Barcelona Spain
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| santa caterina market, barcelona spain |
since our trip to Ireland in April we have been been doing a lot of local traveling. we spent a very nice weekend in a small, ancient, French port city of Collioure just over the border of Spain. it was a beautiful little town on the water, with (of course) an old castle/fort protecting the port. our little pension had a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean. hard to beat that.
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| corri learning to skip rocks |
on the way back down the coast of north/east Spain we stopped for a night in Costa Brava to hang out with friends, the family Swifts. The Swifts were there taking a scuba certification course because they have plans to scuba dive in Zanzibar this summer. Zanzibar, go figure. the scuba school offered an hour long intro class that we signed Corrinne up for. not our best idea. the class took place in a pool, 4/5 feet deep. The teacher first talked about the necessity to always continue to breathe, don't hold your breath or you could damage your lungs. all corrinne heard was, what we got her involved in could hurt her lungs (she wants to have healthy lungs, thats why she does not smoke).
So she was not to pleased with what we signed her up for. to her credit she did man-up and finished the class. she even dove to a depth of 4 feet, but then she got the heck out of there as soon as she could.
from costa brava we continued down the coast of spain toward barcelona. about ten miles out of barcelona we stopped to fill the rental car with gas. I always wondered what happens when you fill an unleaded fuel car with diesel fuel. in retrospect, i should have just googled the answer. it was a joyous end to our weekend, involving tow-trucks and taxis. lovely, lovely
The next weekend we traveled north again to the city of Girona for their annual flower festival.
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| a whole city of flowers and all she wanted was to have tiny little fish eat her feet |
in the last six weeks Cindy has taken two meaningful trips to hike portions of the "Camino de Santiago," (the way of Saint James). The CdS is the1600'sh mile trail that Saint James took from the coast of France to the east coast of Spain, through forests, fields, mountains, and towns, ending in Santiago. thousands of pilgrims walk "the way" each year. CB walked the last week of trail with her friend Tori O'Malley from the states. then a few weeks later , with friends from barcelona, she walked the first week of the trail, which started in France. walking "the way" can be a spiritual experience that touches people in different ways. Cindy really enjoyed these hikes and has every intention to come back to spain and do other parts of the trail.
meanwhile back in barcelona CB continues her flamenco dance lessons in preparation for her class dance recital june 30th (all are welcome), Corrinne continues to flourish at the international school, and me, i'm still doing a lot of reading, hanging at bakeries and cafes, guitar lessons, sometimes I dance in public with my wife.
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| sometimes we just hang out in front of yummy bakerys |
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| sometimes we just walk around |
in May, while CB was on the Camino, Corri went on a two night field trip with her class. Overnight field trips are normal and expected in Spain, and the kids look forward to them all year. Corrinne's class went north to the border of France. They did a bit of hiking into France and back to Spain, zip-lined, stayed in hotels, had buffet meals, and disco partied into the wee-hours. all returned safe-and-sound.
Corrinne and two friends, Nadia and Elli, were team # 9, competing in the annual science fair. They won First Place with their entry "Uh-Oh, Oil Spills." They researched, and determined the best way to remove car oil from salt water (Ocean water), then presented their conclusions verbally to the judges. they even worked in an oil-spill song at the end of the presentation. how can you lose when you sing to the judge? it was a big, proud day for the girls.
Corrinne also participated in her Spanish class play. She was the narrator in a modern version of Cinderella. the whole play was in Spanish. I am sure of it because I did not understand a word of it.she, and all the kids did great. She came out 7 or 8 times and delivered her lines perfectly. I can not believe the amount of spanish she has absorbed in just one year. I do get a little tired of her correcting my Spanish though.
Two weeks ago, Corrinne and I hopped a train to San Sabastian. A small coastal town on the north/west coast of Spain. We stopped in Pamplona for 4 minutes to pick up Cindy who had, the day before, ended her second hike on the Camino in Pamplona. Then we all continued to San Sabation to meet up with my brother Tom and family and their friends, the Conways. Tom and his group were starting a three week trip through Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. San Sebastion is a fun, famous, foodie town with great weather and great beaches, and therefore, popular and crowded. I have never seen such a crowded beach, but the water was great, and the waves were the perfect size for corrinne so we had a great weekend. It was fun hanging with the Hobans and the Conways. Currently they should be in Portugal sipping port.
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| the boardwalk |
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| san sebastian tapas |
Corrinne and four of her girl friends from school call themselves the “C NAME” club (Corrinne, Nadia, Annika, Margaux, Ellie). The C NAME club had a sleep-over Friday night at our place that started with a treasure hunt from school, and ended with pancakes Saturday morning. The girls had a blast and they will remember each other the rest of their lives.
And so we near the end of my life of leisure. But
not quite yet. Next week we are off to
Madrid. Before Madrid we stop in Burgos
to watch a very obscure ceremony where priests jump over babies (more to come on that, I
have to see it first). From Madrid we return to Barcelona for Cindy's dance recital (all invited), and our last few days in Barcelona. it is going to be very sad to say goodbye to our home of the last year. I am ready to go, but not ready to return to reality. what I would really like to do is go live in Rome for a while.
From Barcelona we are off to the island of
Sardinia, Italy for a week (kayaking and white donkeys). Then to London to see brother Ed and family
where niece Kami’s soccer team is playing.
Then to Boston USA to visit friends, the family Barnards. On July 14, 2014 we fly southwest air back to long beach. we will see how long that lasts.
