Livin' la vida Catalunya with PB and MB
(OK. So we have fallen behind a bit with the blogging. PB and MB returned to San Diego weeks ago, but we still have to capture some of the highlights of their McVenture!)
Unscathed by the torrential downpour we narrowly escaped in Paris, our flight landed in Barcelona at around midnight. The air was dry and dark when we arrived to the blue door next to the Mango store, at #14 Portaferrissa. We'd joked with PB and MB of the 100 stairs to our piso, but with luggage and exhaustion, they showed now sign of amusement. Up we went, panting and pausing. Finally home, we crashed in our beds and slept.
The next day was a Sunday and we decided to show PB and MB the beach. We walked the distance from Barri Gotic down a stretch of La Rambla, left at the Cristobal Colon monument, along Port Vell's harbor way and into Barceloneta where the waves calmly roll into the beach. We spent the rest of the day taking our time, strolling, sitting, having sangria. For dinner, we went to Salterio, our landlord's nook-in-the-wall restaurant where sardos come from. Sardos, we explained, look a bit like a pita bread quesadilla, but taste like a bite out of the Sahara. They are made with white cheese, mushrooms, spices and a delicious sesame butter sauce. They are a Morroccan dish cooked by Fatima, the plump, jolly woman from Sahara who incidentally calls me Shawna because I am the wife of Sean. We'd told MB that she and Fatima share a common passion for Elvis. So, MB brought one of her favorite Elvis tee-shirts to Fatima as a gift. (Later, when Fatima put it on, she cranked up an Elvis CD and suddenly we were in a bizarre culture clash.)
The rest of the week was quite relaxing. While Sean and I worked from our laptops, PB and MB embarked on their favorite trick to familiarize themselves with the city: the open air tour buses. They saw the Sagrada Familia, the Arc de Triomf, the Parc de la Ciutadella and countless curvy, gothic streets. At night, I cooked Spanish tapas and pasta dishes, and we washed them down with bottles of red wine. Our little bohemian piso has been looking especially cute lately with the geraniums I put on our balcony. It was fun to fill our place with garlic and laughter.
Sean took the Friday of that week off to go exploring with PB and MB around Barcelona. So, we took a taxi up the slope of the city toward Parc Guell, better known as "The Gaudi Park." We spent a few hours up there oohing and ahhhing over the intricate designs and mosaics that decorate acres of park land. Gaudi's orginal vision for the lot was for it to be a functioning village, but things went awry and eventually he died before it was completed. (He was actually killed when he was hit by a trolley car.) So now, rather than a village, it is more like a cave/terrace/ labyrinth. We poked around the cave, ate breakfast on the terrace and hiked through the labyrinth. Once at the top of the park, we could see a gorgeous panorama of Barcelona. What a breathtaking view!
Saturday morning, our mission was to train up to Girona, pick up our rental car and embark on our journey through the Pyrenees to a village called Puigcerda (Puh-chair-duh). What a place! The drive through the Pyrenees was a steep incline up some 2,000 meters in altitude on a snakey road that disappears into the fog line. In an hour's drive, we had transported ourselves from balmy Barcelona to a portrait of Switzerland! The greens are lush and the blue sky is brilliant. Once to the summit, we rolled down the backside into open valleys speckled with little villages nestling by rivers.
Puigcerda has to be one of the most magical settings I've ever seen. It's high up on a hillside, overlooking a valley, surrounded by snow-capped peaks of the Pyrenees. Back in the Spanish Civil War (1930s) Puigcerda took a harsh beating from the Facists. The only remnant of its Catalan identity still standing is the bell tower of the cathedral that once dominated the top of the town, but was bombed to rubble. Now, a parking lot takes up the space that was once the footprint of the main chapel. By the looks of the cars parked in it, Puigcerda is not on a tight budget. Mercedes, BMWs and Minis were the three most common cars. Our hotel happened to be right near the parking lot, so we parked, put our bags down and then went right out to explore. What we discovered was a vibrant mountain village with a flare not unlike that of Park City, Utah, were the Sundance Film Festival takes place in January. Chic boutiques, elegant shops and gourmet restaurants fill the narrow boulevards with their temptations. Up behind the city center, we found a small, tidy lake, perfectly shaped by a stone wall and pathway. A circular park lines the outer edges, and beyond it, a number of quite lovely vacation manses looking rather Swiss as well. We drank a round of Estrella beers in a lakeside bar with glass walls, and then went downtown for dinner –- which was another delicious Italian meal.
Sunday, we cruised out of the Pyrenees into France, stopping to take photos of fat horses grazing and go exploring through ancient villages. One of them is called Villefrance. It too, has Catalan roots, as does the entire region we were driving through: Both the French and the Spanish share Catalan ancestry on either side of the border. Villefrance is especially darling with its walled-in village, looking quite like a fortress. The town has a mystic feeling, and the shops sport little witches on broomsticks dangling in the doorways. The legend is that in the mountains, there are spirits –- and the witches keep out the bad ones. Sean and I decided to take a picture of Know-me the Gnome, our traveling doll that my Uncle Ned and Susan gave us from New Zealand. He fit right in with the other charms and talisman for sale in the shops.
Not far beyond Villefrance, we shot out of the Pyrenees and returned to flat olive tree country in Spain, heading toward La Costa Brava, destination: Cadaquez. Cadequez is a small fishing village with white-washed buildings lining a crescent moon-shaped harbor that could be a spot-on backdrop for a pirate movie. Our hotel was a lovely resort, replete with swimming pool and tennis courts. Cadaquez actually reminded us a great deal of Catalina Island, so at dinner, we swapped stories of our memories there: mine were about sailing on my grandpa's yacht, The Gaylup, to Catalina, and remembering the flying fish landing on the deck. PB told us how that is where he and MB were when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Sean's were about bumping into Brett Atkinson after a wedding he'd been to, and seeing that Brett had eased into a beachy look of tuxedo pants rolled to his calves; shirtless.
Next morning, we strolled through Cadaquez and then hit the deck – poolside - where we stayed until sunset. We had a lovely dinner that night, and then went to bed feeling rested. Monday morning, we were homeward bound, but not before taking a scenic drive along La Costa Brava –- the wild coast –- to see the most beautiful coastline in the world. All of us slept that night dreaming of the village of Tossa de Mar we had passed through and the Mediterranean Sea.
MB and PB had an early flight the next morning –- a Wednesday –- so I said my good-byes and thank-yous to them through squinty eyes and then Sean escorted them to the airport. Our hope is that we helped them have an unforgettable time, and a head-full of memories to flashback on. As for Sean and me, we already cherish the two weeks we had with PB and MB in France and Spain in May, 2006.
Hasta luego and hope you enjoy the pics...
Ramblin' down La Rambla
PB and MB at the colorful Boqueria market around the corner from our apartment
PB and Sean conquer the statues at the bottom of La Rambla
The four of us relaxing on the mosaic bench in Gaudi's Parc Guell
PB and MB with La Sagrada Familia in the palms of their hands
The view of Barcelona from atop Parc Guell
MB and Kate in front of the "Gingerbread House" at Parc Guell
Road Trip!
The Pyrenees!
Daunting drive ... Awesome views!
The beautiful valley near the village of Puigcerda
Happy Mother's Day!!!
A beautiful bridge on the drive from Puigerda to Cadaquez
Kate is all smiles in Villefrance
The approach to Cadaquez. Amazing how similar the scenery is to our pics from Sardinia!
The bay in Cadaquez
MB and Cadaquez ... stunning!
PB and MB posing with an image of Catalunya's ferociously cheeky mascot ... the burro!
PB and MB pose with Cadaquez as the backdrop.
Just one of the thousands of coves along the Costa Brava
The amazing beach in Tossa de Mar
Unscathed by the torrential downpour we narrowly escaped in Paris, our flight landed in Barcelona at around midnight. The air was dry and dark when we arrived to the blue door next to the Mango store, at #14 Portaferrissa. We'd joked with PB and MB of the 100 stairs to our piso, but with luggage and exhaustion, they showed now sign of amusement. Up we went, panting and pausing. Finally home, we crashed in our beds and slept.
The next day was a Sunday and we decided to show PB and MB the beach. We walked the distance from Barri Gotic down a stretch of La Rambla, left at the Cristobal Colon monument, along Port Vell's harbor way and into Barceloneta where the waves calmly roll into the beach. We spent the rest of the day taking our time, strolling, sitting, having sangria. For dinner, we went to Salterio, our landlord's nook-in-the-wall restaurant where sardos come from. Sardos, we explained, look a bit like a pita bread quesadilla, but taste like a bite out of the Sahara. They are made with white cheese, mushrooms, spices and a delicious sesame butter sauce. They are a Morroccan dish cooked by Fatima, the plump, jolly woman from Sahara who incidentally calls me Shawna because I am the wife of Sean. We'd told MB that she and Fatima share a common passion for Elvis. So, MB brought one of her favorite Elvis tee-shirts to Fatima as a gift. (Later, when Fatima put it on, she cranked up an Elvis CD and suddenly we were in a bizarre culture clash.)
The rest of the week was quite relaxing. While Sean and I worked from our laptops, PB and MB embarked on their favorite trick to familiarize themselves with the city: the open air tour buses. They saw the Sagrada Familia, the Arc de Triomf, the Parc de la Ciutadella and countless curvy, gothic streets. At night, I cooked Spanish tapas and pasta dishes, and we washed them down with bottles of red wine. Our little bohemian piso has been looking especially cute lately with the geraniums I put on our balcony. It was fun to fill our place with garlic and laughter.
Sean took the Friday of that week off to go exploring with PB and MB around Barcelona. So, we took a taxi up the slope of the city toward Parc Guell, better known as "The Gaudi Park." We spent a few hours up there oohing and ahhhing over the intricate designs and mosaics that decorate acres of park land. Gaudi's orginal vision for the lot was for it to be a functioning village, but things went awry and eventually he died before it was completed. (He was actually killed when he was hit by a trolley car.) So now, rather than a village, it is more like a cave/terrace/ labyrinth. We poked around the cave, ate breakfast on the terrace and hiked through the labyrinth. Once at the top of the park, we could see a gorgeous panorama of Barcelona. What a breathtaking view!
Saturday morning, our mission was to train up to Girona, pick up our rental car and embark on our journey through the Pyrenees to a village called Puigcerda (Puh-chair-duh). What a place! The drive through the Pyrenees was a steep incline up some 2,000 meters in altitude on a snakey road that disappears into the fog line. In an hour's drive, we had transported ourselves from balmy Barcelona to a portrait of Switzerland! The greens are lush and the blue sky is brilliant. Once to the summit, we rolled down the backside into open valleys speckled with little villages nestling by rivers.
Puigcerda has to be one of the most magical settings I've ever seen. It's high up on a hillside, overlooking a valley, surrounded by snow-capped peaks of the Pyrenees. Back in the Spanish Civil War (1930s) Puigcerda took a harsh beating from the Facists. The only remnant of its Catalan identity still standing is the bell tower of the cathedral that once dominated the top of the town, but was bombed to rubble. Now, a parking lot takes up the space that was once the footprint of the main chapel. By the looks of the cars parked in it, Puigcerda is not on a tight budget. Mercedes, BMWs and Minis were the three most common cars. Our hotel happened to be right near the parking lot, so we parked, put our bags down and then went right out to explore. What we discovered was a vibrant mountain village with a flare not unlike that of Park City, Utah, were the Sundance Film Festival takes place in January. Chic boutiques, elegant shops and gourmet restaurants fill the narrow boulevards with their temptations. Up behind the city center, we found a small, tidy lake, perfectly shaped by a stone wall and pathway. A circular park lines the outer edges, and beyond it, a number of quite lovely vacation manses looking rather Swiss as well. We drank a round of Estrella beers in a lakeside bar with glass walls, and then went downtown for dinner –- which was another delicious Italian meal.
Sunday, we cruised out of the Pyrenees into France, stopping to take photos of fat horses grazing and go exploring through ancient villages. One of them is called Villefrance. It too, has Catalan roots, as does the entire region we were driving through: Both the French and the Spanish share Catalan ancestry on either side of the border. Villefrance is especially darling with its walled-in village, looking quite like a fortress. The town has a mystic feeling, and the shops sport little witches on broomsticks dangling in the doorways. The legend is that in the mountains, there are spirits –- and the witches keep out the bad ones. Sean and I decided to take a picture of Know-me the Gnome, our traveling doll that my Uncle Ned and Susan gave us from New Zealand. He fit right in with the other charms and talisman for sale in the shops.
Not far beyond Villefrance, we shot out of the Pyrenees and returned to flat olive tree country in Spain, heading toward La Costa Brava, destination: Cadaquez. Cadequez is a small fishing village with white-washed buildings lining a crescent moon-shaped harbor that could be a spot-on backdrop for a pirate movie. Our hotel was a lovely resort, replete with swimming pool and tennis courts. Cadaquez actually reminded us a great deal of Catalina Island, so at dinner, we swapped stories of our memories there: mine were about sailing on my grandpa's yacht, The Gaylup, to Catalina, and remembering the flying fish landing on the deck. PB told us how that is where he and MB were when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Sean's were about bumping into Brett Atkinson after a wedding he'd been to, and seeing that Brett had eased into a beachy look of tuxedo pants rolled to his calves; shirtless.
Next morning, we strolled through Cadaquez and then hit the deck – poolside - where we stayed until sunset. We had a lovely dinner that night, and then went to bed feeling rested. Monday morning, we were homeward bound, but not before taking a scenic drive along La Costa Brava –- the wild coast –- to see the most beautiful coastline in the world. All of us slept that night dreaming of the village of Tossa de Mar we had passed through and the Mediterranean Sea.
MB and PB had an early flight the next morning –- a Wednesday –- so I said my good-byes and thank-yous to them through squinty eyes and then Sean escorted them to the airport. Our hope is that we helped them have an unforgettable time, and a head-full of memories to flashback on. As for Sean and me, we already cherish the two weeks we had with PB and MB in France and Spain in May, 2006.
Hasta luego and hope you enjoy the pics...
Ramblin' down La Rambla
PB and MB at the colorful Boqueria market around the corner from our apartment
PB and Sean conquer the statues at the bottom of La Rambla
The four of us relaxing on the mosaic bench in Gaudi's Parc Guell
PB and MB with La Sagrada Familia in the palms of their hands
The view of Barcelona from atop Parc Guell
MB and Kate in front of the "Gingerbread House" at Parc Guell
Road Trip!
The Pyrenees!
Daunting drive ... Awesome views!
The beautiful valley near the village of Puigcerda
Happy Mother's Day!!!
A beautiful bridge on the drive from Puigerda to Cadaquez
Kate is all smiles in Villefrance
The approach to Cadaquez. Amazing how similar the scenery is to our pics from Sardinia!
The bay in Cadaquez
MB and Cadaquez ... stunning!
PB and MB posing with an image of Catalunya's ferociously cheeky mascot ... the burro!
PB and MB pose with Cadaquez as the backdrop.
Just one of the thousands of coves along the Costa Brava
The amazing beach in Tossa de Mar
posted by Sean McMahon | 11:12 PM
1 Comments:
Barcelona is a remarkable city. It has everything one can ever dream of: great people, amazing weather, beautiful architecture, history, great artists, tasty food, luxury Barcelona hotels and that essence a city need to be just perfect. Barcelona is a world itself. From the beautiful Barri Gotic to the incredible Sagrada Familia, the city never sleeps, glowing every second of every minute. The Ramblas are the heart of the city, arousing its character and spreading it all over the place.This is definitely a city to remember, a city to enjoy and a city to discover.
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