Greetings from Barcelona Spain

Spain has definitely won me over. I would love to come back here again, there is so much to see and do here. I have to say I like it more than Paris. Paris wasn't a very clean city-lots of rubbish and dog droppings everywhere. Today I went to Montserrat which is a big mountain in Spain which has a monastery on top. The views were incredible and the scenery here is beautiful. It was like a village which housed monks and nuns in the past. It has become more like a tourist attractions where you could look inside the church, chapels, outside areas.

One thing I love about Barcelona is the Spanish archetexture-mainly by Gaudi. There are patterns on buildings, some in a mosaic pattern. This morning we went on a city and sites tour and stopped off at this Catholic Church. The church is having work done to it. On this church there are statues on the church building which depict biblical stories such as the last supper, the nativity scene, the crucifiction, etc. It also has a sudoku showing numbers adding to 33- the age Jesus Christ died. I have never seen a church with statues on the outside before telling a story- all I can say is that the churches are a bit like maraes. As the art tells a story. We also drove past the 1992 Olympic Village up to this vantage point where we had panoramic views over looking Barcelona. It was a lovely place. Shortly after this we went through the Marina area and Catalona Square- the city area. The marina has beautiful beaches where the Mediterranean sea runs through. The weather is much warmer and today out of all days I am wearing my shorts-first day in my holiday.

In downtown Barcelona there are a lot if cute villages which incorporate old and new buildings. In the past horses use to be ridden through alleyways which linked to the villages. At the villages there are beautiful statues and gargoyles sticking out from buildings. A lot of artwork has a religious element such as the twelve Apostles.

Tonight I went to a Flamenco Show. It was different but I like the French Cabaret more. The Flamenco Dancers danced with lots of emotion and tended to stamp their feet and clapped in time with music. The dancers tended to compete against each other with the stamping of feet. It got rather monotonous after a while. But I am pleased I went to the show. Must get some sleep. Up at 5:30am tomorrow -heading to the French Riviera. Traveling another 600km's.