Old friends

I love that Barcelona is such a destination spot because it brings people here who we get to enjoy! My dear friend from Punahou, Jill, and her husband, Derek, came to Barcelona this week since their kids are away at camp. Fortunately, we were able to coordinate a fun dinner out with them at Bar Mut, this cool little restaurant in Eixample that just serves you what they want to throughout the evening. And everything was AMAZING! It was so fun catching up, reminiscing and talking about the adventures that they were having in Barcelona and would be having as they continued their vacation in Andorra and Begur. The evening together was definitely the highlight of the month!

Me and Jilly!

Bucky, me, Derek and Jill

Searching for dog beaches

When Bucky and I left Valencia on Sunday morning, we decided to take the long route home and visit the dog beaches along the way. I used the website, Radcanina, to locate the beaches that are set up specifically for people and their dogs. Between Valencia and Barcelona, there are about ten dog beaches so we tried to find each one! The weather was challenging with lots of rain and even some thunderstorms, so we didn't get out at each place, but we did visit five beaches.

Our favorite was Platja de la Platjola because the water was perfection and we were the only people (and dog!) there. The one drawback was that the beach was rocky so India couldn't run along it and chase the ball, but she enjoyed exploring. Bucky and I ended up going swimming there and it was magical. One of the beaches we found was a tiny little cove behind a cemetery. Getting down to the actual water proved to be too challenging for us so we walked along the coast and enjoyed the view.

I think it is so cool how Spain has these beaches for dogs. We had a wonderful day driving along the coast and enjoying the beaches. It took us nine hours to get home to Barcelona from Valencia, but it was well worth the time we took. India was completely exhausted!!

India is so happy on the beach!

This one was a good one for throwing the ball.

Here she is showing off another beach!

Love the flag showing us where the dog beach was!

This sign makes it official!

We found another one with sand!

This was our favorite!

This was the rocky beach, but it was LOVELY.

The water was irresistible. Bucky and I went swimming!

Another view of the lovely beach.

This is the little cove we found, but we decided not to risk life and limp to climb down there.

Just another one of India on another beach!

This is the last dog beach we visited on Sunday. There were lots of dogs enjoying it!

This is the sign for the last beach!

Valencia

Valencia is a city about three and a half hours south of Barcelona by car. My friend, Mary Elizabeth, has spent the month of July there and we had a visit planned together, but then I was in the hospital, so we aborted. Therefore, Bucky and I decided to drive down to Valencia (with India of course) last Saturday and spend the night. We drove down on the autoroute and noted that the surroundings were arid and bare, different from our experiences driving north. We rented an Airbnb apartment in the Rufasa area so that we could be close to Mary Elizabeth, and the apartment was a little funky. The air conditioner, however, worked like gangbusters so that was a plus!

We spent the afternoon walking around Valencia with India and eventually met Mary Elizabeth and her mother and aunt (who were visiting too!) at the bell tower, El Miguelete, for the evening concert. We then walked around the El Carmen neighborhood to view the wonderful street art and found a lovely cafe to enjoy dinner outside. The next morning we met Mary Elizabeth for a wonderful breakfast at Bluebell Coffee Company. After a quick trip to see the city and my friend, we got back on the road to head home to Barcelona.

India enjoying downtime at a cafe.

Bucky at one of the parks we walked through with India.

Bucky enjoying another cafe spot!

Me and ME!

Street art in El Carmen.

Souther ladies in Valencia!

Bucky, me and art!

There were lots of these trees in El Carmen. They looked like banyan trees, but were ficus trees from Australia (per a placard by them!)

Cool art - Rough translation - It doesn't matter the color, we are all immigrants. 

QuironSalud

Living in a foreign country definitely has its challenges, especially when you are sick! I have never been one to frequent the doctor and in fact, I can't remember that last time I had a primary care physician. My husband, however, is the complete opposite and always maintains a primary doctor and religiously has a physical each year. When I got to Barcelona, I decided that since I am living abroad and turned 50 this year, that I should probably go ahead and establish a relationship with a doctor. Luckily, Bucky had already done so, so I went to his doctor. I got basic tests done and determined I was healthy with just a B12 deficiency. So, she and I worked together on that issue.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon and I started not feeling well. I thought it was a tummy issue like indigestion, but when I still felt poorly the next day, I feared it may be diverticulitis. On Sunday evening, I felt better so thought I was on the mend, but the pain was back with a vengeance on Monday. Basically, the left-hand side of my tummy hurt with pain radiated to my back. I have a high threshold for pain so dealt with it for a couple of days, but when I was walking India on Tuesday, it was almost unbearable so I decided that I probably needed to do something about it.

I reached out to my Spanish friend, Rebecca, on Tuesday evening to find out if you can call into the doctor's office for an appointment the day of, and she said to give it a try so I called my doctor's office on Wednesday. Luckily, the gal who answered was able to speak English and she said that they cannot make appointments the day of, and that I should go to the Emergency Room where I can be looked at by an internal medicine physician. I felt silly going to the Emergency Room since I didn't think it was an emergency, but after eight hours in the ER and lots of tests, I learned that is was. I had a renal infarction which is basically a blood clot in my kidney. Thus, the pain. 

The doctor said he had to check me in for the night for observation and tests so I called Bucky who immediately came to the hospital and helped get me settled into my room. Quironsalud is a lovely, private hospital that is about a 20-minute bus ride from our apartment. They put me on the 7th floor in a huge room with a separate sitting area and a wonderful view of the Mediterranean. There was an extra bed in my room for family, but we decided it was probably better for Bucky to go home and be with the dog than stay with me. He came back the next morning and our doctor came in to talk to me about my situation. It was then that I learned I would have to stay in the hospital until at least the following Monday. I had to be on blood thinners, painkillers, and anti-biotics and do lots of tests, including a scan of my abdomen, before they would let me go. They said if the scan on Monday showed that the blood clot was smaller, I could go home.

The thought of almost a week in there on my own was pretty rough. Bucky stayed with me as much as he possibly could, but I was confined to my room and we did not have English speaking TV, so we were pretty bored. The food was horrendous so that gave us lots to laugh at and we also played cards and other board games. I ended up finding a few interesting things on Netflix that kept me busy when Bucky wasn't around. The staff was super friendly and I learned A LOT of Spanish while I was there which was a positive. My doctor kept me there until Tuesday and finally let me go Tuesday afternoon. I was SO glad to be out of there, in the fresh air and reunited with India.

Since then, I have been tired and have been trying to take it easy. I just had a follow up with a hematologist today and I will be on blood thinners for the next six months and then see what I need to do. I know what to look for in case of another blood clot, but hopefully, that won't occur. I am thankful for the great care that I was provided at QuironSalud. I appreciate how the doctors were diligent in figuring out what the cause of my pain was and how cautious they were about my care. Even though the stay was long and boring, I feel fortunate to come out feeling good!

On my first evening. Little did I know that I would be there a week!

Bucky working (and eating!) from my bedside.

The view from my window.

The view on a rainy day. 

Observations thus far

I have been living in Barcelona since early December, so approximately seven months. As I walk the streets, I often think to myself about what is different about Barcelona versus Charleston and other places I have lived. I keep a running list in my mind so I thought I would put the list to paper so I can reflect on it later, as I become more familiar with this city and the Spanish culture in general. Basically, I have determined that this blog is a way for me to document my experience so that I will be able to look back and remember all of the little things we have done. And that includes this first list of my observations (in no particular order):

• They LOVE dogs.
• Lunch doesn't happen until at least 2pm and dinner doesn't start until 8pm at the earliest.
• You cannot cross the street when the green guy is flashing because it only flashes for a second and the cars are eager to go immediately!
• Talking loudly on the metro is accepted.
• Recycling is big - in fact, there are lots of people who roam the streets and go through the garbage to recycle things. They push grocery carts full of stuff around!
• Parking is expensive.
• Parking spaces are SMALL, especially in parking garages.
• Mullets are big here.
• Lots of people roll their own cigarettes. Apparently, it is less expensive than buying them already rolled. You see them rolling cigarettes on the street and in the metro. There is a real art to it. They even add a filter to them.
• Ham is big here.
• Wine is inexpensive and good.
• It is hot here during the summer, but it is not humid like in Charleston.
• They kiss each cheek in greeting.
• People on the sidewalk do not get out of the way for anyone.
• Most people who drive motorcycles and scooters here are crazy!
• Vermouth is a big deal here. They drink it as an aperitif.
• Cava is as good as champagne.
• The people tasked with cleaning the streets and emptying trash are committed.
• The metro is amazing efficient.
• There are lots of parks but locals don't think there are. I sure like them though!
• The people are super friendly!
• There is a bar/restaurant and/or shop every five feet.
• Living here is an adventure!

Amazing Andorra

Andorra, a tiny country located in the Pyrenees mountains between Spain and France, is the sixth smallest nation in Europe. Lucie's boyfriend, Clayton, is visiting from South Carolina and he loves hiking and the mountains, so on a whim, we decided to go to Andorra for the weekend. I found a great Airbnb apartment in a town called Canillo and we headed out of Barcelona on Friday afternoon for the drive to this unknown place. We were hoping for some pretty views, access to hiking trails in the mountains and just a cooler, quieter setting than the hustle and bustle of Barcelona. Our expectations were exceeded a thousand times over!

The drive itself to Canillo was spectacular. First, we drove by Montserrat which was amazing to see from the road. As we climbed further, the hills became lusher and larger. We passed waterfalls and deep blue lakes, snow on mountain tops and cows roaming the hills. I was pretty much humming the soundtrack from The Sound of Music the entire way.

Once we got to Canillo and settled into our cute Airbnb, we wandered around the town and had dinner. There is a river that runs through the town so we made sure to take the obligatory photos! The next day, we headed out for a hike in the mountains. We weren't totally sure about where we were going, so we worked together to find our way, and we, luckily, took all of the right turns and we ended up in a forest fantasy land. The surroundings were like something out of a movie. We were all astounded and took TONS of pictures. Our final destination was the town of Encamp, about 15km away from Canillo, where we immediately sought out a restaurant! After lunch, we got a taxi back to our apartment.

But the adventure did not stop there. We took the cable car up to Grandvalira which is a ski resort during the winter and an adventure park during the summer months. There, we all did the zip line which was amazing. It was my first zip line experience and definitely memorable. We then took the chairlift back up the mountain and the cable car back to Canillo. It was a very full day, and it was truly amazing.

On Sunday, after a leisurely breakfast, we drove up to the Mirador del Roc del Quer which is an amazing viewpoint over Andorra. We took lots of pictures of the spectacular view and sadly headed back to our apartment to pack up and leave Andorra. We took another route back to Barcelona and enjoyed a picnic lunch by a bubbly brook en route. We all agreed that it was an amazing weekend and that Andorra is an amazing place. We will definitely go back!

In the middle of Canillo.

Posing by the river coming down from the mountain.

Clayton and Lucie.

Another view of the river.

This place reminded me so much of Austria!

Heading out on our hike on Saturday.

We are such hikers! NOT!

India was in HEAVEN!

The hills are alive with the sound of music.....

Clayton was happy.

Bucky contemplating the woods!

This was a cool tunnel on our hike.

Enjoying the view.

Just another picture of India.

Walking in the woods.

Clayton loving life!

This was fun!

Smile!

At the restaurant after the hike - Cheers!!!

Me before the zip lining. I was nervous, but it was FUN!

View on the way to the lookout.

Bucky posing!

At the lookout!

Amazing!

Thank goodness for Clayton's long arms so that we could finally get a picture together.

During our picnic on the way back to Barcelona.

Another picnic pic!

The water feature at our picnic spot!