On June 13th Amelia, Ryan and Clara arrived and our friend Jerry departed. We had a great time showing the kids our neighborhood, Barcelona and Catalonia. Some of the places we visited:

• Arc de Triumph
• Parc de la Ciutedella
• Montserrat
• Plaça d’Espanya and the magic fountain
• Gothic Quarter
•  Picasso Museum
•  Beach
•  Costa Brava
•  Castellers  performance
•  Mount Tibidabo
• Casa de les Punxes

Monday morning we took an early flight to Granada. The back door of our apartment  opened into a street bazaar and we had a lot of fun exploring these narrow streets and their shops.

While the kids visited an Arab bath, Roy and I went on an olive oil tour.  We visited an olive grove and learned how they are grown and saw the irrigation system that had been built by the Moors over 1,000 years ago. Then they took us to a white village in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada where there was a 15th century oil press. Here we saw the stone mills used to crush the olives and the presses used to press the oil. We got to taste several kinds of olives and oils and learned how to select the best oils and understand the labeling.

The next morning we visited the Alhambra. It is a huge complex that includes a military fort, palace and gardens. It was first built in 889, but construction of the palace that now stands began in 1238. It is now preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Alhambra is Spain’s most popular tourist site and we were glad to arrive first thing in the morning because it was getting quite crowded by the time we left in the early afternoon.

We had dinner that evening at a restaurant across the valley from the Alhambra. Sitting there watching the colors change as the sun went down and the lights come on surrounded by family made it a special day to remember.

Amelia and Ryan left the next day to spend a little time in Portugal while Roy, Clara and I went on a road trip. The first place we stayed was “interesting” as we say in the mid-west. We were in western Spain near the border with Portugal where not many tourists venture and very few people spoke any English. We reserved a beautiful house in a little village not far from Alcántara. The woman who met us did not speak any English so she called her sister’s boyfriend to interpret. The only place to get a meal was a bar owned by the same lady. The boyfriend asked if we wanted to eat at the house because the bar was full as the World Cup Spain vs Iran match was on that night. We wanted to see the game too so we arranged to eat at the bar but then he asked what we wanted to eat. That’s a hard question to answer for 3 people when you have no idea what they have! He also wanted to know what we wanted for breakfast the following morning! So we went to the bar/restaurant/movie theater/discotheque at the arranged time. There was a big screen with the game on and they set up a long table for us facing the screen in front of all the other patrons. Then they started bringing out the platters of food. We were feeling like self conscious gluttons at this point but also enjoying watching the futbol game with the locals. It was the owners’ birthday and she even shared some of her cake with us. Another thing I  remember about this town were the storks. They were camped out on the top of the church spires and we could hear their clattering beaks all over town. Listen to them on this 9 second video.

 

Our goal the next day was the city of Vigo on the northwestern Atlantic coast of Galicia. We charted a course that took us through the Duoro River valley in Portugal where we stopped  for lunch and a visit to a couple of port vineyards. The Duoro valley was almost completely terraced with vineyards and the views were fantastic!

We spent our day in Vigo walking  the old part of town, seeing ships being built, and taking  a ferry to the Islas Cíes which are part of the Parque Nacional de las Islas Atlánticas. Two of the three islands that make up this archipelago are linked by a sandbar that The Guardian (newspaper) considers the best beach in the world. I don’t know if that is true, but it was stunning!

The last day of our road trip was spent taking the train to A Coruña on the north Atlantic coast. Roy will tell you all about that adventure in the next blog.