David in Girona

When family and friends visit, it gives a chance to see with new eyes all of the things that I love about the area. We enjoyed bringing him cycling and to a few of our favorite places while he made a weekend trip up from Madrid where he was sent for work for two weeks.

Girona - Temps de Flors 2013

Each year, in the middle of May, Girona dresses up its patios, houses, windows, and churches for the 9 day flower festival, El Temps de Flors. Parts of the city that are normally behind closed doors, like private houses in the Jewish Quarter ¨El Call¨ and the Saint Daniel Monastery, open up their patios to share their beauty.

 

The days before, as the groups of volunteers begin their creations, expectations grow as they add new parts to their designs until they are all ready for the start of the festival.

Now it´s time to enjoy the expositions and the liveliness and the little hidden corners that make you want to stroll slowly through the streets.

Setmana Santa

Portal de Sobreportes

Easter Week in Girona. A pensive time to wander the streets and see the amazing and solemn centuries old spectacle presented on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Roman soldiers, or Manaies, lead the procession through the streets of Girona. They are followed by the Confraria, the Brotherhoods of Girona with children and penitents, wearing cone hats and cloaks to protect their anonymity. Each group carries its effigy of Christ or Virgin Mary in a grueling 2 hour parade across cobblestone. 

Penitents

It is said that you have to inherit your spot in the ¨fraternities¨ that you can´t just join one. Even the children, if you try to catch their eye and smile, they are great professionals and stay in character, they´ve been preparing for this all their lives.

Excursion to Sils Nature Park

Now the Spring days are calling for us to be outside to enjoy nature and the precious cool sunny perfect days that always seem to go by too fast. Yesterday, Lara, Leia and I took an excursion to the Sils wetlands, a great little known birding spot and an easy few stops away on the train. Luckily the abundant rain we´ve been receiving has filled in the area and we saw lots of birdies and I had actually remembered to bring my monocular.

              Thanks to Sally (thank you Sally! and thank you for getting me interested in birds in the first place), I have this incredibly easy to carry around monocular which is perfect for me. We saw falcons, green woodpeckers, black-winged stilts, egrets and grey herons.                                                                                      
Going to a nature park with a small child, Leia is my amazing 21 month old niece, is a wonderful experience because you slow down even more and that is why you come here, just to be in nature. She definitely goes for the more up close things, like she loved seeing lizards on a bridge and just walking up and down little hills.   


The Sils Lake, L´estany de Sils, is a natural area protected by the Catalan government said to have once been the largest lake in Catalunya at about 7 square kilometers. But it was drained out to create more farmland and now there is a year-round small lake and floodable wetlands. There is a nice flat path and it is just a little loop to walk around and you can make stops at the bird viewing platform and also the three bird viewing houses located near the best birding spots. A lovely morning excursion! Thanks Lara and Leia!

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

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.