Tamariu

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. My children were thrilled with their presents and we enjoyed a perfect day with friends. Rory was able to take a day off the bike, so it was great to spend the the day together as a family.

Of course, Rory returned to long training days the day after Christmas and the kids and I began to plan adventures of our own. Yesterday we decided to head to Tamariu for some hiking and exploring. Tamariu was a small fishing village and it has retained the charm of such a village. There are a couple of small hotels in town (20 rooms, not large) and a few tiny restaurants line the beach. The small streets are lined with tamarisk trees, hence the name. Tamariu is one of the most sheltered coves on the Costa Brava. It is widely known as a popular diving spot because the Llosa de Cala Nova, a submerged mountain, is nearby. Gorgeous vertical cliffs plunge down to the water, which is considered to be the purest on the Costa Brava. It is a great beach for kids, so it is very crowded with families throughout the summer months. We have not been to this beach since the summer of 2013, so we were long overdue for a visit.

Eston was our photographer, so all photos are his unless he is in them.

 I would love to cozy up in this house for a week or two. Or forever.

 Our plan was to hike a few kilometers before turning around and returning to Tamariu for lunch. I had a hiking book for the Costa Brava, but I must have let someone borrow it because I could not find it before we left. I knew the trail would we well marked, so we set out with little concern for the technicalities of the trail. Whoops.

 This stairway plunged straight down to the water. I made the kids hug the rock as they made their way up the stairs.

 Yep, that is a diving board! So much fun in the summer!

 The trail leveled out for a bit, thank goodness. Aurelia is doing so well with hiking independently.

 I had to get a photo of the photographer. He really loves working with his camera (well, it is mine, but he has taken over, which is fine).

 It was the perfect December temperature yesterday.

 Yep, another tight trail with a cliff. I think kids should learn how to navigate and it though it was narrow, it was perfectly safe.

 We finally made it to the boathouse!

 You can see Eston climbing over the tree trunk and through the branches. This was actually the trail, I promise. It was clearly marked, so we knew it was the right way, though it was very tricky.

And then we came to this. Rocks. A lot of them. This photo was taken on the hike back, so we did this rocky section twice. The trail was marked through the rocks, so you kind of had a guide. Of course, the tides were not accounted for, so in some places we had to scurry over a different section of rocks. This was fairly easy and fun for Eston, but it was slow going with Aurelia. I did offer to put her in the backpack, but she insisted on doing it solo. 

We eventually made it back to Tamariu! We only hiked about 4km because the trail was so technical, but it took several hours (including a snack break). 

I treated the kids to lunch in one of the restaurants on the beach. It was so nice in the sunshine and they were even allowed to get their favorite drink---agua con gas. They think this is a super special treat and I am going with it. Don't let on otherwise, please.

After lunch we put the backpack in the car and took out our towels and beach toys. 

 I collect sea glass and interesting rocks and shells and my kids will spend hours looking for it. No joke. Look at the focus here, people! We are intense about our collecting and came back with some beautiful finds. 

I love having the kids home from school so we can have our adventures together. We have two more weeks and a long list of things to do.

Happy 2016.

The Basque Country

We have lived in Spain for over three years and I have been wanting to visit Bilbao and San Sebastian for ages. Rory races over there a couple of times a year, but the timing has just never worked out with the kids. I was so happy when we planned this trip and it did not disappoint! 

We left Girona on Saturday afternoon and drove down to the airport in Barcelona for the flight to Santander. We went this route because the tickets were ridiculously cheap. Anyway, Spanish (and most European) airports are a revelation for families. We were in the security line when one of the security people waves us through. We passed through to an empty line (and nobody gave us a dirty look) where we could take our time getting organized. They even had a play pen set up for parents with babies. You can set your baby or toddler in it (they had a couple of toys) and get yourself organized. I mean, seriously. We did not need it, but I appreciated the space and kindness towards us. 

Flying in Spain seems to be a bit more gentle as well. Flight delayed? Meh, it happens. Flight canceled? Great news, let's go have lunch or dinner! Babies are screaming on the flight (not mine)... Those poor parents! Someone help them or buy them a drink. People are just a little more patient in my humble opinion.

Anyway, the flight from Barcelona to Santander is all of an hour, so the kids were disappointed because they barely had time to read or do much of anything. I know a lot of people hate RyanAir, but I always find them to be really nice to families and we have never had a bad experience.

We landed in Santander and picked up our rental car and headed to Getxo, a little town just outside of Bilbao where we had rented a holiday flat. The flat was perfect for us, but it was 9pm by the time we put our bags down and headed out for dinner. Spanish vacation for sure!

The next morning we drove about 35 minutes to one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. This is a little island on the Basque coast. Now, this part of the coast faces endless wind and rough seas, so over the years erosion has caused interesting islands and caves to be formed. This particular island has a church on top of it that dates back to the 9th or 10th centuries (this is debatable depending on what you read). It is a bit of a hike to get to the church, but it is worth every step.

The parking lot is large and one begins to walk down a steep, but paved path. The path quickly turns to dirt and is very wet and slick during the winter. Our kids walked and did fine, so it is not impossible. It is about 1.5 kilometers from the parking lot to the pathway to the church. One must climb roughly 237 steep stairs, but again, Aurelia did it without any problems. Well, except for the wind. It was so windy. Winds like I have never felt before. 

Eston was our trip photographer and these are his photos, with the exception of those he is in!

This is a great little hike for families, though I know some people will think I am crazy for taking my kids up some unstable stairs with cliffs on both sides. They were completely safe and they loved every moment of the walk (except for the wind).

After our hike we drove back to the beach near our holiday flat. It was incredibly crowded because it was a holiday in Spain and the weather was about 20 degrees warmer than usual. We found a great restaurant right on the water and sat down for a typical Spanish lunch--meaning several courses and several hours. The kids gorged themselves on crema de veduras (veggie soup) and fresh gambas (shrimp). The restaurant had an old fashioned dessert cart that they wheeled around and the kids thought that was fantastic. 

For the record we all split dessert, but for a moment Aurelia thought it was all hers and was delighted.

We went across the street to the beach after lunch and had some running races to work off the dessert.

 This was once (and maybe still is?) a wealthy shipping community. There were some amazing old summer houses on the cliff and I tried to take photos. The next two are mine, not Eston's! The architecture was so different than what you normally see in Spain, so it is clear that these people traveled (Eston was sure they were on the Titanic) and had exposure to different cultures.

On Monday we headed to San Sebastian, which was just about an hour away from where we were staying. The weather cooperated with us once again, which is the opposite of normal weather in the Basque Country.

San Sebastian is pretty incredible. See the plaza below? The original buildings were destroyed during a war, so it was rebuilt in this neo-classical style. Do you see the numbers on each balcony? The city used to rent out balconies for bull fights and other cultural events in this plaza, so they put numbers on each balcony so one knew where to go.

 It was incredibly crowded in San Sebastian. All of Spain is on vacation this weekend, so every family was out and about enjoying the incredible weather. I would like to return to San Sebastian in the future because I feel like we missed a lot with the crowds.

We decided to have a bit of an adventure as we left the city of San Sebastian. We drove down the coast and found random roads to explore. The kids love when we do this. I really loved looking at Eston's photos of this portion of our trip because it is so clear what captured his attention.

I grew up loving the water and waves, so I was keen to see a famous surf break called Mundaka. It was not really on our way to anywhere, but Rory drove us way out of the way so we could visit. Eston was really concentrating on getting a decent shot of the surfers, which is really hard to do. I think he did a pretty good job for his first try. Mundaka was a small fishing village and it does not look like a typical surf town, that's for sure. 

We visited Bilbao on Tuesday. We took the kids to the Guggenheim in the morning when they were fresh. Aurelia was hilarious and was telling me all about each painting. "It's a lady and she is all different colors." Got that, Andy Warhol? Eston was content to take dozens of photos of the building and the spider.

 We met up with friends who live in Bilbao and they showed us all around town. Eston was snapping away as we wandered around town with everyone. I love having local friends who can act as tour guides because they always know the best places to go.

We went with our friends to a wonderful restaurant right on the river and enjoyed another Spanish lunch. The kids were famished by this point because they had both walked all over the city, so they ate each course with glee. Aurelia even asked for more pumpkin soup because she was still hungry! Nothing is more delightful than a long lunch (and playing with Mumma's scarf)

The trip went by much too quickly and we look forward to returning again to explore!