Ole!

Wow, we just got in from seeing an intensely seductive flamenco show here in Barcelona and I can't even begun to think of how to describe it. In this case, words cannot do justice to the rhythm of the shoes, the fluidity of the dancers, and their intense expression and interpretation of the music. It was as if each dancer was transported to another realm and their body possessed with the spirit and essence of the music and song. The live band also was incredibly good too, particularly the singers who so reminded me of the Gipsy Kings. The whole experience brought back Rachel's Irish step dancing years, and she was even practicing a few of her old hard shoe steps when she got back to the hotel. I guess once you have dancing in your veins, it never leaves. Earlier today we visited the incredible Sagrada Familia, what has been termed Europe's most unconventional church. Started in 1883, it became the lifework of Antoni Gaudi who truly crafted one of the most unique churches I've ever seen. He spent 14 years as a recluse on the site during its early construction years. Although it remains unfinished, work is progressing even today using various new technologies to achieve Gaudi's vision. It currently has 12 spires, facades that recount the Passion and Nativity, bell towers topped with Venetian mosaics, an internal spiral staircase of 400 steps, and even the body of Gaudi who is buried in a crypt. We leave Barcelona tomorrow for the walled medieval city of Carcassonne, France and then to Lourdes on Friday.