We are beginning to get settled in our new home. All our things from Ireland and Albuquerque are here now, very few broke, almost all of it is set up where it belongs for now, and the rest is stacked and stored in the garage. Anika's car, which we are borrowing while she has turned pedestrian in Barcelona, has its new license plate. We chose this one because it is pretty and a donation goes to Crater Lake. I've seen it many years ago and want to go back, but for now the license plate has to do.
We know some people here who moved from Albuquerque years ago. It is good to reconnect with them and make new acquaintances. We had some of them over one night and made our first raclette in Oregon. Now the weather is starting to be perfect for it almost every day: rainy and dark! On the other plus side, people here love good food and drink. Lots of fresh items all the time and good things from far away places. For example, I was able to find Swiss raclette cheese for our meal. Few places outside Switzerland have that cheese, and when they do it is usually the French raclette.
Speaking of food and faraway places. Last week I was in Barcelona visiting Anika. It was a nice, relaxing week with lots of walking around and good food. Often late at night, almost always outside on a plaza watching people go by, having enjoyable conversations, and feeling pleasant. It was great!
This was my fourth visit to Barcelona. Two this year! So, we tried to find things to see and do that both Anika and I had not done yet. We went to Park Güell which Antoni Gaudi started building in 1900 for Eusebi Güell. (What a name, Eusebi! ;-) We also saw another of Gaudi's master pieces: Casa Batlló. I had seen Casa Milà on a previous trip, so we skipped it this time. Both are worth seeing and not far from each other.
We also went on top of Montjuïc, saw the castle there and learned a little bit about Barcelona history; including the time it was fired upon from the cannons on top of the hill. In 1848 and 1849 the Spanish government used the fort and its cannons to quell an uprising in Barcelona. To this day Catalan is planning to secede from Spain. There are Catalonian flags all over the city and around. Soccer matches between Barcelona and Madrid are among the fiercest.
Nevertheless, Barcelona is a peaceful and safe city. There are a lot of young women walking around alone, late at night, even in the darkest corners of the medieval center. There are pickpockets however, so watch your belongings. When Lee Ann and I were there earlier this year, someone sitting behind her reached into her purse, pretending to adjust his chair and jacket he had flung over it.
One day we took the train to Girona, a city North of Barcelona and inland a little bit. When I retire, I think I want to move there! It is a beautiful town with a lot of its medieval structures still in place. It is clean and kept up well. There is great attention to detail integrating nice, new shops into the old buildings. The people are friendly and greet you even when it is perfectly clear that you are a tourist.
There is great food to be had. We had Breton galettes (Anika is about to eat one in the picture above), and it was very tempting to buy something at the market we walked through. Local sausages, cheeses, and baked good were on display together with crafts, wine, honey, and other locally grown things.
A long stretch of the old city wall still stands and it has been restored so we could walk on it and look down into the old city and across the river into the newer and larger portion. There are tons of parks and a nice hill behind the wall overlooking the town. I want one of those houses up on that hill, looking out the open window, work on my computer, and stroll into town for a glass of wine and some bread and cheese.
Another cool thing about Girona is that it is on the train line that goes from Paris to Barcelona to Madrid. On the way out we took the commuter train which took way over an hour to reach Girona. On the way back we caught the TGV from Paris and were back in the heart of Barcelona in 36 minutes.
When we were considering moving to Barcelona earlier this year, we learned that there is a public holiday at least once a month and many lesser celebrations throughout the year. It is no surprise then that we stumbled onto one of them when we visited Girona. We watched a small parade go by and the setting up of a stage for what promised to be a long night. We had to catch our train back, but it would have been fun to stay and participate. Maybe when we move there! ;-)
As usual, the pictures from this trip are on Picasa.
