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We flew to Barcelona today! We got very little sleep and I’m wiped out right now on the train to Latour de Carol, France. The plane ride was entertaining despite the lack of sleep. There was a rowdy group of Spaniards with seemingly boundless energy. They surprised a high school Spanish level 3 class with their cheers and bravos upon hearing that the class was going to visit Barcelona and Tarragona. A couple of good-looking young guys were part of the mix with middle-aged and young adults. The young Spaniards flirted with the American girls – the only real communication being body language & the occasional interpretation from their teacher. The Spaniards’ loud cheers made me miss Spain and remember what I loved so much about the Spaniards: their gleeful desire to show off their home and culture, their contagious and cheerful energy, and their need to share every experience with a group of friends and family (their social nature.) I remember the crazy, exaggerated stories the Freixa family would tell me when I stayed with them near Barcelona four years ago. It all made me wish we were spending some time in Barcelona – or at least Spain. But the purpose of this trip was to try the new and different, mostly staying out of cities. That means leaving Spain as soon as we arrive for the French Pyrenees. I’ll be out of my comfort zone in all the countries where I don’t speak the language!
My Spanish came in handy several times in the Barcelona Sants train station – and beforehand – particularly when we got our Eurail passes validated and confirmed our train time and platform. Too bad it won’t be useful the rest of the trip!
We sat on the wrong side of the airport train station – on purpose since it had an open bench – but a large, intimidating security guard came over and asked if we knew to use the other side. I said we did and brushed it off, but I realized I should have been more appreciative.
We ate real Spanish tortilla sandwiches, first time my husband had a real one. I had made them for him, but nothing compares to Spanish food in Spain! We also had plain, natural yogurt in a glass jar! It was good once I put the sugar in it that the cashier made sure to give me.
Riding over on the train from the airport to the Barcelona Sants train station (central), I was reminded how completely awful Europe can look. I had forgotten how ugly many of their city outskirts – and even their hearts – can be. The concrete tower apartment buildings with awful green shades that look like they fell apart a decade ago are all too common – with clothes hanging on all the balconies. It looks like the old communist block to me. I don’t know if I could survive in such a repulsive environment.
We’re now halfway through the foothills, I guess they’re called, and it’s much nicer than the city. Scenery is pretty! (though it’s raining.)
[Now writing much later in the evening]…The bus ride was exciting to say the least due to the sheer cliffs hanging off one side of the narrow road and a steep slope often with fences to catch falling debris on the other side. The driver was bold – going very fast even on curves when passing large trucks and other long buses. Rightfully reminded me of northern Spain bus ride in 2004 with the App group – similar mountain scenery – when we visited my favorite Spanish town, Molina Seca. It was also reminiscent of the crazy chicken bus drivers in Guatemalan mountains who seem forever determined to tip over their reused school buses. Even in the dense fog near the peak of the range before coming back down to the town of Puigcerda, no signs of slowing down!
We finally arrived at the charming little town of Latour de Querol(e)? as the Catalan spelling is – or Latour de Carol (French) or Latour de Querol (Castillian Spanish). I love visiting towns like these (villages, really) – ones with stone buildings that are older than you can imagine and yet they’re still inhabited. I like visiting because they are so entirely different from everything I am familiar with, but at the same time I would never want to live in a place like this (even for a short time.) I think I’d get depressed! Not enough activity, thought we did see several folks walking their dogs and one baby stroller. The streets are all brown/grey, not enough natural green to keep the spirits up.
We had dinner at our hotel – L’Auberge Catalane. It was a proper French meal that Ive never experienced before. C and I now both know the true meaning of Fois gras, we tried and like a gelatin appetizer that involved olives AND anchovies (two things we would steer clear of if we weren’t traveling), and we have the best vanilla and raspberry icecream, chocolate pastry and apple tart ever in our lives! What a night. And on top of that, our hostess (hotel & restaurant) was very nice. We chatted a while, and she eventually offered her advice on where to go on the next leg of our trip when we’ll be based in Sete (on French Mediterranean.) She’s the only one who speaks English here.
At dinner -
- We were given a decorative glass bottle full of room-temperature water. You never see this in the US but I love it b/c I always ask for water with no ice, and half the time the server forgets.
- Everyone was talking so quietly they were practically whispering – hard to feel at ease.
- A couple brought their young daughter to dinner there – how could they torture her that way?! She must have been bored out of her mind – and to have to eat all that adult food?? – maybe the French start their kids at 5 with gourmet food!
- There were several courses – pre-appetizer (gelatin anchovie thing), bread, real appetizer (entree), meat, seafood (or one or the other), and dessert.
- After each course, they would take all the silverware & give new silverware catered to the dish (we’re not used to this b/c we never eat gourmet)
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(starting Thursday April 17)
Ryan got in about 1:00 am from his flight to Dunellen. Amazingly, they scheduled him for a 9:00 am flight today! We got up with him and said our goodbyes at 0800; unfortunately he couldn’t take us to the airport because we had to be there at 1130. Jamie was able to take us down to the airport though. We ended up there very early, at 1030, but our flight to Philadelphia wasn’t until 1330. We took our time and got some food from Miami Subs before getting on the B-757. On the way out of Orlando, I got a cool picture of Ryan’s neighborhood and the Sanford airport. I saw the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in daylight finally. The pilot slammed the plane onto the runway very nicely in Philly. The layover there was about two hours long, and we spent it walking from terminal C to A-West, eating, and talking on the phone. We boarded the 767-200ER at 1300 and took our seats in the back on the right side. We finally got off the ground after 12 other planes and headed east, with my last sight of the USA being a barrier island stuff with white houses. They ran out of the pasta dinner options, we were stuck with the BBQ beef, green beans, and mashed potatoes. There were also chips and salsa in the pack, which I thought, was pretty cool. Somewhere along the way it changed to …
…another restless hour of trying to sleep on the plane. I got maybe 20 minutes of sleep (so did B) before the rude awakening of lights and coffee jolted us awake. Around 0800 local time we broke out of the clouds right above Barcelona and made a wide sweeping turn over the city into the airport. I saw a couple new airlines like Clickair, Spanair, and Veuling. We disembarked from the rear of the plane into a bus that took us over to the terminal and customs. Customs was no problem and we bought a few snacks and waters before trying to find the train station. We both were amazed at how the Catalan language spoken here is a weird mix of Spanish and French. For example, ‘Exit’ in French is Sortie, Salida in Spanish, and Sortida in Catalan. Anyway, the pedestrian bridge to the train station rejected us due to construction, so we had to take a shuttle bus over. We got there just in time to watch the train’s marker lights leave the station, but we got a free ticket out of the deal. 30 minutes later, the next train took us to Barcelona Sants, the main (huge!) train terminal. We successfully validated our Eurail tickets thanks to B’s Spanish, but we were less successful touring the area around the station because our bags were so heavy, it was raining, and the area was not very appealing. We grabbed some food at the cafeteria that included a Spanish tortilla sandwich, a salad, straight unflavored yogurt, and juice for about 15 EUR.
Finally at 1210 we boarded the Rodalies regional train to Latour de Carol, France. The ride was uneventful until we had to get off at Ripoll and board buses because of track work. We were expecting this so it wasn’t a surprise. The ride on the bus was wild because the road was very narrow and curvy. It went over a high mountain pass where there were several inches of snow on the ground with more coming down. On the other side of the pass, we reached the town of Puigcerda where the bus dropped us off and headed back to Ripoll. This left us wondering how to get one more stop to Latour de Carol because we apparently just missed the bus there despite following everyone else. Conveniently, a thunderstorm rolled through just at the right time to match our mood. Despondent and completely exhausted, we decided that taking a taxi was probably the best option, if one ever showed up. A half hour later, two cabs showed up and we flagged one down. 15 EUR to Latour he said…deal! 10 minutes down a bumpy road and past a little white sign saying ‘France’, we were in the town and were dropped off right at the hotel.
We were kindly greeted by the owner of L’Auberge Catalane who spoke English, and in a few minutes we completely crashed in our TINY room #2. Eventually, the weather cleared up and we went for a short walk, spanning the entire town in about 10 minutes. At 2000, we had a very nice (but very expensive) dinner, at 25 EUR a pop, downstairs. Between the appetizer of some sort of gelatin with anchovies and olives, the ‘entrée’ of fois gras wrapped in ham, and my main dish of steak and pomme frites, it was a memorable meal. I can’t forget desert, which consisted of 100% legit raspberry ice cream, a fantastic fondent de chocolat, and a wafer thing. After dinner we spoke to the owner for a while about our trip. She wasn’t sure that Sete was worth five days, but we’ll find out. Bed late!
