Napoleon

I allowed the children to stay up a bit past their bedtime last night.  It is a special weekend in Girona.  Last night was the Revive Los Sitios Napoleónicos de Girona.  I could write a long explanation, but I have children who will be awake from their naps within minutes and there is simply not time.  Basically they have a re-enactment of when Napoleon tried to capture Girona between 1808-1809.  I believe he tried on three separate occasions.  Anyway, it is a really cool thing to watch!  A few photos from last evening…..

This morning we went for a little walk and had a park visit before returning home for Aurelia's afternoon nap.  

 Our street, deserted at 9am on a Sunday...

Tamariu on the 4th of July

I am exhausted.

Seriously, this whole "wear out the children" idea has caught up with me, but we are having such a fun week!

Yesterday we went to the local pool with some friends and Eston was beyond tired.

Today we made plans to go to the beach in Tamariu.

I loaded up the kids and we picked up Lisa and Cassie and made our way to the coast.

We wanted to go to a beach none of us had ever visited before, so Cassie brought her GPS to help with directions to Tamariu.

The GPS was on crack and we ended up on a very random and narrow dirt road in my awesome rental car:

I quickly consulted a real map and we realized that the dirt road would lead straight to the beach, so we had ourselves a fun little adventure on the dirt road.

Aurelia was sound asleep, but Eston found the bumps rather amusing.

The dirt road was worth it as this beach was gorgeous!

Tamariu was once a small fishing village.

Local government does not allow much expansion, so there is still not a whole lot there--just these white-washed little places on the coast.

The beach is very clean and the water is crystal clear, making it popular for both families and divers.  There are also lots of sea caves accessible only to divers, so we saw several boats heading out with people in dive gear.

Eston is desperate to scuba dive, so he was quite interested.

The beach faces south and is surrounded by pine forest, so it is very stunning.

 Lisa and I spotted tons of kids jumping off the rocks into the water and then realized that there was a diving board built right in the rocks!

We wasted no time in leaving my children with Cassie (she is expecting, so jumping off rocks and such is not the best idea) and climbing the rocks to the diving board.

Here I am getting ready to jump and Lisa is behind me:

 Mid-jump.

I need to work on my form.

 This is Lisa's splash.

I am in the water...

 Lots of fun rocks to be climbed!!

 A few more of this gorgeous place.

We will return soon!

Eston loves to wade in the ocean, but today was a big step because he went in all the way (with me, of course).  He was hanging on to me and I swam out and we floated around, which was awesome.  He was thrilled and we had so much fun.

Thank you to Lisa and Cassie for helping so much with both kids!

We left Girona at 9:30am and did not get home until 4pm, so there was little fuss at bed time.

I put Aurelia in her crib when she was wide awake because I had to help Eston.

I returned a few minutes later and she was fast asleep.

Eston fell asleep after our first book and he usually makes it through four books.

Tomorrow we have to actually go out and buy some food at the market.

We've been having so much fun that our fridge is nearly empty!

Ruins of Empuries

We are on the last day of Eston's 4-day weekend.

Rory has been training a ton, so he basically leaves after lunch and returns just before dinner.

This makes for a very long day and my exercise has been lacking, which does not help.

Sunday night was the beginning of the celebration for Sant Joan.

In Catalan Sunday night is referred to as "La revetlla de Sant Joan" which basically means "St. Joan Eve." This day is to celebrate the summer solstice and is widely known as the craziest and loudest party of the year.  All the hotels advise against tourists staying in hotels on the evening of the 23rd because of the noise.

We were invited to a local Catalan family party and were pretty excited to see what this day was all about.

The party started at 7pm, so I let Eston have a long nap in the afternoon.

Aurelia went to sleep soon after arriving and our wonderful hosts let her sleep in their room.

How she stayed asleep through all the noise I will never know.

Anyway, fireworks and fires are the biggest part of this celebration.

We had plenty of both at this party!

 There were tons of kids and tons of toys, so Eston was right at home with his friends (we have been here for parties a few times now).

 Catalans have few concerns about kids and fireworks, so I decided to follow suit.

Eston had a blast...

 The most interesting part of the party...hearing our son speak fluent Catalan.

We've never heard him speak Catalan before, so this was a bit of a shock.

I mean, I know he uses it at school, but I was not sure how much he could speak.

One of the other parents at the party assumed Rory and I spoke it at home and they were shocked to hear that he has only learned it at school and informed us that he is quite fluent for his age.  Obviously the locals love hearing him use their native language with such ease!

 This is the traditional cake eaten on this day.

To be honest, I don't think Catalans know much about cakes.

This one tasted like the Easter cake and the Three Kings cake.

A bit bland.

But I certainly tried it at the party!

 We were the first to leave the party a little after midnight.

We drove back to the center of town and everyone was partying and setting off fireworks all night long.

We turned our fans to "high" to drown out the noise.

And Monday morning (the actual Sant Joan Day) was incredibly silent.

Rory had another long training day, so I packed the kids up and we went to see the ruins at Empuries.

From the website (again, please don't sue me).

The ruins of Empúries are in the province of Girona, in Catalonia. Visit this ancient colony founded by the Greeks in the 6th century BC, later occupied by the Romans, who created their own town in the 1st century BC. This spot on the Costa Brava was a prosperous territory, on account of its commercial activity, until the town was abandoned in the 3rd century AD and disappeared beneath the dunes. This unique archaeological park was hidden for centuries until, in 1908, the excavations began that continue to this day.

Explore this network of walls, columns, streets and houses, admiring priceless mosaics, marble and paintings. The drainage systems, layout of houses and constructions such as the Forum, an old factory, the Amphitheatre and the Basilica will give you an idea of what life was like way back at that time. Don't miss the statue of Asclepios, the Greek god of medicine, presiding over a temple, looking out to sea. The Greek wharf, along the shore, also has to be seen - it is in an excellent state of conservation. Make the most of the occasion to visit the Archaeology Museum, where you can see important pieces, ceramics, utensils and sculptures from the time. The Mediterranean beauty of this spot is hard to match.

The beauty was hard to match--what a perfect spot!

 Hard to believe this amazing piece of history is just 40 minutes away from Girona!

We had a really fun time exploring the ruins and then we grabbed our beach gear from the car and spent the rest of the afternoon on the sand.

It was quite warm and Cassie watched Aurelia so I could have a quick swim.

Eston is a beach kid and had a blast playing in the water and sand all afternoon.

He was less than pleased when we had to leave!

El Castell Gala Dali

 Rory had a rest day today (yay!) and planned a really lovely morning for me.

We dropped Eston at school, picked up the rental car, stopped to pick up lunch, and then made our way out to the small village of Pubol to see the Gala Dali castle.

Blurb from website (don't sue me, people):

The Gala Dalí Castle in Púbol, open to the public since 1996, allows visitors to discover a medieval building in which Salvador Dalí lent material form to an exuberant creative effort with his mind set on one person, Gala, and on one function, to make a place suitable for his wife’s rest and refuge. The passage of time led to this place being turned between 1982 and 1984 into Salvador Dalí’s last workshop and the mausoleum for his muse.

Figuring in documents since the 11th century, the basic structure of the present building, on three floors and arranged around a narrow inner courtyard, dates from the time of utmost splendour of the barony of Púbol: the second half of the 14th century and beginning of the 15th century.

When Dalí bought the castle in 1969 it was in a very poor condition, with ceilings collapsed, large cracks and the garden in semi-wild state. But all that lent the whole a romantic feel which is what the couple rated most and tried to retain in the restoration work they set under way. The ruinous appearance from the outside was consolidated, without hiding the scars left by the passage of time. The semi-ruined walls and ceilings were used in a highly intelligent way to create unsuspected areas and dimensions forming stark contrasts. The underlying conception of the interior decor was based on pictorial scenes on the walls, false architectural features, baroque-style use of fabrics, antiques, romantic symbols, and so forth. The result is an enclosed, mysterious, private, austere and sober place, with zones of considerable beauty such as the former kitchen converted into a bathroom or the Piano Room.

 The Missus had excellent taste...

This was Dali's last known studio area...

 Ok, so I think we are all familiar with Dali and his art.

He obviously had a lot going on in that mind of his.

The house/art/furniture was all interesting to see, but something gave me chills when we walked into their garage and saw this old Caddy.

Something about it was just morbid?

I don't know...

Note the license plate from Monaco...

The gardens were gorgeous and so peaceful...

 So the castle was Dali's last workshop from 1982-1984.

A fire broke out in Dali's bedroom in the castle in 1984.

Odd circumstances and I guess his friends were worried that it was really a suicide attempt and they moved him back to Figueres, which is about 30 minutes away (where the big Dali museum is located).

 The entire house is built around this inner courtyard...

 Saw this on a gate and thought it was fun...

We enjoyed a nice little picnic in the countryside with Aurelia after visiting the castle and even found a good parking spot upon return to Girona.

Now it is time to pick Eston up from school and our beautiful day has disappeared and it is pouring rain...just in time for the 1km walk to school.