Europe 2002

Three week trip around Europe: 10 days in Poland and another 10 days in Spain and France.

City of Wrocław, Poland.

good evening in Wrocław
Ratusz and its sideview
the cathedral, and view from one of its towers onto the Grunwald Bridge, colourful buildings around, and some old architecture
this man didn't realize he was dragging the sausages behind him
turbo-charged police cruiser (as evidenced by the intercooler scoop)
old but high-tech house
my cousing Andrzej's WFM motorcycle (restored from the 1950s) and me riding it
out for a beer with Krzysiek

My friends Gosia and Krzysiek were getting married, and I was the best man!

Visiting my friend Marcin in Valencia, Spain.

a goat with its own room and a balcony
night-time shot in Valencia
we spent a day at the 2000 year old castle (ruins) in Sagunto (a small town north of Valencia); after lunch we took a nap out in the sun, with results visible the next day - Marcin the giri
the view thru one of the windows in the upper castle's gate looks out onto what's got to be the world's best office
cactii field outside the walls
mostly reconstructed stage of an outdoor, Roman-style theatre by the castle
small restaurant at someone's house in Sagunto

I took a train from Valencia to Barcelona, where I rented a small Peugeot 106 and drove thru the Pyrenees to Toulouse in France.

panorama of the Spanish countryside, that I took outside of town of Montclar (about 100km west of Barcelona)
along the way, I came across many small, picturesque towns: one in the foothills of Pyrenees, another old one, and a house
high up in the Pyrenees, the cows were grazing in the middle of nowhere, sometimes overtaking the road

Few days in Toulouse, France.

first night, I've made myself a dinner in my hotel room; I liked the view I had out the window
playing an accordeon in the street
narrow, cobble stone streets in the city's heart
Cathédrale St-Étienne (and inside it), whose construction began in 12th century; being inside one can feel how old it is
view from Hôtel d'Assézat onto the neighbouring houses
Basilique St-Sernin, with its high and long nave, was surrounded by an antiques bazaar; the writing I've seen on the steps of the basilica
the cloister of Église des Jacobins, where St. Thomas Aquinas rests
engine of Arianne 5 rocket at Cité de l'Espace

From Toulouse I drove back to Barcelona where I spent the last few days of my trip.

panorama of Barcelona, as seen from Gaudí's Parc Güell
La Sagrada Familia church (closeup), began in 1882 and still under construction; Gaudí had a clever idea of using an inverted gravity model to design its structure
a human statue on La Rambla
a backstreet, somewhere in the center of the city
Barri Gòtic cathedral, in front of which older people dance the sardana on Sunday mornings (a traditional Catalan dance) to orchestra music
a castle atop Montjuïc, overlooking Barcelona