Adiós Barcelona, we're going to Girona

Barcelona is a place that needs many visits!!! It is beautiful, the scenery is unreal, the architecture, textures, colors, and people are amazing! One simply cannot see it all in a few days. We will definitely be back.
We barely scratched the surface. But it is all good. The bit we saw was lovely, the food was delicious. We had paella last night and it was like a fight over a pizookie (BJ's best dessert) the forks were battling for every last morsel. lol Actually, we were quite civilized and shared nicely. Todd took a great picture of our dinner, but he's on a ride so that will have to wait. Satisfy yourselves with the photo of our beers.  Refreshing!

That dinner at 10 pm ended our visit quite nicely. The people here are kind and helpful. We caught the train, small wrinkles in that our original train was cancelled, but we figured out that another leaving shortly should stop at our destination. (We got lucky, it did stop.) We were pretty tired so that was a good thing.  Todd had a 68 mile ride and was getting pretty sleepy.

Random thoughts
It really seemed to me that the women of Barcelona are very free spirited. They are self-confident and expressive with their clothing choices. Age was of no consequence, women wore what they liked.  It seemed that nothing was off limits.  I did notice a few trends emerging- harem pants seem to be making a comeback (I'm not sure that's a good thing, comfy, but not always a good thing), flat shoes of all types (flip flops, flat sandals, ballet flats, sketcher type flats, Vans, and chucks), very few platform shoes which surprised me since that is all we seem to see in Southern California. The striped shirt with lace on the back was everywhere! Maxi skirts and dresses were seen on women of all ages, cute little skirts, flowing tops, and strappy sundresses with the gladiator type sandals.
I was just awestruck by the confidence they all exuded.  It seems to me that American women could learn a thing or two about confidence and self-love from Spanish women.
There have been several women (elderly) who are sporting the bikini (keeping the straps down to prevent lines) and their breasts are definitely post baby gravity bombs. I love their confidence, but I like to think I'm doing a public service in letting it all hang out.  lol Love their confidence and verve!
Todd gives the women of Barcelona (actually all Spanish women) his stamp of approval; he says "Spanish girls are the hottest girls anywhere. There are some hot chicks here."  I agree, I don't know if it is that confidence that the women exude but there are some very beautiful women here of all shapes and sizes.
So that closes the door on Barcelona, don't you just love the picture of the door from the NMAC? I just love the beauty of it-- the craftsmanship and time has made it all the more lovely.

Last thoughts- 
We missed Chelsea on her birthday. She is 22! I hope she knows that we were thinking about her all day and that she is loved deeply. She's our free spirit and spontaneous girl. We are excited to see what the future holds for her.
Happy birthday Chels!
That said, we are missing all of our girls. xoxoxox

Barcelona, Baby!

Barcelona, Baby!

Well, the morning came early for Todd and he hit the streets eager to experience the hills surrounding Barcelona; his excitement hit the skids (Literally and figuratively) when a truck saw him, hit the brakes, which allowed Todd to do a grand roll over the hood of the truck. He landed on the truck because his bike clips stayed attached to one foot.  I guess that saved him a little. He ended up on his back like a turtle—the bike was half on the truck and half off. Suffice it to say he’s one lucky guy. He has a busy guardian angel, for sure!

He came back to the RV and was just chatting away about the ride; he just casually slipped in the part where he ran into a truck after it stopped right in his path.  Are you kidding me?!!!! Oh my goodness!  Fortunately, he seems to be all right.  Or, how he puts it, my bike and I are okay.  Phew!  He has a little road rash, a sore back --- I’m guessing he’ll feel a bit sore tomorrow.  I’m pretty darn grateful that he’s okay.

After the ride, he showered and we hit the road. From our spot in Vilanova i la Geltrú it takes a bus and a train to get to Barcelona.  But once there we hit the streets and found our way to a nice little café on the street (get some fortification in the form of a cervesa and sandwich that we shared); we were able to find the hop-on type of bus tour.   After touring the city, we now have a good idea of what we need to go see tomorrow. We have just one more day in Barcelona—I figure that means we have to come back and check it out again at someday to finish it up. 

This sign just cracked us up-- the other sign across the street is normal - some creative person took some liberties with this one.  LOL

We found some lovely gentlemen from New York to take this for us-- he was very particular about how it was to be framed.  He clucked on and on about people messing up the shot. He was a funny guy. The couple was happy to find someone willing to take direction and take the shot as they envisioned it. 

 Barcelona is known for its spectacular architecture- here is just one very cool building. When wifi is faster, I'll put the name down. 

Tomorrow we are headed back to Barcelona after Todd and the neighbor (in the next camping spot) go on a bike ride. We are going to see all things Gaudi.  Plus a few other things we’ve been told by friends to do before leaving.  While he’s gone I’m doing some laundry, as we will not have ready access again for the duration of the trip.  They also have a spa, so I’m thinking it might be nice to get a massage.

Thursday I’m headed to the beach while Todd goes riding. I cannot come here without going and dipping my bod in the Mediterranean Sea!  It is so beautiful.

Skype with Ali – July 8th

It was so nice to talk to one of our girls tonight. We’re so used to talking to them whenever we want.  It was a treat to talk to Ali. We chatted about a little of everything. Nice!

Cute pic of Ali to come (Did I mention that the Internet is slow here??! Plus we can have only one device on wifi at a time.)

We will be talking to Chels on her 22^nd birthday on Wednesday and hopefully Jess between now and then.

Adìos friends!

From Col de Peyresourde to Espana (in just a few hours)

Todd and I decided that we wanted to get part of our drive to Spain under our belts. So, we headed out.  We got to a little town called Tella de Sin, where they have a cute campground. We’re staying for a whopping $12 Euro – running water is the big bonus, that meant full size toilets and showers (a luxury I can assure you).  We will be going to an amazing campground outside of Barcelona tomorrow that is a whole lot more than $12 Euro.  But they’ve got amenities --showers, electricity, and it’s close to the beach (although Todd’s hairdresser did relate a horror story about a very large naked woman standing over him at the beach- he was unaware that clothing was optional).

So much more to come – I’m excited. 

Finding Our Way to the Disneyland of Campgrounds

The drive over was simply amazing. Spain reminds me of Central California and San Diego (at least the parts we’ve seen). The Rio Cinca was incredible!  It was the most brilliant aqua blue—like nothing I’ve seen. Blue and green together-- I don’t think our cameras came close to capturing the actual color.

Lake pic

We drove through some adorable towns. They were quaint and just beautiful. Some of the buildings were so old, it gave me a sense of insignificance. It will continue to stand long after I’ve left this world. Incredible sights!

Beautiful town called Loudenville

Tomorrow we will be headed into Barcelona.  Todd’s going to ride in the AM and then we will go in and do a bike tour and see the city. It should be really fun. I’m ashamed to say we didn’t do any research on Spain—so we’re doing it tonight.

We arrived late Monday afternoon at the campground; it is called Vilanova Park. This campground is H-U-G-E! We are in section G and there are literally hundreds of campsites, cabins, and tent spaces. There are at least 2 pools, a full restaurant, a restaurant/bar, an ice cream bar, a pizza bar, a game room, a boutique, an Internet café (coin operated), a full grocery store, and so much more that we haven’t seen.  When we left the restaurant tonight they were setting up for a live band.

This place is insane. The couple behind us has been coming here for 5 years. He is Dutch and she is from Rochester, Minnesota (half-Dutch also). It’s nice to have a few English speakers around. They have the cutest little one and some tweens.  He’s a cyclist, we’ll see if he and Todd have time to get a ride in together.  He was admiring Todd’s bike. He’s younger and should be able to keep up (I would think) despite his older bike.

Great dinner tonight—we haven’t eaten out since Paris.  We decided to grab a light dinner at the restaurant here.  We ordered salmon and a salad. The two beers were really good. I haven’t heard of the beer before, but it was nice. Very refreshing.

One funny note- at home we have some doves that nest by Todd’s window. Today I noticed that some doves (they look similar to the ones at home) are at the campsite. LOL   It looks like Todd will have his friends here to drive him a little crazy and wake him up in the morning.

Le Tour - Stage 9 St. Girons – Bagneres-de-Bigorre and the Young Frenchman

We found a great spot about 3 miles down on the descent of Col de Peyresourde. To get a spot on the way up or at the top would have meant some serious magic since we couldn’t pick up the RV until 9 AM and Col de Peyresourde is 9 hours away with stops for groceries and necessities. We would have had to get here at the time we were picking up the RV. That’s a space time continuum issue.  J  Regardless, it was so amazing! The Pyrenees are so beautiful. There are beautiful woods all around and the scattered farmhouses look like they could be 150 years old.  So gorgeous.

Pics to com

Now, back to the Stage 9 of the Tour de France. Once we got up, Todd raced about getting his bike together. He grabbed a granola bar and was gone. The plan was for me to hurry up, make a few baguette sandwiches and walk up the Col de Peyresourde. No small task let me tell you.  I decided to take a few moments to blog and the next thing I know there is some sort of parade taking place!  There are all kinds of cars and trucks driving by and they are throwing goodies out.  Hats, candies, cookies, beer cozies, air pillows, cookies, drinks, newspapers, magazines, and keychains it’s like the French Mardi Gras around here.  So, I had to gather up the freebies and get moving. I made it about a mile (halfway), I ran in to some very nice Frenchmen who work for Skoda (big sponsor of le tour), we chatted a bit, they advised me that there would not be time for me to get up to the top and to stay and watch from this lovely shaded spot.  True to form, 20 minutes the cyclists roared down the hill and around the corner—I got it all on video. It was so cool! 

Let me tell you a little more about the Skoda guys—they were on a lunch break. They were ultra prepared, no bagged lunches at this party! They had a full lunch replete with stemware and a nice burgundy wine. Funny.  One young man was sweet enough to offer me a water or coke – I accepted and he winked at me.  I’m an American cougar—bahaha (I added that because one daughter told me that was gross and to never do it again. Lol).  He was quite a cute boy—couldn’t have been more than 25.  So, the lesson here is that the French are quite charming.

Gift from the young Frenchman

From Col de Peyresourde to Espana (in just a few hours)

Todd and I decided that we wanted to get part of our drive to Spain under our belts. So, we headed out.  We got to a little town called Tella de Sin, where they have a cute campground. We’re staying for a whopping $12 Euro – running water is the big bonus, that meant full size toilets and showers (a luxury I can assure you).  We will be going to an amazing campground outside of Barcelona tomorrow that is a whole lot more than $12 Euro.  But they’ve got amenities --showers, electricity, and it’s close to the beach (although Todd’s hairdresser did relate a horror story about a very large naked woman standing over him at the beach- he was unaware that clothing was optional).

So much more to come – I’m excited. 

The Joys of Technology and Random Thoughts

Tech Issues Abound, But Nature Rocks

Leaving Paris was quite an adventure, the GPS app didn’t work! Todd is quite fond of the MotionX app on his iPad and uses it all the time complete with his favorite guide voice, “the Cougar.” In any case, the cougar let us down big time and we were stuck using maps Todd had printed up with directions – thank goodness for his foresight or we might still be in Paris. The streets have ridiculously small street signs!  Seriously, I think they are merely ornamental.  You just have to know where you are going or have a GPS that works.  It all worked out, we later discovered that the Maps app by Apple worked fine—things are good now. Bonus: I’m not tortured by the Cougar voice. It is so cheesy.  Ugh.

Technology is so good and so bad.  It is awesome when it is readily available and so horrible when you don’t have what you need. Case in point, our RV will not charge any of our devices via plugs (although we can power the iPad and phone (music) on via the cigarette lighter).  We definitely need a solution for this today. My full size camera has two batteries and I’m on the last one.  Eeek.  My iPhone takes nice photos, but my camera takes way better ones.  I have more than double the megapixels. 

In the meantime, I’m taking pictures with my mind.  It has seriously been amazingly beautiful. I just can’t express in words how stunning the Pyrenees Mountains are when you see them in person.  In addition to the natural beauty, there is incredible beauty in the old buildings that may be close to 200 years old.  Each rock is meticulously placed.  Amazing!

I am totally reminded of the scenes from the movie Heidi (from when I was young- you know, the dark ages). Of course, that was probably a movie set but it seemed so amazingly beautiful to me as a kid. 

The sounds of nature just surrounded our camper.  The birds sang continuously, the water rushed through the rocks, and the crickets were just blasting their own song all day long.

This is my favorite picture of the little waterfall

Random Thoughts on Travel

This trip started off with some very crazy happenings – while in Salt Lake City we were grabbing a bite to eat and saw a poor man with a cane kind of throw himself to the ground. He was attempting to pick up what looked to be dog crap off the ground. It just made no sense, dog poop on the carpet in an airport?! Well, in looking around we noticed that there was a service dog—then it made sense. I felt so sorry for the man—travel is hard enough without having to add pooper scooper duties to the mix.  A lovely woman ran over to help him and he was soon on his way and all was back to the normal hustle and bustle activity of an airport.

We saw the sun go down and come right back up in a matter of minutes. It couldn't have been more than 15 minutes.  

On the trip from SLC to Paris, we had one guy in our row of 5 seats. This guy must be the only person in the world who likes to sit in the center. He stayed next to Todd all night long-- he put on a red mask and Todd just had to call him Robin.  Does that make Todd--- Batman?!  LOL

Hello Robin, where's your friend Batman?

Le Tour

The Tour de France is like a crazy carnival; it is a cross between New Orleans' Mardi Gras and your basic State or County Fair. Crazy characters dressed up, wild cars, and people throwing stuff at you.  The Vendors drive by in parade fashion with cars decorated wildly, pounding music, and they are throwing out goodies like there is no tomorrow. We got everything a wide variety of items; there were such treasures as hats, candies, drink powders, and even laundry soap. 

Lessons- The Good, the Bad, the U-G-L-Y With Many Euros Thrown in For Good Measure!

#1 Lessons – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Travel can be funny. Take this trip for example, we are crazy American travelers who speak no French and yet we jump in and go anyway. It definitely has led to some funny situations and some really cool ones as well. This trip has also led to more than a few lessons and I’m not talking about language lessons.

Todd and I are slow learners – every time we travel to faraway places involving serious jet lag, we continue to do the same thing- arrive and go sightseeing. It always leads to ridiculous arguments and silliness. We really need to time these trips so that we land at bedtime in the country, seriously!

Anyway, back to our silliness, we arrived in Paris went to the hotel and grabbed a quick shower. There is something about being on a plane than just makes one feel icky and in dire need of a shower. We hopped on the train into the city, and enjoyed a 40 min trip with few stops. Upon our arrival, we found that we were at Notre Dame. We decided to grab some food at a café overlooking the amazing sight that is Notre Dame.

The waiter served us the craziest drink—tea with limonade . Now at home we drink Arnold Palmer’s all the time and love them. But this was different; it was peach tea and sprite. They call sprite limonade. It was delivered with a giant sparkler thing sticking out of it.  All that for $12 Euro!!!! (per drink) Feeling very much like a sucker at that point.  But hey, isn’t that what traveling is all about – experiencing new things and learning lessons (over and over again).

The sparkler went out before I could get the pic.  

Things got ugly; jet lag took over, and let’s just say, it wasn’t pretty. I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I’m tired I get ornery and ill behaved. It is very similar to when I go too long without eating (see any of the recent Snickers commercials – I become quite beastly). Like a toddler without a nap, I whine. In any case, it’s not my best side. My hubby isn’t as bad but his patience runs thin and he gets snarky.  Not a great combination in fact, things get quite combustible as his patience goes away and my whininess increases commensurate with my exhaustion.

In this case, I ended up lost and wandering about for a few hours before finding my way back to the hotel. I have no directional sense so that’s quite a feat—I did get off at the wrong stop but found my way back thanks to some kindly French folks who helped me determine that I was indeed getting on the right train.

Todd walked in a few minutes later, and we had a good chat, ate an appetizer with a nice refreshing beer and went to bed. All was right in our world once we went to bed—we slept a glorious 11 hours. What a rejuvenation that was for the two of us!

I am thinking we need to stagger our arrival in a new place or plan our trip so that we get there at bedtime. Isn’t the definition of crazy that we continue to do the same thing expecting a different result? In that case, we are CRAZY! 

The new day took us straight to the depot to pick up the RV. We got it at 9AM and hit the road. Now I’m heading out to hike up to the top of Col de Peyresourde for Stage 9 of the Tour de France!  Todd’s going to meet me at the top later; he’s on his bike – getting one of his bucket list items checked off in a big way.  It has been fun seeing his excitement. He’s like a little kid on the night before Christmas.

More later! 

Au revoir