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We had a lovely night at our equestrian estate in the Montseny valley. Our host at Rural Can Vila took a pre-breakfast photo of the whole gang. Big spread of pastries, cereals, hams, cheese, cornbread, jams, yogurt and fruit along with lots of cafe con leche for breakfast in the dining room. The boys took…

Day 3 of our bike + drive adventure in the Catalan country outside Barcelona! The boys headed off after a breakfast together in the main plaza of Caldes de Montbui. When the helpful staff at the Hotel Thermes Victoria spotted our bikes the day before, they offered to arrange for the non-riders to use the…

After the long day of wine tasting in Penedes, we had a quiet night at the Hotel Guilleumes in Monistrol de Montserrat and had breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Rob and Matt set off for another big day of mountain biking across the countryside while Lauren, Shane and I took the cremallera train up to…

Shoot! I’m falling behind on my reports from Spain. On Friday, we picked two more friends before setting off to explore the Catalan countryside: Lauren and Matt. With driving a rental car, logistics for five and a required minimum of four hours of eating a day (it’s the Spanish national occupation), I’ve had barely a…

Yesterday started and ended at our new favorite Barcelona plaza! Jardins de Rubió i Lluch in El Raval just happens to be across the street from the apartment where we’ll stay tonight with newly arrived Lauren and Matt. Orange trees, a public library, an art school, pharmacy college, medical school and cafe all fill this…

It was another rainy day in Barcelona yesterday, but with occasional moments when the hot sun would break through and scorch us right up. Shane I headed across the Poble Sec neighborhood on our way to the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya in the morning. When we saw a sign for Mercat de les Flors,…

What do you do in Barcelona on a rainy day? The city know for its parks, beaches and open air cafes seems to have a completely different tone in the middle of a spring storm. After breakfast of cafe con leche and tiny chocolate croissants, Shane made the smart choice that we should escape the…

At this point, I’ve got to be setting some kind of land-speed record for mileage covered by a tourist by bike and on foot. Shane arrived Sunday night and Rob went to his conference Monday morning, so two of us spent the day doing an introductory walking loop around Barcelona. Shane and I must have…

Yesterday, we explored the far corners of Barcelona on the horizontal. Today, we went vertical! Rob wanted to put in some miles on his bike before the rest of the week at a work conference and I had a fresh battery on the e-bike – so why not go for 18 miles and 2,200 feet…

It has been almost 15 years since I visited Barcelona as a college backpacker. However, thanks to our time in Athens last year and Nice the year before, it feels so familiar to be back in a mid-sized Mediterranean city again. The inexpensive coffee in ever-present cafes, the balcony apartments, the plane trees and the…