We drove into San Sebastian and after some frantic phone calls, since our mobiles did not work until we got into Spain to call Spain, we finally found a hostle in the center of the old district. This is where Ben pulled out some of the most amazing Spanish I have ever seen him speak, he was even making jokes with the lady telling how we were so lost! San Sebastian is right off the bay so it is quite a calm beach without ridiculously huge waves. There were so many little shops and restaurants just a stones throw from our place. This is where we stayed for the next three nights. No trying to cram in tons of things to do, just focus on eating, shopping and lying on the beach. It was not that hot so none of us got sunburned, but was still very enjoyable. The water was cool, but once you got in, it was very pleasant. We drank copious amounts of wine and ate way too much gelato, but hey, we are on holiday!
When we woke up the last morning in San Sebastian, we knew it was time to move on since it was cloudy and cold. After a quick yet yummy breakfast we headed to Bilboa which was only about an hour away. We went to check out Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum. We are not particularly Gehry fans, but to be so close and not go see it would be an architectural crime. We took a nice long walk around the museum, took just a peek inside since we did not have enough time to go see the exhibits and as we left we even caught a glimpse of Santiago Calatrava’s suspension bridge. The large flower dog was strange, I am not sure what it was all about, but then again I guess it is art and it was pretty.
With the temperature rising, we got in the car for our 4+ hour drive to Barcelona. It was such a diverse countryside to drive through, Pyrenees Mountains with lush vegetation, then it opened up to desert that reminded us of Bend. Small little towns with the church as the city centre, and small farm ruins could be seen from the freeway. Just a wide variety of vernacular architecture to be quickly seen as it flashed before us going 130 kph. We got into Barcelona and there was a large hill that we thought had to have the strangest architectural forms we had ever seen. As we drove closer the reflection off all the windows was blinding and as we passed right up next to it, we realized that is was not strangely formed buildings, but the largest cemetery I had ever laid eyes on carved out of a rocky hillside, the Cementiri del Sud-Oest cemetery on Montjuïc Hill. It reminded Tauna of a Jewel called Barcelona where she said, “…And the churches don't have windows but the graveyards do...”We crashed at the hotel right on the main strip of La Ramblas after a long days driving. We had finally found the sun! After maneuvering around some of the most complex roundabouts that I have ever seen, Ben said he was ready to take on Irish driving since he survived that. The next morning we got up early and after a great breakfast we hit the sights. The first stop was Richard Meier’s Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, again, another architect we were not psyched about but could not miss since it was only a five minute walk from our hotel. But we were on to an architect that I personally have loved, Antoni Gaudi, since he was one of
the most innovative architects of the 20th century . 
We saw one of his earliest apartments, Casa Batlló, and an apartment building that even non-architects would recognize, Casa Milà. And then we went on to a cathedral that has been under contraction for well over 100 years and still will take another 30 more to finish, La Sagrada Família. It began in 1882 and is projected to finish 2030 but in architect la-la-land, that means about 2040. Hopefully I will be able to see it completed in my lifetime. After that we headed for the Barcelona Subway, which has to be the best Subway systems I have ever been on. It was even air-conditioned! Which is a bonus since it was about 90+ degrees out. It also was very easy to find your way around it. We got to the Olympic site and check out some of it in passing but went straight to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s German Pavillion for the 1929 International Exposition held in Barcelona. Ben had had a college architectural studio based on this site, so it was great for him to finally see it first hand. He never thought he would actually see it, so it was a pretty cool moment! After all that excitement we were ready for some dinner, wine, gelato and a good nights sleep before heading back home early the next morning. We had some of the best gelato I have ever had, it was Crème Catalan, which can only be found in Spain. I need to figure out how to make Catalan Custard which the French ripped off of them to make their own crème brule. After 2300+ kilometers of driving and who knows how many miles of flying and train rides, we all eventually made it home in one piece, got all our luggage and did not kill eachother, so in my book that is a very successful trip!
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