Walls in France: Espagne!

I am finally getting around to blogging about our trip to Spain that we took during the second week of the girls' winter break (February 26 through March 5). Lucie got home from Germany on February 25 and the first thing she said was that she did not want to go to Spain the next day...she was exhausted after spending two weeks in Germany going to school, site seeing and speaking German, and was looking forward to vegging in her room with Pippi (her cat) and her computer. I assured her that she would get some time to hang out at home because we didn't need to leave until the next afternoon. So, we came home from the Marseille airport, she shared fun stories about her time in Germany and then she headed upstairs to her haven until she was forced to leave on her next adventure!

Since moving to France, Bucky and I have been interested in taking a trip to Spain because it is relatively close and Bucky had never been. After our friends the Nugans and the Tossens went to Barcelona on separate trips and regaled us with fabulous stories, we made going to Spain a priority. On the advice of our Spain specialist, Dave Martin, we decided to stay in Girona for a week and do day-trips to see the entire Costa Brava. I found a seemingly wonderful apartment to rent for a song on vrbo.com that was available, booked it and hoped that it would be half as nice as the reviewers had boasted. So, we drove the 3 1/2 hours from our house in Eygalieres to Girona on Saturday afternoon where we were met our hosts who welcomed to Can Vespa, their fabulous apartment in the old part of town that we were renting for the week. While settling into our abode, the girls made a remarkable discovery...there was one English language channel on the TV in the apartment (a huge deal since we don't have TV in English at home), but the best thing was that it was the Disney Channel! They were thrilled and while they tuned into 'Hannah Montana,' Bucky and I enjoyed our first glass of Spanish wine out on the balcony and planned out our week.

And a wonderful week it was...the pictures below tell the story better that I can. Bucky had fun taking photos of the winding streets, the interesting architecture and the beautiful vistas. We ate well, drank well, walked a lot, laughed a lot, tried to speak Spanish and ended up speaking French, visited museums, oohed and aaahed at the countryside, wandered through towns, walked on beaches, collected sea glass, enjoyed the Spanish people and the girls watched lots and lots of Disney! It was a wonderful vacation in Espagne!

This is right outside our apartment door...the steps lead down to the shops and restaurants of the old quarter of Girona and the steps going up take you to the University of Girona...

A couple walking in the old cobblestone streets of Girona...

The Girona market is open every morning until noon. It has everything you can imagine including meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, coffee, flowers and wine. And everything is so inexpensive! We frequented the market regularly to purchase food for meals in our cute apartment...

This milk machine is located outside of the Girona market and I thought it was the coolest thing ever! You put money in to buy a bottle and then put the bottle in the middle section and fill it up with milk! It was fun to do so we bought lots of milk...

Kathleen took this picture while we were wandering around Girona one day. We thought it was appropriate...

We found a map of the Costa Brava in our apartment that had various towns circled so we decided that we would go visit all of those towns. One of them was Calella de Palafrugell, a beautiful seaside village where we ate a wonderful lunch on the beach and the girls braved the cold water to investigate the beach...

Bucky and I are enjoying our wine while Lucie and Kathleen climb the rocks at the seaside...

We are still at the restaurant while the girls lounge on the beach...

A picture taken by Bucky on our way back to the car after a wonderful afternoon at the beach...

We took the train from Girona to Barcelona for the day so we wouldn't have to worry about parking. We took the Nugans' advice on what to do while we were there, including walking La Rambla, a wide walking street with lots going on...

The market in Barcelona was amazing...more fruit and vegetables than I have ever seen under one roof at one time and all of it was beautiful! There was ice cream too of course which the girls enjoyed!

We couldn't believe the size of the cauliflower!

La Sagrada Familia was absolutely fabulous! It is something you just have to see to believe!

The nave...

We took the elevator up to the top of the cathedral and enjoyed the beautiful view...

Cadaques was another sea town that was circled on our map so we headed there for the day. The town was out of the way and it took some trekking over some treacherous mountain roads in our rental car, but well worth it. Another beautiful afternoon on the beach...