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.

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.

View from our evening walk.

Amazing!

Laundromat in Llanca!

Waiting for laundry!

Hiking to Cap Creus.

View from our hike.

More spectacular views. 

On the hiking trail (borrowing a stick from Bucky for help!)

Bucky taking a break and enjoying the view.

Cool little cove. 

India leading the way!

I, too, wonder how many pictures of my dog can I take!?!!!

Morning walk around the town.

Picture of the island we walked over to.

Someone is getting lunch!

Good thing India doesn't like the water so I don't have to worry about her jumping!

On the island!

Another attempt at a selfie just to document we were there together!!!

Hiking gear

For his birthday, I gave Bucky "trekking poles" or "hiking sticks" or whatever they are called. They are lightweight, adjustable poles that we have seen lots of more advanced hikers out on the trails using so we wanted to give them a try. Bucky is our guinea pig. We found a hike in the Collserola Parc which is what we drive through every day on the way to work since we live in Barcelona and we work in Sant Cugat. The hike met our criteria - easy, loop and with shade so we were psyched. Problem is we were using an app that we found and it would not cooperate today so we ended up abandoning the app and just making up the trail as we went along. India was in the lead so she made the decisions and we followed along. It was fun! Lots of people were out and about as the weather was lovely. Bucky figured out how to use the poles and looked like quite the expert! It was another fun day out on the trail with our sweet dog and other folk enjoying the outdoors. Looking forward to doing it again soon!

This is who greeted us at the beginning of the trail!

Starting out with the poles.

India is the leader.

India enjoying the view.

Water break and showing off swag from my new employer.

Another shot of Bucky!

View of Tibidabo!