(Ed. Note: Another great trip. We loved the people we met at our house in Catalonia (Spain), but loved the French scenery much more than the Spanish. Another trip planned at the last minute, and we ended up in two large and unique houses that were a long drive from many sites of interest. But I’ll probably never get to have a chateau to myself again – unless the dollar can hit 1.30 Euros again in my lifetime.)
Day 1 – 9/2/2000
Seems like every diary starts out the same – “whew, what a day”.
Dave went to work at BNY on Friday and met Jill and Kristen at Newark Airport. Caught British Airways to Barcelona via Heathrow. Dave got a total of about 2 ½ hours sleep the whole night, Jill less, Kristen more.
We were sort of rooting for a flight delay because if we were more than 2 hours late, biztravel.com would have refunded the cost of our tickets. Flights were right on time, though, with no problems other than lack of sleep. Kristen did very well other than kicking Dad awake several times.
Got into Barcelona about noon. Bags took a while to come out. Then got the Avis paperwork taken care of in about 5 minutes, got cash at an ATM, and got the car – a green Renault Scenic mini-minivan.
Took a while to get out of the rent-a-car lot because it was so packed. Some guy tried to pull some kind of cell phone scam on me but gave up when I didn’t speak Spanish. The rent-a-car attendant tried to tell me about it afterwards but we didn’t share a common language. (Ed. Note: Other than him bending his nose to the side in the universal “crook” sign.)
Barcelona outskirts were kind of depressing – sort of like Mexico City outskirts. Third World looking. Airport was not so hot either, but serviceable. Got lost for about 2 minutes but soon found our way.
Dave went to work at BNY on Friday and met Jill and Kristen at Newark Airport. Caught British Airways to Barcelona via Heathrow. Dave got a total of about 2 ½ hours sleep the whole night, Jill less, Kristen more.
We were sort of rooting for a flight delay because if we were more than 2 hours late, biztravel.com would have refunded the cost of our tickets. Flights were right on time, though, with no problems other than lack of sleep. Kristen did very well other than kicking Dad awake several times.
Got into Barcelona about noon. Bags took a while to come out. Then got the Avis paperwork taken care of in about 5 minutes, got cash at an ATM, and got the car – a green Renault Scenic mini-minivan.
Took a while to get out of the rent-a-car lot because it was so packed. Some guy tried to pull some kind of cell phone scam on me but gave up when I didn’t speak Spanish. The rent-a-car attendant tried to tell me about it afterwards but we didn’t share a common language. (Ed. Note: Other than him bending his nose to the side in the universal “crook” sign.)
Barcelona outskirts were kind of depressing – sort of like Mexico City outskirts. Third World looking. Airport was not so hot either, but serviceable. Got lost for about 2 minutes but soon found our way.
Headed about 1 ½ hours north to the area around Gironella. We’re staying at a rural house on a farm. We had detailed directions to the house – “La Rovira”.
As we went down the last dirt road something didn’t seem right. Basically, we were driving on the dirt roads of someone’s farm. We could not find the house.
After about 15 minutes of driving around the farm’s roads, a car appeared with a man and a boy who spoke no English. But we managed to understand that we were going the wrong way for the house and should follow him. Back to the main road, 1 km back, and turn off on another (gravel) road to a small inn.
Jordi brought us inside and asked if we wanted a drink. We asked for cervesas. He was a little unkempt in a dirty Barcelona Olympics t-shirt. He brought back his wife, son, and the beers. I talked to his wife – mostly in French, with some English and Spanish thrown in. She’s very nice. They’re about 35?
She brought us to the house down the hill and showed us around. Too big for us with about 5 bedrooms, it’s somewhat dark but nicely furnished in rustic style. Three stories, built supposedly around 1200. Tile floors, uneven stairs, fireplaces – it’s nice.
As we went down the last dirt road something didn’t seem right. Basically, we were driving on the dirt roads of someone’s farm. We could not find the house.
After about 15 minutes of driving around the farm’s roads, a car appeared with a man and a boy who spoke no English. But we managed to understand that we were going the wrong way for the house and should follow him. Back to the main road, 1 km back, and turn off on another (gravel) road to a small inn.
Jordi brought us inside and asked if we wanted a drink. We asked for cervesas. He was a little unkempt in a dirty Barcelona Olympics t-shirt. He brought back his wife, son, and the beers. I talked to his wife – mostly in French, with some English and Spanish thrown in. She’s very nice. They’re about 35?
She brought us to the house down the hill and showed us around. Too big for us with about 5 bedrooms, it’s somewhat dark but nicely furnished in rustic style. Three stories, built supposedly around 1200. Tile floors, uneven stairs, fireplaces – it’s nice.
Our house - La Rovira
We told her we’d be at the hotel for dinner with the guests at 9:00 – the earliest. After she left we realized 9:00 was about 5-6 hours away and we were already very tired.
We unpacked and went into Gironella – the nearest town – about 5:30 for groceries. The store opens in the a.m. and then from 5-8 p.m. The town was abuzz with 2 cafes (the old man’s café and the young folks café), and a boules league. Maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed like people looked at us like they could tell we weren’t from around these parts. I don’t think they’re used to tourists.
Came back, Jill had wine ($1-5 per bottle in the store) and we had an appetizer plate of cheese and jamon from the store with olives. Unfortunately, not “knock your socks off” good. Went to the hotel at 9 for dinner.
The waitress spoke English to us when we told her we were from La Rovira. We had a pizza-type vegetable topped thing, followed by chicken (Jill) and beef (almost like a small pot roast) – Dave. Bottle of red Rioja and Dave had a white cheese with honey dessert while Kristen had chocolate ice cream.
Down the hill and a 12 hour sleep.
Day 2 >>>
We unpacked and went into Gironella – the nearest town – about 5:30 for groceries. The store opens in the a.m. and then from 5-8 p.m. The town was abuzz with 2 cafes (the old man’s café and the young folks café), and a boules league. Maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed like people looked at us like they could tell we weren’t from around these parts. I don’t think they’re used to tourists.
Came back, Jill had wine ($1-5 per bottle in the store) and we had an appetizer plate of cheese and jamon from the store with olives. Unfortunately, not “knock your socks off” good. Went to the hotel at 9 for dinner.
The waitress spoke English to us when we told her we were from La Rovira. We had a pizza-type vegetable topped thing, followed by chicken (Jill) and beef (almost like a small pot roast) – Dave. Bottle of red Rioja and Dave had a white cheese with honey dessert while Kristen had chocolate ice cream.
Down the hill and a 12 hour sleep.
Day 2 >>>