Wine Country

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Here are some photos of our days with the group from Calgary: the marvelous bike guides, Bernat and David, the organizers of the group from Canada in the restaurant , Matt and Jen, scenes from the areas we passed and some suffered through:)

Wine Tour in South Catalonia

Jaume with the group

What clouds we had this week!

Wow! All this past week watching and actually riding one day during the tour was so amazing. The countryside, wine, food, and everything! Now, it is hard to come home and not have a big project ahead and Sally is not here:( I don't think that set in until we came back because we were so busy! The group was from Calgary, 14 people, and they had a wonderful time in this kind of remote area. I always think of Anita Laraia (Aunt Nancy's friend) who was going to do the wine tour with us, that if she knew how incredible this area is she would have found some way to make it happen! Oh well, that is what makes it so special too - nobody knows about it, even wine experts hehe!!! shhhh!!!:)

South Catalonia

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Trip to South Catalonia

Jaume and Debbie and I left this past Tuesday on a camping trip to visit south Catalonia, they are doing some more prep work for their big cycling tour coming up later this week. We visited the beautiful coastal cities of Sitges and Cambrils, saw the exciting start to a day of La Vuelta de Espana - bike race, in the historic Roman city of Tarragona, and toured some interesting sites, hiked, biked, and sampled and purchased some of the local delicious wines in the famed wine regions of Priorat, Montsant, and Penedes.

Hike to Rocacorba

Debbie at the top of Rocacorba with the Monastery, Mother of God, in the background

Yum! at Can Xifra

Debbie and I hiked to the highest point near Girona, Rocacorba. It was a beautiful hike with a view of the church/monastery perched on the rock at the top to entice us up the winding and steep path we were on. We treated ourselves to a yummy lunch at the Can Xifra restaurant afterwards!

Banyoles and Besalu!

The bridge at the entrance to Besalu

An historic Pescador, fishing house, on Lake Banyoles

I visited these scenic and historic towns today by bus from Girona. Baynoles has a beautiful lake which is an important bird migratory site. I was too early for the birds, only saw some coots, and gulls, and a couple of robins. But I did hike around the entire lake 8km, and swam in its clear blue water! I had a lunch of black rice paella (cooked in squid ink!)at a restaurant in the big square of Baynoles, and then visited Besalu, a charming town with a cute bridge, before heading back to Girona before it was completely dark.

Jornada de Cuina al Carrer

Jaume waiting for his dish to be prepared at the French restaurant

Debbie and Jaume enjoying a taste of Girona!

The first taste of Girona was a hit! We arrived early and tried several of the yummy samplings that 16 different restaurants were offering. It got crowded later on, we were glad we arrived early so we didn't have to stand in long lines. We tried a seafood rice dish, a fish dip, a tapas of patatas bravas, and a fish dish from the french restaurant, and of course una mica de vi negre! ...Yum!

Trip to S'Agaro on the Costa Brava

Debbie near the beach houses in S'Agaro

Debbie and the sea view along the promenade

Sally along the promenade

Walking down the steps to the beach where we swam

Sally sunning on the rocks above the beach

Debbie and I visited S'Agaro, a posh little town with a beautiful beach and a wonderful promenade along the Cami de Ronda, the coastal trail. We took this path up above S'Agaro to the north passing an historic hotel, and beautiful houses overlooking the sea. Many of them had plazas that went over the path with neat archways that we walked through underneath. We stopped at the next beach, which was less crowded, perched ourselves on some rocks to warm up before we jumped in the water to swim. It was a lovely day!