All the colors were so bright and vibrant. Pictures weren´t allowed as it is still a fully functioning cathedral so unfortunately you´ll just have to believe us - or go here yourselves one day.

After Leon we took a regular, fast train to Pamplona. This is where they have the running of the bulls every year. The town was cool and we once again enjoyed some great local tapas and beers while sitting in the shade in the afternoon. That is what most people seem to do over here. The pace of life is so much different: nothing opens until 10, then everything closes again around noon and most places don´t open again until 5 or maybe later. And it is hard to find a dinner place that opens any earlier than 8:30. A very different pace - more sitting around drinking coffee and having a chat than you´d ever find in Cali...

We´ve spent the last two days in Barcelona. This place totally rocks! Great beaches and hot weather to go along with them. Buildings and parks by Gaudi are all over the city and were very cool to gaze upon.

View of the Temple de La Sagrada Familia. The oldest part is on the right while you can see some of the current construction on the left. On the backside of this is even more current construction. Once this is completed and all the cranes and scaffolding goes away this will be even more impressive than it already is.

Views of some of the crazy passages and walkways in the Parc Guell, where Gaudi lived for the last 20 years of his life. Leah made Ryan take the last picture ... I assure it wasn´t his idea... hehehe.... It is quite the trek to the top of this hill in Barcelona to get here - but the sights are well worth it.
We´ll share more with you once we get to Madrid... Laters!