May 2-8

May 2
We got into Spain late tonight and headed out towards Rosas. My dads cousin Guss owns a house right on the Mediterranean and we are staying here for about a week!!
It was dark by the time we got to the house, but we found it and settled in. It is absolutely beautiful… the view is unbelievable! We are perched high up on a cliff with the view of the sea all around. There is a great terrace and lots of room, so we are excited about our stay here.
May 3
Today I woke up to birds chirping and sunlight streaming into our room. I set off with mom and dad to explore the area, we found a great sea wall path that takes us all the way into town. We are found a little grocery store and bought some fresh bread, fruit and jam for breakfast.
We relaxed in the morning and then walked to the beach in the afternoon, it was beautiful HOT beach weather!! That evening we had dinner late… as they do in Spain.. no one eats before 9:30 pm… it really reminds Jeremia and I of our time in South America. It is so warm during the day that I don’t think people want to even think about eating until the sun goes down!!
May 4
This morning Jeremia and I went for a ride to explore the area. We had some great tips about cycling in the area, so we set off ready for some big climbs and beautiful views. It was breath taking! This was one of the most beautiful rides I have been on, almost rivals our Denail National Park ride last June!!
We came back home to a delicious breakfast… bacon, eggs and toast!
Then we were off the pick up Lies, JP and Charlie. They flew into Gerona. About 45 min. away from where we are staying.
The rest of the day we spent on the beach and then had another beautiful dinner on the terrace. It was my turn to cook, so we had pork skewers, rice, salad and some Tapas during happy hour!
May 5
We woke up to wind and clouds this morning… I later found out that the wind here is called “Traumatantra” It blows hard and furious!! The area is know for the wind that has made people go mad… to me it sounds like another place… Let’s see, can any one say Lethbridge!!! It was blowing so hard that we didn’t think it would be a very good idea to go for a bike ride… so instead we decided to head for a little drive up the coast. Lies and I left early to get a head start. We walked into the Cap de Cruz National Park and almost got blown off some of the cliffs, the views were awesome!! The silver bullet came up the road right when we were getting pretty sick of fighting for our lives… so we hopped in and joined the others for a bit of an adventure.
We didn’t get as far as we planned because the road closed, so we decided to turn around and head to Figueras, the town where Dali was born. There is a museum there that we all wanted to go and see. It was designed by Dali himself, and it is in the location of the old theater. His first exhibition was held in the foyer of the theater, and the church he was baptized in was across the street, he also speaks of himself as a theatrical painter, so decided that this would be the perfect location for the largest Surrealist work of art, the museum itself. Dali did not want people to see this building as a museum, but rather a work of art… and that it is! I have never seen anything like it. We spent a long time here, taking in the wonder and the unique world of Dali.
When we returned it was warm again, so some of us went to the beach. Another beautiful day in Spain!
May 6
Woke up early this morning and went for a big ride. Big climbs and my legs were feeling it after.
Spent the morning on the beach, Charlie is so cute in the water! It is pretty cold, but he loves feeling the water on his toes and then running backwards…. He has a hard time walking by himself, but there are lots of us that want to play with him so it is pretty special. I love that little guy, he is so fun to be around.
We planned to celebrate Mom and Dad’s 30 wedding anniversary today, it is in August, but this whole trip is really to celebrate their marriage and we thought because we were all together here in Spain, we should plan a special say for them. We planned a scavenger hunt that took them all around the area, and had little stations set up, it was great, although the walk to the light house was further than we thought and it was about 32 degrees, oops! But they made it! After we made a special dinner, and hung out all together late into the night, laughing and talking over coffee and our favorite Magnum ice cream!

May 7
Today was another celebration… Lies and JP’s fourth wedding anniversary!
We went on a hike this morning instead of a ride, there are so many trails here in the National Park, through olive groves and through terraced vineyards, the landscape is really something. I can see why this area attracted so many artists.
The hike we took was the Megalithic route. This hike took us to some of the biggest Dolmens is Catalonia. The largest is the Creu d’en Cobertella dating from 3000 – 2000 BC! This Dolmen, which features a large gallery grave is covered by a stone slab weighing 4 tons, it was declared a historic-artistic monument in 1964. There were monoliths, stone huts, and lots of other very OLD ruins. Lance carried Charlie on his back for the whole hike, and Charlie slept for the entire time.
After the hike we went to Barcelona. Mom and Dad stayed home with Charlie, and the six of us went into the city. We parked and took the metro into the center, the first stop was the Cathedral of the sacred family, designed by Gaudi, and still not complete. This Cathedral has been under construction for more than 100 years and is still under construction, they hope it will be done in 2020. It is defiantly worth seeing, and is something that I will not forget soon.
We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening walking around the city, taking in the sights and enjoying a wonderful dinner.
May 8
A bit cooler today. Went for a big walk into Rosas and spent the morning walking about. Small little shops and walking streets, met up for lunch with everyone and then some people went to the old Citadel, and others just came home. Very relaxing day, not a lot to report.
Rudy and Jeremia go home on Monday, so we are soaking up the last few days of time together!
Tomorrow Jeremia and I are planning a long bike ride out to the cape, and the rest of the family is heading into Barcelona for another day of exploring the city. We will meet back for dinner out, and then we leave Sunday morning for France… to sadly drop Jeremia and Rudy off on Monday morning.
Well that’s a little update. Hope all is well.
Lots of Love