Sunday evening

After an amazing day sight seeing, Rob and the others went to the fire center for him to give his work shop. They dropped me back at the hotel, and I began work on this blog. Still pretty jet lagged, it was nice to have a bit of quiet time in the room before heading out to dinner. I am listening to the sounds of a quiet Sunday afternoon. All the shops are closed, but I hear the voices of people out for a stroll, chatting in Catalan, someone whistling, and a nearby church bell chiming every quarter hour.
I had thought I might take a walk and a short nap while I waited; but I decided to work on the blog, and in the meantime it has grown dark (about 1730). I still have another hour or so before they return, so it would not be a good thing to nap now.
After only a short time, I am sure that I will be unready to leave on Friday ~ there is so much to learn and see and do right here in Girona. Finally everyone returns from the workshop, and we head out for dinner. This time they have chosen a restaurant called "The River," which didn't strike me as particularly significant since Girona is the "city of four rivers." However, when they bring the menu, all the sandwiches are named for Bruce Springsteen songs; apparently the owner is somewhat of a fanatic about The Boss, and there are posters, album covers and other memorabilia inside, and Springsteen is playing on the sound system. On the walk back to the hotel, we experience another bit of a cultural warp: to our surprise, tucked into a lovely 500- or so year old building is an Apple (computer) Store. It came in handy the next day when we realized with only one power converter, Rob or I one would be left unable to charge during the days he had to be at the conference.
Somehow, we just didn't expect to see an Apple Store in this part of the city.






The street on which our hotel was located. The city had already put up some Christmas lights, but they would not be lighted until the first week in December.














Our hotel, Hotel Ciutat de Girona. We had the corner room right above the entry ~ very nice.

What time did you say it is?

After what seems like only a few hours, there is a loud noise; Rob figures out first that it is the room phone, and manages to answer fairly coherently. From what I can hear it is one of the guys. Rob says we’ll meet them at 10:00 (I’m trying to figure out why they are calling so early since we agreed on 10:00); then he says “What?! I don’t think we’ll make it.” I’m just wanting to sleep more without moving. I can hear the voice on the other end saying that they don’t mind waiting, and Rob agreeing and asking do I want to come, too.
Apparently it is already 10:30, and we have hardly moved for over 10 hours. So another mad dash around the room, and before we know it we are awake (mostly), and ready to go on an adventure. The three guys all have mercy on us and take us by a little cafe for coffee and a croissant, after which I at least begin to feel human and glad I came.
We head to Pubol, a small village about 30 minutes from Girona; here is the castle Savadore Dali bought for his wife and muse, who was known simply as "Gala."

The entrance to the Gala-Dali Museum

A beautiful mirror in Gala's
bedroom offered an opportunity
for a photo with both of us.

Apparently Rob would not be
able to live here
(see the notice over the door).

Then we drove on to see a set of ruins being reconstructed on the coast where the Greeks arrived 1100 years ago, claiming the area for their own. It is an amazing thing to realize that this was built so long ago and without the machines we use today. The act of moving the stones, much less aligning and stacking them, is almost incomprehensible.

Greek ruins on the coast near Girona:















































Both places are absolutely intriguing and we haven't enough time at either one ~ we are supposed to be back in Girona by 1500 for Rob’s presentation, and we don’t even leave the ruins for lunch back in Girona until 1459. Oriol tells Rob not to worry: since Rob is the one giving the presentation, when he gets there they will do it, and assures us that the Catalans are much more relaxed about schedules.

Last night, first night

We have been far to busy to spend much time on the blog. So while I wait for Rob to get out of meetings on our last night here, I thought I could use the time to catch up a bit.
On our first evening, our guides Edgar, Oriol, and Daniel, take us to a quiet neighborhood bar on the corner to have a beer, get to know each other, and plan a bit for tomorrow; I had worried how I would occupy myself with no transportation and not much Spanish; but apparently the Catalan philosophy is to be a perfect host: they have lots of ideas of things they’d like to do with both of us; I am included and my input requested.
Afterward they take us on a short walk around Girona, ending up at the restaurant they have chosen for the evening. While we are discussing what to have, a gentleman walks in with an armful of roses, sees me (at this point about the only woman in the small place), and convinces Rob to buy 2 red and a white one ~ after a bit of dickering and advice from Oriol on how much NOT to pay.
Edgar, Oriol and Daniel do the ordering ~ a huge selection of “usual Catalan” food served family style and two different wines to try: two different ensaladas/salads; a cheese platter with about 10 different cheeses; a cold cut platter with jam (Spanish ham) and several other kinds of meat; Catalan bread (slices of a sort of a French bread that have been rubbed with a half tomato and then soaked in “true” olive oil; three different croquetas (jam/ham, pollo/chicken & bollet/mushroom). Then dessert; we convince them to order just one thing to share, although Daniel, who is a pretty big guy, decides we need two servings of the fresh cheese ice cream with ratafia sauce. Wow; delicious.
We all return to the hotel, and decide to meet at 10:00 in the morning for a tour of a few places they want us to see.
Brush teeth, find PJs; and finally, allow ourselves to become horizontal; is there a better thing than a wonderful bed after being up almost 24 hours with the only sleep in an airplane seat?

Som aquî! (We are here!)

After a long flight, with its share of snafus, we arrive in Barcelona only a couple of hours behind schedule. We must wait for the 1640 train to Girona. We need some breakfast, and, after stashing the large bags in a locker, we find a little cafe in the train station; we purposely opt NOT to go to McDonalds, although it is right there beside the cafe! Then we set off to explore Barcelona.
We find a nice little park filled with Saturday joggers, children on bikes, people walking their dogs (gossos), and settle down on a bench to enjoy the sun.
There are quite a few birds in the park, but somewhat to my dismay I recognize black-billed magpies and common pigeons as well as the ubiquitous English Sparrow ~ and not much else. I see a couple of little flitty things I don’t know, but my poor tired eyes can’t tell much about them, and my blurry mind really doesn’t care (hard to believe, I know).
It is an hour on the train to Girona, and Rob reminds me we shouldn’t fall asleep in order to get our bodies adjusted. A few minutes later I look over to point something out to him ~ and guess who is sleeping!? Unfortunately my eyes can not stay open either.
We disembark at the Girona train station, and Rob says to “look for a fireperson” (what do they look like?), when a young man comes up shakes Rob’s hand and gives me a European kiss on each cheek (guess it’s the fireperson). Edgar’s English is better than my Spanish (a LOT), and we have no trouble communicating. The language here is actually Catalan, which I've been told is very difficult to learn; fortunately, Catalonians understand Spanish just fine, so between the two of us we manage quite well.





St. Felieu, one of the two cathedrals at the north end of
Girona in the Old City.














The Riu Onyar runs down the center of Girona,
separating the Old City from the newer area.


A view of Girona with the Pyrenees Mountains in the background.






This is Catedral de Girona. It stands high on a hill in the old city. This has always been sacred ground: originally there was a temple to the Greek gods, then it was a Muslim mosque, and finally a Roman Catholic church.












Girocletas:
residents can buy a card to swipe
(kind of like a credit card) that allows them to borrow a bicycle at a number of different stands throughout the city.













Many locals, however, rely on their trusty scooters; I thought maybe someone bought this one to
give me since it has my initials on the license plate; after all my birthday is coming soon …

Here we go ~

Well, it looks as though this is actually going to happen. We finished packing last night ~ before bedtime! I even have room to spare in my suitcase, an amazing feat for me. Now we just have to finish up a few chores around here, then off to Missoula to spend the night with a friend (for those who don't know our house is almost 2 hours from Missoula; so an early morning flight can mean a very short night) in order to catch the 0600 Delta flight Friday morning to Salt Lake City ~ JFK ~ Barcelona.

Trains and Planes

We have our plane tickets as well as the tickets for the train from the airport to the hotel, an excellent commuter train that runs about every hour. (We are staying in Girona, about an hour from Barcelona).
And today I finalized plans with www.catalanbirdtours.com. Since Rob is busy all day Wednesday, I'll take said train to Barcelona on Wednesday morning for a six-hour outing with an birding expert. Language is not an issue ~ he is actually an American living there. He was recommended by about 6 other birders who have been to Spain, so I'm confident it will be a great day.

Now …

the work begins: I have to organize and actually get packed, take enough, but not too much, and not forget anything important (like my passport). Spent today getting the bills paid, making lists, doing laundry, and getting animal care set up. But it is so going to be worth it!
If Rob's work visa would just arrive, we'd be set.

It's finally official

After 3 weeks on pins and needles, we got the official word yesterday that we can go to the conference in Spain: tickets and itinerary! Boy, it's quite a process for a federal employee to travel abroad on official business!
We depart from Plains on Thursday, 11/12, spending the night with our friend, Terri, in order to catch a very early flight the next morning.
Stay tuned …