postcards from barcelona

1. traditional Spanish tapas, everything deep fried...

2. Park Guell

3. these were cool

4. a stunning theatre, not by Gaudi

5. cooking class Spanish style - paella

6. Barcelona

7. the chef from Argentina..

8. a mammoth, why not?

9. the Magic Fountain

10. love this

gaudi.

no visit to Barcelona is complete without checking out some Gaudi.

as i mentioned, i was super busy while in Barcelona and this was mostly because i was trying to get around 3 different Gaudi works: Park Güell, Sagrada Família and Casa Batlló

i really enjoyed what i saw of Gaudi's work, his designs are unique in a way that you'd only understand after visiting and learning about him, his theorys and his beliefs. being so unique is a refreshing break from some of the other more historical museums throughout Europe.

barcelonaaaaaaaa!

my first thought when arriving into Barcelona was "wow, every single little square inch of land in this city has a building jammed into it", there are so many buildings and it looks awesome, a total concrete jungle but in a cool way..

all i'd heard from people about Barcelona was pick pocking and theft stories and i was really over hearing about it! if you're smart about it, then it most likely won't happen to you.

to be honest, i felt super safe in this city, there was always hundreds of people around because of the Spanish way of life, the day starts later and ends later.

Barcelona was full on, I was on the go the whole time which was awesome! From markets to Gaudi to bike tours, to cooking class and a salsa club to name a few.

i have so many photos from this amazing, colourful city to share, i hope you enjoy!

left: Gaudi helped with this in his early days - not very Gaudi huh? right: the Arc de Triomphe

Mercat de Sant Josep

my 3 euro ring from the illegal markets at Park Guell - how long will it last?

Park Guell

picnic lunch (my new favourite) from Mercat de Sant Josep

Mercat de Sant Josep

view of Barcelona from Park Guell

bike tour gang

people watching at the Magic Fountain

best street performer ever at Park Guell - love!

the Magic Fountain

postcards from provence

1. another breathtaking shot of Gordes

2. the colours of Avignon

3. tucking into my lavender ice cream

4. shades of orange against a blue sky in Roussillon

avignon.

my arrival into Avignon was a little unorganised. i really didn't realise that on a Sunday in a lot of European cities and towns, everything closes down.

i arrived to rain, grey skies and every single shop closed, except for Maccas (how reliable) and a carousel?

thankfully, after this the weather got a lot better. 

the old town of Avignon is built within a wall and is super charming to wander around with hundreds of little cobblestone streets, a 14th century palace, a huge gold statue of Mary and carrying on with my floral theme, i tried lilac marshmellow...

gordes.

Gordes was the second little village i visited on my little tour of Provence.

it's slightly bigger and more popular, and if you've seen the movie "The Good Year" with Russell Crowe - part of it was filmed here in front of the fountain..

when i was there, the famous Mistral Winds (locally know as Le Mistral) of Provence had kicked in and I literally nearly got blown over on numerous occasions, these winds were pretty chilly, they sometimes blow gusts of more than 90kms per hour and the local people believe that they always stay for an odd number of days, most hoping it's only one but they can last over a week and generally they are around for 100 days of every year...i need to re-think my retirement plan in provence, these winds were not pleasant in the slightest..

the last stop on my little tour was the Lavender Museum. WOW - i smelt a little too much lavender during my time there, but i learnt a lot about how they create lavender oil, the different types of lavender and much more that you may or may not find interesting...

i'm off to hunt down a copy of "A Year in Provence" by Peter Mayle and dream some more...

roussillon.

Avignon was one of my stops (more on that later) and while in the area i HAD to take a trip out to the little villages of Provence (seeing as i have a romantic idea that i want to retire on a lavender farm/vinyard in the south of France..). i was gutted that i had missed the lavender fields in bloom by about a month but the tour was great, just a small group of two Japanese girls, an old couple from Ohio,  & me. I rode shot gun so got to take in maximum surroundings and it was so beautiful!

Roussillon is a stunning little town in Provence and my favourite of the two we visited.

it sets itself apart from the other villages in the region, all the buildings are varying shades of red and orange as the surrounding area has large amounts of clay with deposits of ochre.

i enjoyed an hour here wandering around admiring the sights, colours, textures and a lavender ice cream which was surprisingly good, it tasted "pretty"

sorry for my lack of blogging over the last week, it's been a combination of no internet, crap internet and my increase in social life (yes, i made some friends), i have heaps of updating to do! xx

postcards from the côte d'azur

1. St Tropez

2. token tourist shot (for Dania)

3. St Tropez - imagining Ben's life

4. St Tropez - after sunset, the sky was amazing!

5. Monaco

6. Nice

i found this place a little underwhelming, sorry for the lack of photos...