Walls in Spain: August 2018

Escape to France

After a couple of days of the Festa Major de Gracia (see previous post), we decided to get out of Dodge. There was just so much noise and activity, not to mention people, in and around our neighborhood, we just needed an escape. Since it was a last minute decision and the middle of August (when everyone in Europe is on vacation), we had slim pickings for destinations. We wanted to go someplace within driving range, where we could relax and have downtime and we needed a place we could take our dog, India, and our cat, Bisoux. This was the first outing for Bisoux and we thought it was time to give it a try.

I found a place on Airbnb that is located about three and a half hours away, on a mountain in France relatively close to Carcassonne. The house was "rustic" per the Airbnb advertisement and it was rustic, but it was also dirty. We dealt with the dirt (by running the vacuum cleaner and womping up when we first got there) and then focused on enjoying the outdoors. It really was a lovely spot, isolated in the mountains with rolling fields, forests with numerous paths and its own little lake. A goat and two cats (and two new kittens) live there full time so with our dog and cat, we had a zoo!

We took a day trip into Carcassonne which was amazing. We didn't spend much time in the medieval city, but plan to go back with there are fewer tourists. We also visited a cool vineyard, tasted wine and purchased lots for our home back in Barcelona. It was fun wandering around the house where we were staying and we documented the event with lots of pictures. There was a little rowboat at the lake so we took advantage of it and enjoyed an afternoon among the water lilies.

We won't be going back to that particular house, but it was a nice escape from the craziness of the festival! We all (dog and cat included) enjoyed the respite on the mountain in France.

Details from the front of the house.

Bisoux in the bedroom window.

Bucky and Bisoux having coffee.

A dream catcher and yoga platform on the property.

Lunch in Carcassonne.

The Medieval City of Carcassonne.

More Medieval City pics!

Checking out the locks on the Canal du Midi.

Had a glass of wine here enjoying the view.

India loved the trails in the forest.

Interesting outside bath!

Just thought this was cute!

Dinner outside!

India hoping for leftovers!

Bisoux loves running water. This was a fountain at the front of the house collecting water that came down the mountain.

I took a lot of pics of Bisoux since this was his first outing!

India exploring in her raincoat.

Taking a picture of Bucky taking a picture!

On a roman bridge near the house.

Heading down to the lake for a row!

Here's the little boat.

And we are ready!

I am a rower!!!

See, there really were water lilies!

I am proud of my rowing skills.

India wasn't so sure about us being out in the boat.

Jean, India and the goat! Oh my!

Another one of Bisoux in his element.

Festa Major de Gracia

The Festa Major de Gracia is a festival that has been taking place for two hundred years! It is a huge event for our neighborhood and we saw the preparations underway for months before the event! Groups of neighbors get together to decorate their streets or plazas and they really get creative! I heard a lot about the festival before it took place, but I had no idea how elaborate it was going to be!

It started on a Wednesday which happened to be Assumption Day which is a holiday here in Spain so everyone was out and about to see the decorations! Bucky and I joined the crowds and enjoyed the festivities. We saw the opening parade which was made up marching bands along with people setting off loud fireworks right on the street. It was crazy, but fun to watch! We joined some friends on their rooftop deck to watch the closing parade with the same hectic fireworks and we enjoyed it much more being further away!

This is the "bee" street near us.

This display was of fashion made ALL of paper. It was cool and made me think of Kathleen!

Carrer Verdi had a Bacchus theme which was appreciated by the wine drinkers!

Here is some detail from one of the streets. People made this "stained glass" out of paper!

Of course, we had to stop for a beer!

These people are passionate about their origins!

I am risking life and limb to get a picture of the fireworks at the opening parade.

Everyone needs a flying pink horse!

More details on another street.

The fireworks from above.

It seemed like the fireworks went on forever! Glad we were above them!!!

Portugal and more!

My childhood friend, Beth, came to visit a few weeks ago. I have put off writing this post because I know that it is impossible for me to capture how amazing her visit was in words or in pictures. We did our best to take as many pictures as possible and I joked that we could probably wallpaper a room with selfies alone! Beth and I realized that we have been friends for 38 years and we really do sometimes act like we are still 12 years old!

Of course, I showed her the sites around Barcelona, but we also wanted to have an adventure so we decided to head to Portugal. The plan was to fly into Lisbon, stay there a couple of days and then rent a car and drive south to the beaches along the Algarve Coast. We didn't do much research beforehand, but we had Rick Steves and Lonely Planet along to help.

When we arrived in Lisbon, we weren't able to check into our Airbnb yet so we hauled our suitcases around, following a walking tour suggested by Rick. It was nice to get to our Airbnb so that we could leave our suitcases and cool off. Note that there was a heat wave in Lisbon while we were there so it was hotter than hot! We pushed through the heat and walked around the city, especially enjoying the Alfama neighborhood. Lots to do and see there including Fado music one evening.

We rode the trolleys as we were told to do (by Rick!) and that was fun, but also hot!! Our favorite outing was our visit to the National Tile Museum. It was calm, cool and quiet and really amazing to see all of the beautiful tiles. Plus, the restaurant there was great and we loved the quiche! We also visited the Jeronimos Monastery in the Belem area and that was impressive!

After a couple of packed days in Lisbon, we hauled ourselves and our suitcases to the car rental place, but unfortunately, we couldn't pick up the car until later in the afternoon. So we made the most of our day and ventured over to the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum which covered the gamut of art through the ages. We were excited to head to the beach, so we got our car as soon as we could and headed south.

Our first stop was Vila Nova de Milfontes which is a charming seaside town made up of white stucco buildings, winding streets and lots of different beaches. We started our visit there by chasing our first sunset of many and enjoyed a bottle of rose on the beach. We ate delicious fresh fish in the sweet little town and spent a wonderful day on a secluded little beach that we had to walk through (the very cold water!) to get to. It was amazing. We were hesitant to leave, but we had to get to our next destination which was Sagres. We sought out a few beaches along the way and were always lucky enough to find rockstar parking so we made sure to take advantage and spend some time in the sun. The water was cold at all of the beaches, but I decided to jump in and enjoy. Beth was not so keen on the cold water.

Sagres was a surf town and it was full of hippies! We spent time wandering around, chasing the setting sun (which took us to the westernmost point of Europe) and enjoying a lovely walk along the cliffs above the ocean. Our next destination we thought was Budens, but it really ended up being Figueira. This place had one of the most amazing beaches I have ever been to. It is very secluded - in fact, you have to walk about a half a mile on a tiny path to get there after you have driven forever to get to where you can park. But it is well worth the effort. We spent as much time as possible on this little slice of heaven!

We also spent a day in Lagos which turned out to be a pretty cool place with numerous beaches. At first, we spent time on Meia Praia, which is a huge, wide, white sand beach that reminded us a lot of the beaches in South Carolina. We enjoyed a wonderful fresh fish lunch here that was definitely memorable. We then discovered some other unique and smaller beaches closer to the town after we saw them from a boat we took to visit the grottos in Lagos. That boat tour was definitely a highlight of our week! The captain took us into little caves and through holes in the rocks and we were oohing and aahing along with our boatmates! It was really spectacular!!

Our final destination in Portugal was the town of Alvor. We had the pleasure of experiencing a beautiful sunset on the beach there. It was amazing and we took about a million pictures to capture the moment! There is a boardwalk that runs along the entire beach with restaurants along the way. We ended up renting two chairs and a little cabana umbrella on the beach for our last day and totally enjoyed it! We both talked about going back to Alvor to spend more time luxuriating there!

We were set to fly out of Faro back to Barcelona so we drove there from Alvor. There were fires at the time in and around Faro so the drive there was spooky. Plus we were sad to leave our adventure! Beth and I had an amazing time seeing the sites and exploring new places, but the most fun we had was just hanging out and laughing together. I have not laughed so much in a very long time, but look forward to again when Beth comes back for our next adventure!! I can't wait!!