Art, Culture and Food

I recently went up to Barcelona for four days on the train from Alicante.
Went up with family to have a look around and try out some restaurants and tapas establishments.
We scored an apartment right on the Passeig de Gracia and could walk to so many cool sites and amazing places to eat. It is a major thoroughfare in Barcelona that is lined with shops, restaurants, bars and some of Gaudí's architectural masterpieces.
I have always thought taking roof top bus trips a little cheesy and a very touristy thing to do, but we bit the bullet and jumped on one to see the sights of Barcelona and as it turned out on a fine blue day one of best and quickest ways to see the city. The great thing about these is that you can get on and off as often as you like all over the city and if you like something and want to spend more time there, you can.
Every day was a new adventure to try out a restaurant or little cafe. Whether it be a wine bar to just stop in and taste, to a Michelin star establishment.
If you are passing through Europe any time soon and can spare a few days, I highly recommend a trip to this wonderful city to suck in the Art, Culture and Food it has to offer.

KEEPING IT REAL

While the World Cup is going on right now in South Africa and tourists are pouring in to places like Capetown to watch the matches and spend their tourist dollars, spare a thought for the majority of citizens that live there not ten minutes drive from the city centre in the Townships. Townships were created as living areas for non-whites under the old political system of Apartheid.
Most of Cape Town's townships are concentrated in the area known as the Cape Flats which lie to the East of Table Mountain.
When I was there in 2008 for the Volvo Ocean Race I spent a couple of days out there with the kids and taking them pens and cardboard so they could write on for school. These families I met were so warm and welcomed me and always seemed to have a smile on their face despite what very little they had. I shared a great moment about international rugby with a man that I was introduced in his late seventies that had lived through the horrific apartheid and showed me his identity book that he had to have on him at all times other wise he received a terrible beating.

More than half of Cape Town's population lives in the townships! It's not all palm trees and five star hotels. Township life offers an insight into South African history like no other experience.

In my eyes the beauty of Cape Town extends past Table Mountain and the wealthy suburbs, and into the townships themselves.
If you are visiting Capetown make a very small effort and gets some pens and cardboard and make the trip out of town and meet some beautiful people.

Road Tripin With Bobby G on US Route 395

Bobby has just come back from a spring photo expedition in California on US Route 395.
This time of the year can see some spectacular light with clear blue days.
U.S. Route 395 (US 395) is a 557-mile (896 km) route which traverses from Interstate 15 near the southern city limits of Hesperia, north to the Oregon state line in Modoc County near Goose Lake. The route clips into Nevada, serving the cities Carson City and Reno, before returning to California.
Prior to truncation, US 395 served the metropolitan areas of San Diego and San Bernardino. The highway serves as a connection to the Los Angeles area for the communities of the Owens Valley, Mammoth Mountain and Mono Lake. The highway is used as an access for both the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney, and the lowest point in North America, Death Valley.
The corridor has been used since the California gold rush, and before numbering was known by several names including El Camino Sierra. This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System and is eligible for the Scenic Highway system.