Spain Trip - The Pyrenees Mountains - Day 2
This morning it was time to get up and get ready for the trip north. I was up most the night actually. Mom was snoring loudly. I used the last juice I had on my Ipod, read Twilight a bit and finally started to clean the room, and unpack more. Before I knew it was back in bed, with a little sleep at least. We got ready, I texted Stefanie and we went to get breakfast. WOW. Great breakfast buffet! It was on the 2nd floor and very nice. We beat Stef and Donna down. I had me some Spanish expresso. Different and better tasting (in my opinion) than ours here America. Everything was delicious and the help was good! After breakfast we went down to the lobby to look at some maps and decide where we needed to go to get to the meeting point for the Pyrenees Mountain trip. We knew the general direction and such. We had seen the Hard Rock the night before while around La Rambla. It's right there on the corner of the La Rambla. That was our meeting point. Again we weren't 100% sure where exactly. But we made a mental note where the Hard Rock was, since both Stef and I needed our Hard Rock hurricane glasses. :D
We looked around and found that there was another person there waiting for the tour as well. Renee. She was from Colorado, and was studying to be in politics I think. She reminded me of the "first lady" whatever her name is. That Obama's wife, only Renee was prettier.
Anyhoo, soon our tour guide came driving up. HOTTIE :). Adrian was his name. He was Catalan & French. Makes sense he'd be a perfect guide, since the Pyrenees were co-joined by Spain & France. We of course were in the Catalunya section of Spain. In Barcelona, Catalan is spoken first and THEN Spanish. It's a mixture of normal Spanish & French.
Anyways. we piled into the van and headed off out of Barcelona. Adrian told us about the area, the culture, his culture. We asked questions and we all talked and looked at the scenery. Our first stop was Vic, Spain (España) What a beautful, small and quaint village. When we got there it was still early and the daily market was just starting. He gave us a overview and pointed out differen places. He gave us a map and said, now it's your turn. In order to find your way you need to get lost. I liked that saying! So we were set loose. We seemed to loose Renee, but we found here in one of the churches. The place was awesome. AWESOME chocolate, shoppes, Roman ruins, old cathedrals. The streets were narrow, winding and a bit hilly, but not too steep. We did infact get lost coming back, but we made it. By the time we got back to the square, and the statue we were to meet at, the market was in full swing and packed. I really enjoyed the atmospere. We don't have places like that in the states. I'm sure something close, but not quite.
From Vic, we drove north towards Ripoll, we didn't stop just drove through. But it sorta reminded me of Flagstaff, AZ, sorta dusty but smaller. After Ripoll the mountains that had loomed on the horizon got bigger and wider as we got closer to Queralbs & Vall de Núria
( www.ripollesturisme.cat ) It's basically a ski/hiking resort used year round. We took the train from Queralbs (another small & quaint village..real tiny) up to the resort area. There was a pavillon, hotel, lake, finicular up to the mountain with great views of both sides of the mountain range. We did the finicular and grabbed a bite to eat (long line in the cafeteria!) We took the train back down to Queralbs since we wanted to explore that a little more. We got some Olive Oil (2 bottles) in a little market. The streets were cobblestone and the houses built tough. We sat and ate our food we had gotten up in Vall de Núria, and a dog (golden retriever) came and befriended us. We eventually walked back to the van and waited for Renee & Adrian, who had stayed up there to hike. Some locals were setting up for something, a bike race I think and came up to me to ask about the van and where it was parked. I told him we'd be leaving soon, just waiting for our guide to be back, which would be any minute. One of the men was annoyed about it and the man I talked to calmed him down, but told us that if he didn't come, the van would be towed. Well, of course that set mom off and she started her pacing. The rest of us was just milling around. Adrian and Renee came soon, and they went to the restroom and he let her look around a bit. Stef wandered off and I video taped some around where she wondered off to. Soon, we were on our way back "home" to Barcelona. I did feel as though it was home. I liked Barcelona very much right off the bat. It was very welcoming.
Anyhoo, back home to Barcelona, Adrian dropped us off in front of The Hard Rock and he gave us some tips and suggestions as to where to eat etc. We never found the resturant he suggested, called Luna Luna, but we had fun wandering around La Rambla. I have to admit after a while though, Donna's endless quest for red wine and pickiness was getting on my nerves, it was't too bad. Finally, since it was getting late and were we hungry (late in our terms, not Barcelona's - about 9:30, things stay open LATE) we settled on a place about midway on La Rambla (La Poma). It was an excellent choice. I had Catalan sausage, egg, and "potatoes" (french fries to us Americans) and it was AWESOME!!!! I loved it.
From there we wandered a bit more and ended up at our Cafe Dore next to the hotel for drinks, and Flan :) We love Flan!
We looked around and found that there was another person there waiting for the tour as well. Renee. She was from Colorado, and was studying to be in politics I think. She reminded me of the "first lady" whatever her name is. That Obama's wife, only Renee was prettier.
Anyhoo, soon our tour guide came driving up. HOTTIE :). Adrian was his name. He was Catalan & French. Makes sense he'd be a perfect guide, since the Pyrenees were co-joined by Spain & France. We of course were in the Catalunya section of Spain. In Barcelona, Catalan is spoken first and THEN Spanish. It's a mixture of normal Spanish & French.
Anyways. we piled into the van and headed off out of Barcelona. Adrian told us about the area, the culture, his culture. We asked questions and we all talked and looked at the scenery. Our first stop was Vic, Spain (España) What a beautful, small and quaint village. When we got there it was still early and the daily market was just starting. He gave us a overview and pointed out differen places. He gave us a map and said, now it's your turn. In order to find your way you need to get lost. I liked that saying! So we were set loose. We seemed to loose Renee, but we found here in one of the churches. The place was awesome. AWESOME chocolate, shoppes, Roman ruins, old cathedrals. The streets were narrow, winding and a bit hilly, but not too steep. We did infact get lost coming back, but we made it. By the time we got back to the square, and the statue we were to meet at, the market was in full swing and packed. I really enjoyed the atmospere. We don't have places like that in the states. I'm sure something close, but not quite.
From Vic, we drove north towards Ripoll, we didn't stop just drove through. But it sorta reminded me of Flagstaff, AZ, sorta dusty but smaller. After Ripoll the mountains that had loomed on the horizon got bigger and wider as we got closer to Queralbs & Vall de Núria
( www.ripollesturisme.cat ) It's basically a ski/hiking resort used year round. We took the train from Queralbs (another small & quaint village..real tiny) up to the resort area. There was a pavillon, hotel, lake, finicular up to the mountain with great views of both sides of the mountain range. We did the finicular and grabbed a bite to eat (long line in the cafeteria!) We took the train back down to Queralbs since we wanted to explore that a little more. We got some Olive Oil (2 bottles) in a little market. The streets were cobblestone and the houses built tough. We sat and ate our food we had gotten up in Vall de Núria, and a dog (golden retriever) came and befriended us. We eventually walked back to the van and waited for Renee & Adrian, who had stayed up there to hike. Some locals were setting up for something, a bike race I think and came up to me to ask about the van and where it was parked. I told him we'd be leaving soon, just waiting for our guide to be back, which would be any minute. One of the men was annoyed about it and the man I talked to calmed him down, but told us that if he didn't come, the van would be towed. Well, of course that set mom off and she started her pacing. The rest of us was just milling around. Adrian and Renee came soon, and they went to the restroom and he let her look around a bit. Stef wandered off and I video taped some around where she wondered off to. Soon, we were on our way back "home" to Barcelona. I did feel as though it was home. I liked Barcelona very much right off the bat. It was very welcoming.
Anyhoo, back home to Barcelona, Adrian dropped us off in front of The Hard Rock and he gave us some tips and suggestions as to where to eat etc. We never found the resturant he suggested, called Luna Luna, but we had fun wandering around La Rambla. I have to admit after a while though, Donna's endless quest for red wine and pickiness was getting on my nerves, it was't too bad. Finally, since it was getting late and were we hungry (late in our terms, not Barcelona's - about 9:30, things stay open LATE) we settled on a place about midway on La Rambla (La Poma). It was an excellent choice. I had Catalan sausage, egg, and "potatoes" (french fries to us Americans) and it was AWESOME!!!! I loved it.
From there we wandered a bit more and ended up at our Cafe Dore next to the hotel for drinks, and Flan :) We love Flan!