Font de la Torre

The kids are asleep after a weekend full of fun and activity.

They barely made it to 6:30pm before Eston was asking for books and Aurelia was reaching for her favorite blanket.

For the past two nights Eston has been sleeping in the twin bed in Aurelia's room.

Both of them seem delighted with this arrangement and I have no problem with it as long as they both sleep well.

I think it gives them both a little more comfort when Rory is gone and it is so cute to hear them chatting before they fall asleep.  Obviously Aurelia is not saying more than a few words, but they have their own way of communicating with each other.

Kaitlin decided to go visit her fiancé in the Tour de France on Friday and planned on driving four hours to the town of Nimes.

She asked if I would check the oil and coolant levels in her car, so we headed to the garage (our cars are in the same garage) on Friday evening.

The kids ran around while I had a look and made sure everything was okay.

I am not a mechanic by any stretch of the imagination, but I know the basics.

I was putting the coolant cap back on when my phone rang.

The caller ID informed me that it was my husband calling and I instantly felt my heart rate increase.

Rory was calling me en route to the hospital in Italy after being in a car accident.

He was with a couple of teammates and they were returning to their hotel when a motorcycle ran into the side of the car.

The motorcycle hit the passenger side door, where Rory was sitting, and the side and front air bags instantly deployed.

It was a warm day and the window was down, otherwise he would have been covered in shards of glass.

He was bruised and cut up a bit, but otherwise he thought he was fine.

The hospital in Italy checked him out and sent him back to the hotel and though he woke up yesterday with bruises, he seems to be okay otherwise.

Honestly, it has been a bit of a rough month.

I always stay positive and appreciate all that we have, but it would be nice for him to have a little shimmer of sunshine about now.

I know we are back on track with training and such and good things are right around the corner.

 The kids and I enjoyed a normal Saturday.

Bike rides through our neighborhood, market visit, park, etc.

Eston prepared our snack on Saturday afternoon:

 Aurelia dashes to the door in hopes that I will leave the stroller at home:

 And here are my children, snuggled in and ready for some stories.

Aurelia is able to sit and listen for longer periods of time and I just love this time each night.

 This morning we had a big excursion planned!

Aurelia helped me water the plants before we left:

 I decided to take the kids out to Canet d'Adri, a place where I ride all the time but never hike.

The small town dates back to 1497 and sits on the edge of the La Garrotxa volcanic area.

Everything I read was in Catalan, but many years ago the volcanic activity in the area created gorges all over La Garrotxa and you can hike through many of them.

The gorges in Canet d'Adri were fed by local streams and rivers and there are some really gorgeous volcanic pools as well.

We had to drive to Canet d'Adri and hike from there, but here we are leaving the apartment:

 It was difficult to find a detailed map of the area, so we parked in town and walked on a dirt road to the trail head.

Eston was super excited about this adventure.

 We found Font de la Torre quite easily and Eston was so excited about the pools!

 Looking at tadpoles:

 Beautiful hiking trails...and yes, we saw a snake.

Gulp.

I had to teach Eston what to do in event of emergency, just in case something happen to me and he needed to treat a snakebite.

The thought of it freaked me out a bit, but he listened and seemed ready for anything.

 We made our way down to the pools after our hike.

We kicked off our shoes and walked around the shallow bits.

There was moss everywhere and sure enough, Eston slipped.

I had changes of clothing for all of us, so it was no big deal.

 We had a little picnic on the rocks.

It was pretty simple--just sandwiches and fruit--because I had Aurelia and all of our stuff on my back, so we were limited in what we could bring.

Eston's pack was full of our clothing and a towel.

 This little waterfall dumped into a larger pool in the gorge below (hard to see).

Before children I would have been sliding down those rocks!

I told Eston that and he offered to watch Aurelia so I could do it (he said he wanted to watch).

I said we would think about it.

I am an adventurous person, but you couldn't really see the bottom of the gorge and I am not sure how I would get out of it once in.

Probably best not to do that when with my children!

 Both children are sleeping soundly and the rain has started again.

View of our street from our windows:

Mercat del Lleo

My daily shop is not at a typical "American" grocery store.

Instead, I spend my mornings at Mercat del Lleo.

It might be one of my favorite places in Girona.

The market dates back to the 18th century, though the current structure was built in 1944.

It has been remodeled over the years to update refrigeration systems, loading docks, etc, but it is still in the same plaza.

I found an old photo from the 50's...don't sue me.

The market is a bustle of energy.

You definitely have your "vendors."

I have been going to the same chicken, fruit, meat, veggie, cheese, and spice people since 2012, so they know us pretty well.

Everyone was thrilled when Aurelia was born and now she is walking around.

Eston only goes on Saturdays, but they adore hearing him speak Catalan.

This morning I purchased some fish for our dinner this evening.

It is all about small change in the market.

They don't like breaking large bills-don't ask me why.

I am usually really prepared for this, but this morning I wasn't.

I had two options for the fish lady-- be two euro short, or she could break a larger bill.

"Pay me the two euro next time you come in," she said to me as she handed me my bag of fish.

Does your local grocery store do that for you?

We then headed over to the chicken lady.

She just returned from vacation (her stall was closed for two weeks) so I asked her about how her trip was as Aurelia was slowly putting eggs from the basket to our little egg holder.

There was a large line behind us, but nobody ever says anything or acts impatient here.

They simply wait for Aurelia to put a dozen eggs into our egg containers.

Of course, they coo and marvel over her each step of the way.

When you buy chicken in the USA it is washed and cut up and you purchase breasts or legs and move on your way.

Not so here.

Basically the refrigerated stall is full of whole chickens.

They come from a farm about 25 minutes from Girona and they are organic and free-range.

Of course, here they don't have all of those titles, it is just the way chicken is on this farm.

The chickens in the stall have been plucked, but there is an odd feather here and there.

You tell the chicken lady what you are making and which part of the chicken you require.

Nothing goes to waste as she prepares your order.

This morning I bought a whole chicken to roast for dinner tomorrow night, so she cut off the head and feet and wrapped the chicken up with some twine so I am all set to go tomorrow.

I know some people would find this gross, but I love that my children know the true source of our food.

Our next stop is the veggie lady and we selected the veggies we will need for the next two days.

Everything is ripe, so you really can't buy for more than two days at a time.

We buy so differently in the USA, but I have adjusted to the way of life here and I actually struggled when we visited the USA last summer.

The grocery store there overwhelmed me and nothing seemed fresh.

Anyway, outside the market are the smaller farms and locals.

They usually have just a few offerings--some fresh raw honey, or some lettuce from their small farm.

These small stalls come and go with the seasons, so your meals change with the seasons as well.

Fancy some asparagus tonight?

You are out of luck and should have bought some last month.

After the market we walk a few blocks to our bakery.

The woman there sees me everyday and knows what kind of bread we like.

Again, everything is made organically and the bread is only good for a day or two (no preservatives).

She sliced my sandwich bread and prepared the rolls Rory favors after a long ride as she chatted to me about what the kids are doing this summer.

Aurelia was not keen on being in the stroller, so she brought her a fresh croissant.

They make these teeny ones just for kids and Aurelia was silent and happy.

I love living life this way.

Granted, it is slower.

It takes me an hour or more to purchase food on a near daily basis.

However, it is a delightful hour.

I have the chance to practice some Spanish and Catalan.

Aurelia loves the hustle and bustle.

Eston only joins us on the weekends, but he looks forward to it.

I know people think they could never do this on a daily basis with their kids, but the kids here (mine included) just love the interaction with everyone.

At this point I am not sure I could re-adjust to the USA way of shopping.

I am not sure I really want to, either.

Coastal Hike

We headed down towards Tossa de Mar and did a short hike with Charlotte...

 We returned home and I was busy cleaning up and cooking before picking Aurelia up at nursery school.

Suddenly these bits of dirt were falling from the sky.

Okay, not the sky, but from somewhere above.

I had just swept and mopped, so I was feeling a bit peeved.

 I looked up and discovered this little nest above our window.

 I was delighted at first, but then I realized where these little buggers were getting their dirt...

 Yes, those are my plants.

Tomato, basil, rosemary, lavender, onions, mint, aloe vera.

I only plant things that we eat or use for medicinal purposes (aloe vera).

The plants are coming along nicely and I freaked out at the birds for pestering them in their quest for dirt.

And that broken strawberry plant I found last week?

I blamed it on Charlotte, but now I realize who is responsible.

Is it too late to build a scarecrow on my balcony?

I tried to get Charlotte to defend her turf, but she was too busy sleeping on the sunny balcony.

I would prefer to live in peace with the birds, but they need to get their supplies elsewhere.

Temps de Flors

Temps de Flors is an annual festival here in Girona.

It is one of my favorites, but the crowds are outrageous.

Most tourists are not out and about earlier in the morning, so I went to see some of the festival before things became too crowded.

A few photos of the festival: