Holiday Time

Walking around the Santa Llúcia Market in Barcelona fills me with nostalgia, not for the Christmas markets that I went to when I was little...I don´t remember going to any... but maybe for all the people for whom this was tradition.
Jaume remembers going with his mom and with school and loving seeing the manger scenes with moss and all the little figures.
There is all you can imagine to decorate manger scenes and also whole villages around the manger scene with miniature just about anything. There are also stands with jewelry, scarfs, and many handmade gifts to tempt you as you walk by.
Back in Girona, everyone out on Saturday night enjoying the decorations and getting in some early shopping.

Can´t get enough of the Pyrenees

Last night we got back from a planning trip to the Pyrenees. We have spent quite a few weeks this year discovering many new routes and beautiful parts of the country. We are very happy to be planning this trip for the Calgary group, I know they will love it.

View from our hotel in Ainsa

San Juan de la Peña Monastery 11-13th century

This place was really incredible and would have to alleviate tired cyclists´ minds. Is considered the cradle of the Kingdom of Aragon, place of legends, and said to have housed the Holy Grail.

Amazing Beauty on the French side of the Col du Portalet

Free Grazing Horses

Really Big Chocolate Chip Cookie

Maybe it is the time of year or living abroad just made me want to bake something really homy, (or the 93km we rode yesterday) but yesterday afternoon I made the biggest chocolate chip cookie ever! Luckily, it turned out really yummy and we had some of it for dessert after having Jaume´s vegetable pakoras.

Pyrenees Trip

I was lucky enough to join in on the planning of the Trans-Pyrenees Cycling Tour. I loved traveling through the north of Spain and seeing all new places. I especially liked the villages in the Basque Country - in Navarra and Basque Country. They are very different from where we live and seemed, for the most part, to have escaped the housing boom from the past several years. Their little villages are still intact and maybe have a couple newer houses added, very refreshing to see. I know it looks like I really like sheep from the pictures, but there really are a lot of them and cows and even free-range pigs!

Sights of Georgetown, Penang

In the bustling town of Georgetown we sample the famous street food stalls, Indian food, exotic juices including nutmeg juice and all the busy daily life of the Penangites. We checked out beautiful hotels to bring groups and some bike routes through the still wild Penang island. Penang is an island off the west coast of peninsular Malaysia with over 1.5 million people and the capital is Georgetown. The inner city of which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kuala Lumpur

I´m getting used to eating with my hands again in Little India. (Thanks for the t-shirt Joe!) This is the Suria shopping mall with the most luxury brands I´ve ever seen together. Malaysia is such a mixture of cultures and when I walk from one block to the other in KL, I feel i´ve entered another country almost. Then, there is the mix of extreme wealth and traditional ways of life as you skip on the monorail or the LRT (light rapid transit) to go between and see how the city is growing. There is no talk of economic crisis here.

Malaysia

 

Never did I think I would be in such an exotic location as Malaysia. Now it is my second time here working on the bike tour and enjoying all of the beautiful places. Here we were having fruit juice at the Hornbill Café and when you sit on the balcony, you are actually inside the KL Birdpark and can be in for some nice surprises..

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