Trip to Europe, summer of 2002


Here are a few pictures of my trip to Europe during the summer of 2002. I have grouped them by city and placed them in the order in which I visited them. You can click on the pictures to see them in bigger size.


Bruxelles, Amsterdam, Brugge, Paris, Figueres, (Barcelona), Lisboa, Santiago de Compostela, Sevilla, Córdoba, Granada, León, Bilbao, San Sebastián, Bordeaux, Nantes, Giverny, Fontainebleau

Barcelona

We were lucky to be there this year since they had the International Gaudí Year (Any Internacional Gaudí) so we could visit some of Antoni Gaudí's buildings that are usually closed to the public because they are privately owned.
In case you're wondering, Gaudí is considered Catalonia's greatest architect, and Catalonia (Catalunya) is a region in southern Spain (of course, Barcelona is in Catalonia).
A very good friend of ours, Vivis, is currently living in Barcelona so we decided to visit her. She and her boyriend (Coco) were kind enough to host us for a few days. We used to play with her in a band called Tu Madre a long time ago.


This is the front of Casa Milá, better known as "La Pedrera", one of Gaudí's buildings.

The roof of La Pedrera, quite interesting, ah?

The front of Casa Batlló.
This building by Gaudí is privately owned so usually you can't visit it, except for this year.
If you're impressed by the exterior, you'd go crazy with the interior!

The lower part of the cathedral.


Erik, Rik and Vivis (from left to right) next to the coastline.

This is right past the entrance to Parc Guell.
The city hired Gaudí to decorate the park, but unfortunately the project was canceled before he could finish it.

The impressive Temple de la Sagrada Familia, a church that Gaudí began to build but couldn't finish before dying.

I know, this is blury, but I decided to keep it anyway for the memories.
Rik, Coco, Vivis, me and Erik (from left to right) in Coco's studio inside their apartment.


Bruxelles, Amsterdam, Brugge, Paris, Figueres, Barcelona, (Lisboa), Santiago de Compostela, Sevilla, Córdoba, Granada, León, Bilbao, San Sebastián, Bordeaux, Nantes, Giverny, Fontainebleau

Lisboa

Lisbon (Lisboa) is the capital of Portugal.


The Commerce Square (Praca do Comércio), at the end of downtown (Baxia) right next to the Tajo River.

My brother Rik with the Tajoe River, the Red Bridge and the Christ Savior in the background.

A great view of the Monastery of the Jerónimos (Mosteiro dos Jerónimos).

Rik inside the Monastery of the Jerónimos.

The Monument of the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descobrimentos), a monument for the portuguese navy.

The Belém Tower (Torre de Belém), a vital part of the defense structure along the Tajo River.

A nice view from the Belém Tower.

Rik at the Castelo de São Jorge.

The Torre Vasco da Gama, the symbol of the Expo '98.
It is shaped like a ship,. Here you can see the sail, but the rest of the ship cannot be seen because it was too dark.

Penguins at the Lisbon Oceanarium (Oceanário de Lisboa).
It is divided into five sections: Open Sea, North Atlantic, Antartic, Pacific and, Indian.
It was inaugurated during the Expo '98.

Sea otters at the Oceanarium.

A great picture of Rik at the Palácio Nacional da Pena, in nearby Sintra.
The foggy day helped giving it a misterious ambience.

The castle at Óbidos, further north in Portugal.
Óbidos is a neat walled city.


Bruxelles, Amsterdam, Brugge, Paris, Figueres, Barcelona, Lisboa, (Santiago de Compostela), Sevilla, Córdoba, Granada, León, Bilbao, San Sebastián, Bordeaux, Nantes, Giverny, Fontainebleau

Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compostela is a very nice city in the region of Galicia (northwest corner of Spain).


My brother Rik in the Silversmiths' Square (Praza das Praterías).
The Fuente de los Caballos is right in the midle of the square and the cathedral is right beind where the picture is being taken.

The cathedral's tower.


Inside the cathedral.
In the sculpture you can see Santiago in the center, then above him Christ risen, with some evangelists and angels around.
People come from all over Europe to this cathedral in pilgrimage.

The pipe organ inside the cathedral.


Bruxelles, Amsterdam, Brugge, Paris, Figueres, Barcelona, Lisboa, (Santiago de Compostela), Sevilla, Córdoba, Granada, León, Bilbao, San Sebastián, Bordeaux, Nantes, Giverny, Fontainebleau

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