After being amazed by La Sagrada Família and awed by Casa Battló we decided that Gaudí's other works of art were must-sees. On our recent visit to Barcelona, Parc Güell was definitely on our agenda. Originally designed as a housing estate, Parc Güell is now a park open to the public. Gaudí's fantastic imagination is once again evident in all elements of Parc Güell's design. Wandering through the gardens is like wandering through a fairy tale.

The two houses that flank the entrance reminded me of Gingerbread houses. The undulating white tiled eaves look like frosting and the windows are decorated with colourful circular discs that look just like smarties. The houses are even the same colour as gingerbread.



Surely the most recognisable of Gaudí's works, the dragon guarding the park's entrance is a symbol of Catalunya.



On the terrace, a bench covered in colourful mosaics snakes its way around the perimeter. It is supposed to represent a sea-serpent.



Parc Güell is another beautifully designed work of art by Gaudí. He had such a unique vision. To think that gaudy means garish and tastelessly showy. I think it would be nice if the world was Gaudí.

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Our visit to Parc Güell was part of Tapas Travels: The Wilsons + Daleys do Spain. Mum, Dad, Andrew and I did a 3-week road trip around Spain with a few days tacked on in Portugal at the end of the journey. Other entries from this trip include: La Mezquita, La Sagrada Família, The knee bone's connected to the thigh bone.

Yay! Another trivia evening. This time Natalie, Grant, Andrew and I headed to a Trivia Fundraiser hosted by Bek's basketball team, Westside Ladies. We didn't do so well this time. We tanked in the first round getting only 8 points out of a possible 20. (It was really hard!). Thankfully, in the second and bonus rounds we redeemed ourselves to finish fourth for the evening.

Some of the questions that were challenging included:

1. What personal trait do Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Sir Allen Sugar have in common? (it has nothing to do with money.)
   
   
2. What is the Super Nanny's real name?
   
   
3. How many teeth does a garden snail have?
   
   
4. What is Mr Big's (from Sex and the City) full name?
   
   
5. What was the occupation of Patrick Swazye in Ghost?
   
   
6. Where were Venetian Blinds invented?
   
   
7. What does OPEC stand for?
   
   
8. In 1916 the Olympics were cancelled because of World War I. What city was originally slated to host these games?
   
   

Feel free to leave your answers to the questions in the comments. No using Google to cheat though!

Btw, the title of this post was our team name for the evening: Fat Kids Win At Seesaw.

Cordoba's main tourist attraction is the Mezquita (spanish for mosque). A Church, which was once a Mosque (which was actually originally a Church.)

What makes it interesting is that it is still part mosque while being a church. There are rows and rows of rose-coloured columns topped with stripped yellow and red arches. There is a mihrab decorated with glittering mosaics. The mosque is a leftover from a time when a Muslim Emir controlled southern Spain.


Well at least the architecture is part mosque. Smack bang in the middle of the Mezquita is a Roman Catholic cathedral nave decorated in the baroque style. In 1236, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella recaptured Cordoba from the Muslims. At this time they simply re-consecrated the mosque as a church (abracadabra!). Later on, when they thought about tearing the mosque down and building a proper church there was a bit of an uproar. Some families in the town had their chapels inside the current mosque and did not want them destroyed. So in the 14th century, the king had a new church built, right in the middle of the mosque. It's rather at odds with the rest of the building.


Reputedly, when Carlos V saw what he had authorised he said "You have destroyed something that was unique in the world." And yet, without the church in the middle of it, the Mezquita might not exist today. Its conversion to a church probably saved it from the Spanish Inquisition. So, although incongruous, we are thankful for the chapel. Thankful that it's there and therefore we're still able to visit at least part of this beautiful building.


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Our visit to La Mezquita was part of Tapas Travels: The Wilsons + Daleys do Spain. Mum, Dad, Andrew and I did a 3-week road trip around Spain with a few days tacked on in Portugal at the end of the journey. Other entries from this trip include: La Sagrada Familia and The knee bone's connected to the thigh bone.

Each year, London holds an Open House event. Seven hundred buildings around London are open to the public over one weekend in September and we're allowed a sneak peak behind usually locked doors.

This year, Andrew and I elected to visit The Paddock, Churchill's top-secret 1940s bunker in North West London. After our visit to The Pension, I was inspired to take a look at another top-secret bunker. As our tour of The Pension was in Latvian, I was looking forward to maybe finally being able to piece together some of the puzzle that was The Pension.


However, there are some major differences between The Paddock and The Pension.

Firstly, the Paddock is a World War II bunker. It was designed to survive a direct hit in a bombing raid. (Our guide mentioned that the bunker would not be a safe haven against today's bunker busting bombs.) Because a WWII raid only lasted for a few hours the bunker also doesn't have any sleeping or kitchen facilities like a nuclear bunker. It didn't even have a toilet! (I guess you just had to cross your legs and hold on.)


Secondly, the Paddock is in a derelict state. At the end of 1944, the Paddock was no longer required. After the war, the bunker was used by the Post Office Research facility in the building above as a meeting place for a social club, and in 1976 it was abandoned. When it was reopened in 1997, the lower floor was flooded and in some rooms, dry rot fungus was growing two-feet deep from the walls and ceilings. Although, no longer a flooded dry rot jungle, the bunker is still in a dilapidated state. Today, a visit to the Paddock requires a hard hat, a pair of wellies and a very good imagination.

The Paddock was designed to be a back up bunker if the cabinet rooms at Whitehall were destroyed. In truth, only two cabinet meetings were held at the bunker, only one of those was attended by Churchill. The first meeting was held to test the bunker's facilities and the second to impress the Prime Minister of some backwater country (Sir Robert Menzies). Churchill pleaded a cold for the second meeting and did not attend. The theory is he was chucking a sickie, as he was not a fan of the The Paddock.


Can't say I'm a fan either. It was interesting from an urban decay perspective but I would have loved to see the bunker in a working condition.

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"The search for animals that fall outside of taxonomic records due to a lack of empirical evidence, but for which anecdotal evidence exists in the form of myths, legends, or undocumented sightings."

The Loch Ness Monster is surely one of the world's most famous cryptozoids. No trip to the highlands of Scotland would be complete without a visit to Loch Ness for a bit of Nessie spotting. We drove the length of the loch but didn't spot the monster.


In Drumnadrochit, we visited the Loch Ness Exhibition. The museum explores the legend of the Loch Ness Monster and the research that has been conducted to find Nessie. I was actually surprised at the time and money that has been spent looking for Nessie. First, they posted lookouts on the shores for a year or so. Next they formed a flotilla of boats dragging sonar equipment to plumb the depths. After that they submerged a vessel in the loch for a bit. It recorded the goings on in the loch (fish getting it on probably). After all this, they still have no conclusive evidence that Nessie exists.

The lack of evidence, points to a lack of Nessie. Apparently the population of fish in the Loch (even with all the getting it on) is not enough to support a creature the size of the supposed monster.

The exhibition also examines the photos that have captured Nessie and explains what they might be. A deer swimming in the lake, a blurry bird, the wake of a boat. The most famous photo of the Loch Ness Monster is a proven hoax. The exhibition is pretty non-judgemental towards the wackos that have "seen" the Loch Ness Monster. It concludes with a phrase about the wonderful powers of imagination (sure, sure! We know they are wackos).



I'm not sure it was worth the £6 entrance fee but I found it extremely interesting. A recommended pit stop if you too have a curiosity for the strange and mysterious.

Our visit to the The Loch Ness Exhibition was part of our "Emergency: Jess needs to renew her visa" trip to Scotland on the August Bank Holiday weekend 2008. Other entries from this trip include: Real men wear skirts and Now here are the results. Yep. And we're going to....

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