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!!!

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!

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.