Walls in Spain: 2018

Monday, November 12, 2018

Commute to work

Bucky and I live in the Gracia neighborhood of Barcelona and work in Sant Cugat. Bucky has a car for work so often drives to and from work and I hitch a ride because my office is not that far away from him. Traffic, however, is terrible so the commute is not fun. In fact, recently, we have been taking the train to Sant Cugat to avoid driving. This means, we walk about 10 minutes to the train station in the morning, cram ourselves on the train with about a million other people going to work and then I have to take a bus from the train station in Sant Cugat to the HP office. Bucky can just walk to his office from the train station. Needless to say, the commute to and from work is not my favorite part of the day.

I have, however, captured a few pics below of some sites that made me happy on various routes to or from work so I thought I would share!

This is graffiti that I saw on my walk to another office in Barcelona where I sometimes work. We outsource some of our support to a company that is in the city and I enjoy working there so try and make that happen when I can!

This is on our walk from our house to the train in Gracia. I just thought the buildings were pretty in the light and it was nice that there were no cars on the street!

Here is this cool building at the entrance to our train station. I can imagine what those apartments are like and how lucky those people are to live so close to the train!

This was our spectacular view when we were driving home after work on Friday. Traffic was bad, but everyone was happy because of this lovely rainbow! And it was Friday!!!

Monday, November 5, 2018

Weekend in Elne, France

If you are a regular reader of this blog, or know us at all, you know that Bucky and I have a fondness for France. We especially love to visit vide greniers during the weekends so I found a few that looked interesting this weekend and we decided to head to France. I found a cute, village home on Airbnb in a town called Elne. We made the plans on Thursday night and headed to France the next day after work. We took both animals so we didn't have to worry about Bisoux and he made noise the whole way there. Luckily, it was a quick drive - just a bit over two hours!

The house was really cute - very traditional with a wood burning fireplace and a nice, sunny rooftop terrace. We went to the grocery store when we arrived and got a rotisserie chicken, stuff for salad, a baguette and some wine and enjoyed a simple meal at home for dinner. The next day, we spent the morning searching for treasures at three vide greniers in Perpignan. Bucky bought a cool, old camera at one of them so he was thrilled. We spent the afternoon walking first through the Etang de Canet Saint-Nazaire and then along the beach nearby. The weather was cool and blustery and India was full of beans, but it was lots of fun and made for some great pics (see below).

We had another simple dinner, getting pizza from the food truck at the Mairie. We drank lots of wine and played cards by the fire. Bisoux and India were both happy with this plan! The next morning, there was a vide grenier in Elne! It was held inside the Mairie. We found a couple of knick knacks to buy and then headed to another one in the town of Port Vendres which was just about 20 minutes away. It was a fabulous vide grenier - we were overwhelmed by all of the people and the stuff. It was definitely one of the best we have ever been to!

Sunday afternoon, we drove home to Barcelona leisurely, trying to extend our time in France. We sure love that country!

Bucky locking up our Airbnb to head out for the day.

First vide grenier on Saturday in Perpignan. Bucky found a cool camera!

Walking in the Etang De Canet Saint-Nazaire!

Bucky taking pictures in the etang!

After wandering through the park by the etang, we went over to check out the beach.

Beautiful beach!

India felt at home on the beach!

Another vide grenier in Port Vendres.

More treasures at the vide grenier in Port Vendres.

The vide grenier went on and on!

View walking through the old town of Elne.

More old town views in Elne.

Cute little streets in Elne.

Bisoux joined us on this trip and enjoyed the roof patio!

Friday, November 2, 2018

All Saint's Day

Halloween is a big deal to the Wall family, but not a big deal in Spain. Instead, the big event in Spain is All Saint's Day, also known as the Day of the Dead, which is on November 1st. It is a bank holiday so we had the day off of work! It was ironic because we usually really enjoy Halloween night and it is always tough to get moving the next day. This year, we had a normal evening on October 31st, but were able to sleep in the next day. I wish we got November 1st off in the US and I bet a lot of other people wish the same!

We wanted to get out and about on our day off. We have done all of the touristy things we need to do in Barcelona so we had to get creative. I looked online for what was going on and the most popular thing was people visiting cemeteries. That is what the day is all about - visiting your loved ones who have died. So, we decided to go to a cemetery!

We chose Poblenou Cemetery since it the largest cemetery in Barcelona and it is in a neighborhood where we have not spent much time. And boy - was it impressive! The place was filled with people placing flowers and presents for their loved ones at the individual burial niches. The place is very efficient and there are ladders available for people to use to climb up to the higher levels. Most of the graves have glass windows on them that open and people put special keepsakes inside. You could gather a lot about the people based on what was placed behind the glass.

There was a religious service ongoing in the middle of the cemetery and the priest singing in Catalan added to the experience. In the back part of the site was a huge section of individual mausoleums and monuments, most of which were built in the 1800s. Each was unique and impressive. I am glad we went to the cemetery on All Saints Day as we got to experience real life and death of the people of Barcelona.

When we walked in we were overwhelmed!

A family placing flowers on an upper level.

A unique monument!

More monuments and a beautiful sky!

A loving family paying respects.

Monday, October 29, 2018

Comfort food

This weekend was cold and rainy. We had a couple of very lazy days, but we did motivate to get out and try some "American" food. We found a place called Big Al's American Kitchen that supposedly serves the best burger in Spain. Bucky is a burger guy, so we decided to go check it out. I enjoyed curly fries and chicken tenders! We both enjoyed a couple of beers. It was a nice afternoon indulging in a taste of home!

The menu.

Bucky and our beers!

Yum! Curly fries!!!

Someone is happy about a burger!

Inspired in London!

Bucky and I were honored to be invited to ValueLab's Inspire 2018 event in London last week. We both worked with ValueLabs when we were at Benefitfocus and recently Bucky contacted them about helping with a project here in Barcelona. He was invited to the conference and they asked if he could recommend anyone else and he recommended me. I took two days off so that I could fully immerse myself in the conference and Bucky went as a representative from his current employer so he networked lots.

ValueLabs hosted us for the event so they took care of the travel plans and accommodations. They spoiled us by putting us up at The Dorchester Hotel which is absolutely amazing! The conference was there too so we barely left the premises, but we did manage afternoon tea with our friends Lisa and Doug who happened to be visiting London at the same time. We met them at the Pavilion at Kensington Palace and had a lovely, albeit short, visit.

We really enjoyed our brief stay in London. We were inspired by the people of ValueLabs and wowed by the city itself. We hope to go back to London sometime soon, although I am sure we won't be able to afford the same hotel!

Bucky on the Gatwick Express from the airport to Victoria Station.

Lisa and me enjoying tea!

Doug and Bucky!

Doug and Lisa!

ValueLabs made me feel so special!

Selfie at the conference.

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Long weekend

October 12 was a bank holiday here in Spain so Bucky and I got the day off. Interestingly, the holiday is the national day of Spain that commemorates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus' first arrival in the Americas! We were excited for a day off and decided to head to one of our favorite places, Cadaques. We rented the same Airbnb we rented when Lucie went with us in June. It is in a great location and a great value! After we arrived and got settled in, we had a nice lunch at a cute spot called Casa Nun. I had fish and Bucky had pork and we split a bottle of rose! India enjoyed a few nibbles as we dined. Later we enjoyed a long walk along the coast and didn't head home until dusk.

We had dinner that night at Raviyu, another new spot we tried out this weekend. It was delicious and the place was super charming. There were little white lights strung along the patio where we sat. It was a really enjoyable meal! All was well when we went to bed that night but then India started to barf her brains out. I mean all over the place, all night long. Mind you, we are in this little Airbnb apartment, sans washing machine, and we are mopping barf up with whatever we brought. It was 'no bueno' as I like to say.

The next morning, we headed out to a cafe for coffee and to come up with a plan. We had envisioned hiking in the morning and then lounging around in the afternoon, but due to the night before, we knew that was not an option. We went to the Tourist Office to ask about a laundromat and were told that none existed in Cadaques. Of course, we started to plan setting one up there, but put off creating the business plan until we dealt with the laundry at hand! Good ole Google helped us find a laundromat in Llanca, a town about a half hour away from where we were. We tentatively left India (in a confined space) in the apartment and headed out over the mountain. The laundromat was new and clean and there was no one there. We bought laundry detergent on the way, but discovered that none is needed. The washing machine dispenses detergent which I thought was so cool. We wandered around the town as the things were washed and came back to hang out as we enjoyed the magic of the dryer. (Note, we do not have one!)

We finished up our chore by 1pm and headed back to Cadaques for lunch. India was fine at this point and joined us. We then headed off for the hike we had planned for the morning. It was about a four hour hike to Cap de Creus, which is a lighthouse set in the mountainous olive groves by the Mediterranean Sea. It was a beauttiful hike. Thank God we had Bucky's hiking poles (see previous post) because we needed them with the rocky terrain. Luckily, we had India to lead the way. We didn't make it all the lighthouse because we got worried about the time and darkness falling, but we still really enjoyed ourselves. We will do the hike again when we can leave earlier in the day.

After such a long day, we had a relaxed evening at home, playing cards, eating take out and drinking wine. India slept. We finished up our stay with a wonderful walk to the little island off of Cadaques the next morning. We had to check out at noon so we packed up the car and then sat for a few hours at this local little bar, Mut. There were thunderstorms brewing so we holed up inside and dreamt about a simple life in Cadaques. It was nice. We then headed home to Barcelona and real life, but we continue to dream.