THE CRACK AND THE SPIDER

Last weekend before heading back to US, we went to the TATE museum to see an exhibition … well its actually a crack running the whole span of the floor (yes .. they call it modernism).
Outside the Tate, there is a 9 meter tall metal spider …. I thought it made a very interesting photo.

THE OC

It has been confirmed …. My next project is in LA … based in Orange County (yes ….like in the TV series)….I’m scheduled there till Jan 2009, but that is not definite, and probably will change in upcoming months, depending on how the project pans out, but either way it will be 8-10 months as a minimum.

Once again, it’s a melancholy feeling … arriving in London, just to pack everything up, and head of half way around the world, to start a new life for next year or so.

Having said that, the weather in London is becoming cold and dreary …. And its 34 degrees in LA at moment, so definitely looking forward to sun and beach (I will be located few kms from Newport and Long Beach) … so definitely will start surfing.
(Mind you ... Im flying out in 4 days ... and there are fires that are raging at the moment ... so hopefully everything will be ok by the time I land)

Pamela is also heading back to Australia for the summer (next 4/5 months) …. She has Xmas and 3 weddings, and it’s as good as excuse to escape the UK winter …so we are vacating our flat, and basically taking whatever we can back, and giving everything else away … its all got to go (again!!).

SULLY IN LONDON

Damian is staying with us until he gets his feet on the ground in London …. And Pamela told all the girls at her work about him ….. so they obviously wanted to see photos.
After bumming around the world for 3 months … reality sets in ... and he's looking for a job, and this is him dressed in his interview suit, being a bit shy in front of the camera ….. he was made aware the reason why Pamela is taking the photo (men have feelings too, you know … we don’t like being treated like a piece of meat!!!).

SEVILLA

Another great city …. With an ancient castle/palace.

Another great tapas/beer bar … and by now our waist-lines are beginning to show the strain of all the eating and drinking… not that it stopped us from trying more.
We caught a Flaminco session, amongst other things, unfortunately we arrived on a Saturday, and missed the last bull-fight of the season, which was staged the previous night.

CORDOBA

A much quieter city, with a labyrinth of narrow streets.

GRANADA

We ended up in Granada totally unplanned, and at the spur of the moment….. Sully wanted to see the castle …. And we read that it is one of the last places in Spain to offer free tapas, with any drink purchased…. Needless to say, after third/fourth drink we were asking them to stop serving us food …. A man can only eat so much.
Once again, life consisted of eating, drinking, site-seeing, and sleeping … in no particular order.
We never got around to organising tickets for the fort/castle … they were sold out on-line, and we did not feel like getting up at 7am to join the tourist queues for the box office open at 8am, and due to limited number of visitors … selling out by 9am ….. so looking from afar is as close as we got.

One thing I have observed during the Spain travels, is that (hundreds of years ago) if you give the Spaniards anything that resembles a hill, they will build a castle on it… this is definitely a sign of the conflicts of the past, where each city/region had its own sovereignty.

ALICANTE

Damian (my friend from Australia, that was in USA a month back) flew in from London, to join me for the reminder of the Spanish trip …. And we spent lazy 3 days in Alicante, eating, drinking, sleeping, and catching some sun on the beach….A very relaxed place, with great atmosphere.
Due to the Rugby World Cup, we did consider heading north to Paris for upcoming weekend, but decided against in preference to the sun that southern Spain had to offer.

Southern Spain is obsessed with legs of ham .... similar to Italian prosciutto… they hang in every restaurant/café, just above the clients heads.

VALENCIA

Another gem of a city … I have began taking siestas (short afternoon nap, very common in Spain, where almost all shops close between 2-5pm) … and I have to say, it’s a great life …. And very addictive … I can get used to this.

I tried to catch a bull-fight spectacle … but its coming to the end of the season, and there are very few dates left … so hopefully we will be able to catch upon later travels … they normally occur on Friday or Sunday ….. but not every week, so its actually quite hard to catch.

I saw a lady taking her iguanas for a walk (just like a dog), and I thought it deserved a photo, although she was a bit shy, so i only got the lizards ... Spain is like that ... you see things that border on extravagant or little crazy around any corner... but its what makes the place so interesting.