With strings attached

Being based in one place for an extended length of time means that after the 'must dos' there is time to explore the unusual and out of the way gems a region holds. The last week in Cantabria has been one of finding the magic in small pueblos (towns), particularly in the Basque country. Here's a wee update on our adventure to Tolosa and the more famous city of San Sebastian.

TOPIC is located in a main plaza in Tolosa

Tolosa is probably not somewhere we would have driven off the beaten (tourist) path to, but with children, who loved the idea of visiting a puppet museum, we made a combined a day's outting to San Sebastian with a visit to Tolosa  International Puppet Centre (TOPIC). This is a world class museum with a decent entry price of €3 for adults and €2 for children five and over. (We've found sights in small towns are really reasonable).

This is the puppet who greets you at TOPIC

Going into the Museum (once tickets have been purchased) requires the pressing of a button (and indication of which language you require), before a door slides open and a puppet talks you through the rules of 'co-existing' in their puppet house. This includes being able to touch and play with some puppets if you are 'very, very careful' and other normal things like no eating and turning off your cell phones, although photos are permitted. As the puppet waves you goodbye, a curtain is drawn up and you go into a magical room where there is a short presentation on the world of puppets...then you pass through another mysteriously opened curtained to meet hundreds of the many international puppets the museum houses (and not all are on display). There is also a special exhibition room, where the region of focus changes every few months. We were lucky enough to see floating water puppets from Vietnam. Meet some of the puppet friends we met:

Puppets come in all sizes, like this Mexican one behind us.

Master A tries his hand at puppetry with the MOTH

These photos don't do justice to the beauty of the displays

Floating Vietnamese puppets 

 A short wander through Tolosa reflects some of the aspects of smaller towns, typical of the area.

Colourful apartments and narrow streets

 

You cover your laundry not for rain, but for stuff those in the apartments above might toss out!

A shop window proudly displaying locally made/themed goods.

After our 'morning session' at TOPIC (morning means opens at 10:30am and closes at 1:30 or 2pm, usually reopening around 4 or 5pm), we headed to San Sebastian for lunch near the famous La Concha (beach area). With overcast weather, and being late in the afternoon (by NZ time, not the Spanish), we mainly wandered the marina, enjoying the ambiance and tossing coins to some young boys who dived for them.

Master A admires La Concha as the clouds roll in.

Two more magical journeys through Eskadi (the Basque Country) followed (posts to come) - tonight we enjoy our last night in Cantabria before heading to Galicia for the last three weeks of our adventure... amazing to think we'll be home in just over twenty days. Let me know if there are any reflections, thoughts, top tips or must dos you might like me to cover off... we have limited internet access over the next few weeks, but will post when I can.

Gracias (thank you) for enjoying this journey with us...

Postscript... two days after visiting TOPIC, on one of our 'down days', the boys produced this:

Master A with his puppet show: Kokako and Snowman - a New Zealand Oddity

 

Master T and his puppet show: Chicken and Train: A Tragedy

 

Not doing much

Sometimes I think, when I look over this blog, that we've squashed a lot into our travels...but there are days when we do lots of 'normal' stuff - like we'd do at home, only we're doing it in Spain. The Man of the House (MOTH) and I have, by the last leg of our journey, recognised the importance of breathing and reflection time and if you're travelling with small people for a substantial length of time, this is something we'd recommend.

At home, we aim for an un-aptly termed 'project based homeschooling' (PBHS)  approach (inspired by the philosophy of Lori Pickett), which encourages reflection and extension of experiences and ideas through long, concentrated sessions of play and creative exploration. This was something I had optimistically hoped to continue while on our journey.

It has been somewhat challenging.

But, in the past few weeks, where we've tried for a more 'day on - day off' approach, bought some paints, more paper and other crafty things, and the concept of PBHS, and all the creativity that comes with it, has emerged a little. There isn't so much concentrated focus on one particular area (aside from Master A's life-time project of trains and now planes/rockets and Master T's 'big boats' and 'Gala' (Dali's muse)), but lots of processing is definitely evident.

So what do we do all day, in Spain, when not out and about?

• We go to the supermarket and look at (and try) food, books, and household items that Spain offers.
• We do the everyday stuff of cleaning, laundry etc, sampling Spanish detergents and tools.
• The MOTH works on his next project.
• We work with play dough, draw, paint and model.

Master T presents his turtle, the other two have been making bowls and food 'for winter' - perhaps inspired by a visit to the archaeology museum?

• We talk about stuff we've done and what we want to do. Meals can easily stretch out for more than an hour with discussions.
• We reminisce about home, our friends and family.
• We reminisce about this adventure.
• We build - boats, trains, planes, houses that incorporate all sorts of aspects of things we've seen, heard and experienced.

Tama and his 'big boat'

All the children have disappeared into a tent

• We watch a little bit of children's television in Spanish.
• We watch the Soccer World Cup with Daddy.

Nail biting stuff!

• We kick a ball around outside our apartment.

• We read and look at books.
• We craft and create bringing in all sorts of elements (kiwi, origami, rockets)

Master A and his kiwi burrow on a plane that can be a rocket ship in an emergency.

• Sometimes we go for walks.

A Sunday morning stroll around Castro-Urdiales

• We rest...

Master T, took creativity and rest to a whole new level...

• We probably annoy our neighbours with our loud shouting and noisy toys/games.
• We think about and plan out things to do when we get home. (And I anticipate/hope that the things we've seen and done will creep out over the next five years...stay tuned)

To this extent, Miss K has been talking about collecting fabric, while on our trip, to make a quilt. It's to be our first quilt project but we haven't been able to get to fabric/craft stores (that is we can't seem to find any).

So... we're asking friends both at home and abroad to search their fabric stashes and see if they have an 'international' bit of cotton cloth, about 20 x 20cm that they could send our way. Embellish it if you like; sew your name or country or add some lace to it -hopefully our 'World Piece Blanket' will come to life!

Leave a comment if you're able to contribute and I'll email you our home address.

Buenos noches from us lot and muchos besos!

Big boats and fish-men

Daddy and Master T watching soccer

It's been a historic week for Spain -  we witnessed their tears as their soccer team fell from grace (losing two games in the World Cup and consequently won't make it through to the next round) and their joys with the coronation of King Felipe VI.

This is our second week in Cantabria and our third in Spain. We are slowly adjusting to the fact that everything shuts between about 1:30pm to 4:30 or 5pm, the late eating hours, and the heat. We have started to chat regularly with our neighbours, and continue to work on 'quiet apartment living', given that our hosts, who live below, welcomed a new daughter into the world on Monday. With our noisy lot, they'll be looking forward to our departure in just over a week!



Outside the Maritime Museum

We've had somewhat of an aquatic and historic theme this week, kicking off with a day in Bilbao at the River Maritime Museum. We went on a Tuesday and it just happened to be free! Cantabria is located next to the Pais Vasco/ Basque country (where Bilbao and the more famous San Sebastian can be found) and it is a short 20 minute drive from our 'home' to Bilbao. Bilbao is located along a magnificent river and the River Maritime Museum provided us with a historical account of the development of city, bridges and river bed. The Museum included games for the children (such as pirate fishing and rowing), a life-size replica of a barge for the upper class and dozens of miniature boats.

Wee Master T adores boats - possibly an accumulation of experiences of water-taxis, his favourite Dali book with a 'boat' sculpture included and the fact that Castro Urdiales (the township we regularly visit for food and beach time) is a sea based town - so he was in his element looking at all the ships and nautical paraphernalia.



Dry docked boats

The most outstanding element of the Museum is the inclusion of the Bilbao city exhibition that was presented at Shanghai Expo in 2010. Developed in conjunction with the Guggenheim Museum, this display combined 'architectural lighting' with audio-visuals for an emotive account of development of Bilbao. The static photos don't do it justice (and I was too in awe to take any), but if you get the time, check them out.

Outside the Museum is a dry dock housing a variety of different boats. Unfortunately this area was not open on our visit (perhaps this is why it was free? -although museums in Spain frequently have 'free days'), but we enjoyed strolling around them from above and looking at the massive anchors and chains.

Museum visit was followed by a good lunch in a cafe by a fountain and exploring a park of amazing sculptures... stay tuned for a post on food in Spain in the next few days...

Lunch in Bilbao - despite Master A's face, it was delicioso!



Kids interacting with art.

We also visited Bilbao later in the week to take in the Bizkaia Archaeology Museum, tracing the human archaeological history of the area from Neolithic to modern times. While not exactly a 'child friendly' place (the security guard trailed us through the three levels), our lot really enjoyed watching the video footage of early people in the temporary display, learning about archaeological digs and research and discovering the visual differences in tools, utensils, cemeteries, housing and boats over time. The museum is free on Fridays, but all displays are in Spanish and Basque. We purchased the accompanying guide book, which has detailed photos and information (we got the English version) so we've been able to discuss a lot of what we saw in more detail.

Between visits to Bilbao, we decided to head West towards Santander and visit the small village of Lierganes, where there is a Fluvarium (a river based eco-museum). Many small villages will open their (sight-seeing doors) for two sessions: 10am to 2pm and 4pm (or 5pm) to 6pm (or 7pm), closing for lunch in between. Because our stomachs are still mostly on NZ time, and we have to travel some distance to many locations, when going to these places, we try to get there early to maximise our visit before lunch. On this occasion, the Fluvarium was closed for the morning - no sign posted on the outer gates and we had a some what disgruntled guide inform us we needed to come back at 4pm.

How does one kill four and a half hours with three children in a small town?

We had a snack drove another half hour to Santander, hoping to visit another Museum, only to discover, by the time we'd parked and located the building, it was also closing for lunch... so when in Spain... do as the Spanish do... we found a cool little restaurant and ate lunch. By which time the Fluvarium was open.

A great lunch finished in Santander

The Fluvarium is a little dated and quite small. The introductory film is very informative and reinforces a sustainable message and the otters in fluvarium area are adorable (even if they are practising their mating - nothing like a biology lesson for our bemused children). We were lucky enough to watch the otters being fed with a group of touring Senior Citizens, who adored the children and ensured they got front row seats!

One of the stars of the Fluvarium

Master T and Daddy check out the turtles

Our little people were in the Fluvarium for a good hour or more - and we decided to wander the streets of Lierganes to find the hombre pez (fish man). There is a legend of this mythical man dating from the 1600s (makes interesting reading if you have the time) and there is a wee house and sculpture depicting this story. While the house was shut when we got there, the fish man was sitting on the banks of the river and the amble through the cobbled and quaint village was lovely.

"We've discovered a fish-man!"

"With scales"!

On our travels we've visited sights where we've queued for hours and been engulfed in hoards of tourists and visitors - thus far, the 'attractions' of Bilbao and Cantabria have been almost void of people (aside from the Guggenheim, but comparative to some places was relatively quiet). It's not that there aren't lots of people, just not lots of people in the museums! I wonder what that says about our choice of activities?

School holidays have just started in Espana, the sun is shining (with the exception of a spectacular electric storm we had last night) and the boardwalks are coming alive...less of the history and more of the mystery of Spain this week me thinks... ciao guapos!

A bottom note
Carrying on from an earlier blog on loos... Miss K has observed an oddity of toilets in Spain - the toilet paper always seems to be placed in the most difficult-to-reach locations (including in our current residence). She asked me to take a photo of the toilet in the Fluvarium to demonstrate this point...

Honesty, Ono and Osos

I read somewhere that when travelling abroad, around about the three month mark one gets a little homesick. In my own experience, this has been true - you hit some weird slump where you'd just rather be back in your own home (in spite of all the amazing around you), surrounded by your own stuff, food and friends.

Maybe it's a coincidence that it's about that three month mark... or maybe it's because we've really slowed down, given the Man of the House (MOTH) a break from daily driving and are doing the things we might do at home (the 'home school' project stuff, cleaning house, eating in a lot more) that all of a sudden, I've hit a bit of a rough patch and am homesick. This time the kids are fine. I'm a bit of grumpy mess.

Jeff-Koon's flower dog

And yes, I will get over it - after all there are so many things to be grateful for and to look forward to and to share. But I have intended to be honest about the joys and tribulations of travelling as a family of five in this blog, and there you have it - the adventuring is awesome, but sometimes, you miss 'normal'. So for my wonderful friends and family who have sent emails and made comments here and on FB, thank you - you help my sanity!

This past week, irrespective of my slight wobblies, we have had fun. The MOTH wanted to visit the Guggenheim in Bilbao, about a 20 minute drive from Otañes (the fact that the location we are living in looks like 'O Tanes', is not lost on the MOTH :-) However, the ñ is pronounced more 'ny' than a hard 'n', so not quite O Tane). After our Park Gaulle parking debacle, we found a parking building via the GPS before we departed, which sped things up considerably!

The Guggenheim, Bilbao

The Guggenheim contains an interesting collection of permanent and temporary art installations. Unfortunately, the exhibit on the second floor of the three story building was being redone/upgraded and was unavailable when we visited. We had somehow missed this on their website and the information wasn't posted at the ticket booth, and visitors still had to pay full price to enter (a tad annoying). However children are free, as are the audio guides, and you can enter and re-enter the museum on the same day, which means you can go for a wander for lunch outside (many places we've been to do not allow this).

Although we only had access to two levels, there were plenty of exhibitions to see and interact with. Richard Serra's massive steel sculptures play with space and shape and are brilliant for children to run through and explore.

The children tentatively enter one of Serra's sculptures

 

"This space makes me feel like dancing!"

 

This is an aerial shot (from level two) of the steel sculptures - they were huge!

 

Yoko Ono's Half-a-wind-show took up the entire third floor and included many interactive exhibits such as climbing into giant sacks and become 'moving mountains' and a video of just bottoms, which the children thought were amusing! I've always been a bit sceptical of Ono's work, but this exhibition really demonstrated her ability as an artist to evoke thought and reaction (photos were prohibited here - I think they may have been in Serra's too, but no one said anything to the dozens of visitors taking pictures).

Not Ono's work, but another sculpture outside on the Guggenheim's terrace by Jeff Koons

And after all that 'art and culture' - a play ground! Parents and children happy all round.

We followed our day of art with a day of nature at Cabaceno Wildlife Park. While a little pricey, this drive through Safari park is an incredible opportunity to view wildlife in huge open spaces. Glimpsing animals in the midst of these spaces is sometimes a lucky treat (such as the hippos) and I can't count the number of times I cursed the limited zoom on my camera. Zebras, camels, gorillas, jaguars, rhinos, baboons...only a handful of the many animals we were blessed to spend time observing. Being spring time, there were lots of babies to see.

We were a long way from this Mummy and baby hippo (yay for zoom on camera!)

 The only issues we faced were getting in and out of the car dozens of times (a bit painful with car seats) and the heat increasing over a four hour time span (but hey it's Spain). This wildlife park is worth every penny and a definite must do. Here I've included some long shots of the 'enclosures' and some of the animals my poor pocket camera could capture... We'll leave with you with the Osos...besos a todos...

What can we see here? I've only got about a quarter of the enclosure in this shot.

 

A family of elephants who did an elephant walk for us! - spot the baby?

 

Can you see what Miss K is looking at?

Tama points out the Osos to the MOTH - how many can you see?

Adios from the endangered Osos (bears)of Cantabria

Barcelona...(sang Freddie Mercury style)

A week ago we left Barcelona and made our way across Spain to Cantabria. Our time in Barcelona was incredibly relaxed, with a spacious home, complete with toys for the children, a swimming pool and plenty of slow time.

Playing with Lego on terracotta tiles in our Barcelona home.

I even managed to cook my first Spanish Tortilla in Spain - and it came out pretty well! Often at home it seems to cling to the frying pan... must be the olive oil????

Before we left, we visited Park Guell, a stunning display of Gaudi's creativity and brimming with colourful pedlars, musicians and street performance.

We really enjoyed this live reggae band... we even got their CD!

It's a bit of climb to reach the park, not to mention somewhat of a hassle to find parking (all which is at the bottom of the hill) and we probably spent a good half hour searching for a parking building. The majority of Park Guell is free to the public, but the 'monument area' where most of Gaudi's work can be found, requires a small entry fee. There is a limit of 400 people entering per half hour (for preservation reasons) and we had to buy our entry ticket two hours in advance (which gave us time to have lunch and wander the perimeters of the park). If you book online, the fee is a little cheaper and you can show the PDF on your mobile phone. Take note, the loos are few and far between here and queues are long!

Some of the work you can find outside the monument area

It's difficult to put into words the  magic of Gaudi's vision and the beauty of that space - instead a few photos of our afternoon...

Miss K takes a photo of us in front of amazing tile mosaic work

The 'washer woman' and some zunda mochi-ers

 

The 'Hansel and Gretel' style house Gaudi is famous for

 

In front of the famous 'dragon' - it's hard to get a photo with so many tourists!

 

Miss K looks out over the buildings of the park

 

Daddy and Master T share a moment in the shade of the park

A day or so later it was 'adios' to Barcelona and a six hour car ride to Otanes in Cantabria. We were armed with iPod jammed with RadioNZ and Storynory tales, food and drink. Spain's Toad roads are dotted with rest stops, most of the petrol stations we stopped at had excellent facilities. There are also park stops (for picnics and cat naps) - they don't have loos, but are equipped with identical climbing frames, that even in the heat of Zaragoza (30 degrees Celsius) can be beneficial to children in need of some exercise!

 

We have three lovely weeks here in Cantabria. It's hard to believe week one is almost over. We've really slowed down,  sleeping in and little by little adjusting to 'Spanish time' for lunches (around 2pm) - but not dinners (8 or 9pm)... with the heat and long days we may get there yet! Stay tuned for a post on our encounters with the Yoko Ono exhibition at the Guggenheim in Bilbao and an incredible safari park!