THE DALI MUSEUM, FIGURES SPAIN
Dali designed this museum in a very old building, he ended up living the last 5 years of his life in the Museum. I really think our museum in St. Pete,FL has better paintings. This place is filled with a lot of his painting plus lots of jewelry which I didn’t realize he designed and lots of odd things. It was lots of fun to see.
The outside is strange, no surprise.

As you walk in there is is an old car with a strange hood ornament and it is raining in the car, yes raining.

There is an entire room that looks like Mae West from a ladder through a convex lens. Very weird.

LANTEEN RIGGED SAILBOAT. THIS SECTION ONLY FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN REALLY NEAT BOATS.
We took an 1 1/2 trip in the Mediterranean around a cape on the tip of the Iberian Penn. aboard a lanteen rigged sailboat.

This boat was built 90 years ago and recently brought back to life. It’s all wood with the odd lanteen rigging. We were transported, with our bikes on zodiacs out to it. It’s 18 meters in length with a good beam.

The mast looks like a telephone pole with all the rigging in ropes and wood, no metal.

I loved the bow sprit which is an extension of the boom.

We didn’t sail for two reasons, first there was a ferocious wind on our nose and secondly it would have been interesting with 15 cyclists and 15 bikes leaning here and there. The waves were large and from the shore, I can’t imagine what is was lke 10 miles out to sea.

CADAQUES
Dali’s summer home, the eastern tip of the Iberian Penn. and stunningly beautiful. We are lucky and got to stay here two days. Our day off was a short but steep 2 hour ride up a mountain to a lighthouse and then a visit to Dali’s summer home where he painted. Picasso and Gaudi also painted in this area so it’s kinda “artsy”

Up on the mountain. Next we had a wine tasting on the side of a mountain in a building from 1300 then lunch with more wine, of course.

The Mediterranean is so blue with the white boats and buildings in the city of Cadaques where we are staying.

The view from Dali’s summer home.

CADAQUES
We are on the eastern most tip of the Iberian Peninsula and will spend two days here. I carried a bottle of wine on the back of my bike to the hotel. One village we went through was having a wine festival and after a few tastings, always good while riding, I bought one.

Every town square we ride through is different, this one had lots of kids and people , the next one had a wine festival and some are quiet. Some of the stone buildings are 800 years old, amazing.

The dining room in our hotel, and my room look out over the Mediterranean and our dinner last night was Paella made with noodles instead of rice, which is the local way for Cadaques.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Some of our travels are on great small roads out in the country. We rode by poppy fields for hours. Jill is a lot of photos for two main reasons, we usually ride together and her bright jacket is great in the photos. This is trip is fairly easy only hills, no mountains. The drivers are very good, they have a law that is posted along the roads that drivers must stay 1 1/2 meters away from cyclists. In Florida it is only 3 ft and no one has ever heard of the law let alone obeyed it.

And then at the end of any trip is FOOD. One of our great Spanish guides mugs for all photos, this is my third trip with him.

COSTA BRAVA TO PERATALLADA
Big winds all the way. The Mediterranean is its own color of blue and with the big waves it was a great ride along it. Now we are inland amidst castles and medieval towns.

GIRONA TO COSTA BRAVA

People on trips always ask me how I train for mountains living in Florida and I always say the first climb of the trip is the beginning of my training. This is a fairly easy trip so when they had an option of riding over a mountain or around it naturally I took the over option with a few others. My legs are paying for it but it got me moving. As we descended and got near the bottom the Mediterranean broke through the trees and it was worth it.

GIRONA, SPAIN

We are staying the the “old town” the Jewish center, of course, good old Ferdinand and Isabella threw out all the Jews in 1497 so just there buildings remain. The walls of our family run hotel are probably 800 years old. This is Girona’s one week flower festival. There are over 170 entries. Some are in gardens, private homes, churches, parks you name it. We saw many but certainly not all.

I couldn’t resist.

Yes that is a very old church in the back ground.

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And of course it was raining

BARCELONA TO GIRONA

I am very old, have been in a lot of buildings but have now seen my all time favorite, the Segrada Familia in Barcelona. I’d loved everything Gaudi did up until now but this just blew me away. I could post 1000 photos and it would not come close to doing it justice. It was started in about 1880 and should be finished in 20 years or so. Now there are cranes and computers but he did the major work himself leaving his designs and instructions behind.

After Barcelona and the train to Gerona I felt I needed cleaner feet so I engaged the local feet cleaners, a pool of fish that were delighted to see my weary feet. It tickled.

MORE BARCELONA

Great day, went to the Picasso Museum which I absolutely loved, it’s mostly his early work. Then we decided to visit another Museum and to top it off instead of walking 10 miles a day we would ride the metro. After riding for 1 1/2hours lost on the metro, felt the I was “the man on the MTA” and we would never return, we did get off and forgot that Museum. Better yet we went in the Gaudi House, what a treat. It was built over 100 years ago and tops anything I’ve seen built today.

This is only one room (of seven floors) and was used as a living room.

And yes this is one of many chimneys on the roof of the house.

Then we went to a chapel in a thousand year old church to watch a concert given by a famous classical guitarist and NO lightning did not strike me.