around the world in 8 days

yep, you did read that right, I too am wondering what happened to the other 72 days, 

This is the loo wallpaper in the Air NZ 757 he he he...

Twizel ~ Dunedin ~ Auckland ~ Bangkok ~Heathrow, London ~ Barcelona ~ London ~ LA ~ Auckland ~ Christchurch ~ Dunedin ~ Twizel; 1st Oct - 10th Oct - with the time differences we lost most of Oct 9th!

Casa Mila La Pedrera

 .. an expresionist building designed and built by Antoni Gaudi, it breaks with all traditional architecture by not using a single straight line, it has no load bearing walls, and has a completely irregular floor plan. In order to let in as much light as possible, the apartments are arranged around 2 central courtyards, one oval and one round. It is open to the public, and they have one apartment set up as it was in the early 1900's. Absolutely fabulous, and way ahead of today's world let alone the turn of the previous century.

Mosaic wall at Casa Batllo

 Casa Batllo is another key feature in the architecture of the modernist Barcelonian, also built by Gaudi, and the mosaic garden wall is a beautiful feature of the outdoor upper story garden patio. It is also open to the public.

 Catalunya cathedral

 In the centre of one of the oldest parts of Barcelona, known as the Barri Gotic (Gothic District), and the heart of Barcelona, is the cathedral, known as La Seu. The first stone for this impressive church was laid in the 13^th century, but it was not until the early 20^th century that is was fully completed.

La Sagrada Familia

The Barcelonians obviously like to take their time building as this one is still under construction, but what a big job this is! This is Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece, and is one of Barcelona's most popular tourist attractions. Construction began in 1882, but continues, and likely will do for several more decades yet. It has already become Barcelona's most important landmark however, which apparently was Gaudi's intention, and he has left very detailed instructions for it's completion, so that it can be finished to his design.

Placa de Catalunya

 This is the central hub of Barcelona, almost everything happens here. The benches at the circular centre of the square are an ideal spot for people watching, and boy, did I do plenty of that! Around the centrally paved area are a couple of fountains, and a large number of sculptures are “planted”, seemingly at random, and this makes for a very beautiful spot indeed.

Rowing Man is just telling me it was a Hong Kong transit stop on the way over NOT Bangkok like I have been telling everyone - oops, see what long haul travel does to one's mind... (one airport transit lounge looks like the next!!)


have a fab Saturday!