Spain

Marta is going to write some profound thoughts about our vacation here....

I finally have time to sit down and reflect on our trip to Catalunya. It has been a whirlwind few weeks since we returned from Spain, and I have yet to really look at our pictures!

Drew and I spent the first two weeks of March exploring Catalunya (aka around Barcelona). It was a great vacation to take our minds off the upcoming Match Day! I have wanted to go to Barcelona ever since I saw my brother's pictures of Gaudi's spectacular creations - he really is one of the greatest and most artistic architects I have come across. We planned half of our trip in the Catalunya countryside and the other half in Barcelona. If we not braved the mini European rental car for that first half, I don't think we would have been satisfied with the full Catalonian experience.

We started off our trip barely making it out of the parking garage in Barcelona and accidentally drove directly through Barcelona rush hour traffic. Drew perhaps only yelled at my navigation skills about five times. It felt like we were on the Amazing Race, haha. We managed to make our way north up the Costa Brava, stopping for lunch at a beautiful small town called Tossa del Mar. The towns were half open as it is still winter there, so it felt like we had the place to ourselves. We happened upon a Travel & Leisure article before leaving that recommended a rural hotel in the medieval town of Ullastret. We may have been one of two couples sleeping in the town that evening, but the owner and chef cooked us a magnificent and typical meal. The food was all local and the sheep were raised on traditional, organic grains. How Portland, right? Usually Travel & Leisure is out of our price range, but this was a terrific find! We visited another local medieval town before heading farther north to the Cap de Creus Peninsula.

We spent the next night in Cadaques - a small coastal town put on the map by Salvador Dali. Here is where he spent his summers painting and where we were able to visit his house in Port Lligat. If you thought, his paintings were odd, his house is just as unique. You can see the bear entryway in our pictures below. His classic "egg" symbolism appears throughout the garden - I believe to represent pregnant or fertile women in many of his paintings. I'm not up on all my Dali art history, however! On our way back inland, I made Drew drive up a foggy, windy road to the Sant Pere de Rodes monastery. I was shocked to find it open as it looked absolutely deserted when we walked up.This place was an amazing find - built in the 10th-11th century with pristine views of the sea on a clear day. Perhaps I would have been more impressed with the Montserrat monastery outside of Barcelona had we not found this place. But it was great to have the place to ourselves. Finally, we made the necessary stop at the Dali museum in Figueres, a work created by Dali himself displaying much of his art and personal collection. He is even buried there!

The next leg of our trip was to the cava (same as champagne but produced in Spain) and wine region. Fortunately we made friends with the hotel owner who happened to also be a FC Barcelona socio. He invitared us gratis to Barcelona vs. Real Zaragoza and even bought us a bottle of cava in a special socios' only room prior to the game. How we landed that deal, who knows....but it was amazing to finally attend a European soccer game with 92,000 other fans at Camp Nou. The cava and wine region was good - honestly we didn't really know what we were doing because apparently many of the places require pre-arranged tours. But we did get to see two cava/wineries and pick up some good bottles of wine for Carnival!

After 4 days with our rental car, we paid the hefty $60 airport tax and $60 for a half tank of gas and finally started using public transportation. The first stop - Sitges, Spain - 40 km south of Barcelona known for its Carnival, amazing beaches, and gay nightlife. We arrived at 9am to a town that appeared empty...as 11am rolled around, the boardwalk filled up as people recovered from their hangovers and ready for another day of Carnival! Drew and I enjoyed a day of sunshine at a cafe and the beach before transitioning to Carnival mode. Of course, we had to carry a bit of wine out in our empty diet coke bottle....and slowly the beach filled up with young adults ready for an evening of fun. We saw the childrens' parade in the afternoon and then staked out a spot at the main square to watch the Carnival parade. It started at 9pm...by midnight, there were still more groups to come. Drew got some amazing photos of the costumes.

Finally on to our five days in Barcelona. Of everything we did, the Gaudi places were the most amazing. It was a bit of a shot to transition from the countryside to Barcelona, which is a huge touristy city. We stayed at a small, budget hotel on Placa Catalunya - a perfect location between Las Ramblas and the newer Eixample district. We arrived at Gaudi's Parque Guell on the first afternoon and could hardly walk around the number of tourists. Of course we soon realized why so many people vacation to see this city. Park Guell was originally designed to be a gated community but it was a bust and eventually donated to the city. Gaudi's famous gingerbread houses mark the entryway and there are beautiful of the city from the hill above. Perhaps what I love most about his work is the bright tiled colors, lack of straight lines, and design based on nature. This is most apparent in the Sagrada Familia, where you truly feel like you are walking through a forest by the way the columns branch out to support the facades. You can check out some of Drew's captions about more of Gaudi's work below. Day 2 began with Sagrada Familia....usually I get bored after seeing too many churches but this is definitely not a church to get bored with. The interior has a balcony that can seat a choir of 1,000 - seriously?! The design of the church is so intricate, it is hard to believe how something like this was even constructed. Although the work continues today, they hope to complete the church in the next 30 years (after only 130 prior years of work!).

Other highlights of Barcelona include walking down Las Ramblas and through the maze of streets of the Barrio Gotica, visiting the Joan Miro museum and the Castle in Monjuic, and taking the cable car up to the monastery Montserrat. Finally, our last day was spent visiting Gaudi's famous apts on Passeig de Gracia. Below you can see pictures of Casa Mila (La Pedrera - my favorite!) and Casa Batllo. Both are amazing for different reasons. The entryway of Casa Mila feels like you are entering a rain forest while Casa Batllo has more of a water theme with many hues of blue. I think I am talking too much about Gaudi and not enough about the rest of Barcelona, but visiting his work definitely vale!

Hopefully you can enjoy many of the great photos (curtesy of Drew) below. I think it is now my responsibility to make a photo book, haha.

Hasta la proxima! Marta