Friday, 23 November 2012

Barcelona: More international travels!



  I was invited to present at a conference in Barcelona this fall, so my mom and Audrey and I headed there for 3 1/2 weeks.  We got an apartment in the old city (Barri Gotic) as a home base, and set about exploring the city and making several day trips out into the countryside.

The plaza near our apartment

Audrey traveled well and made herself right at home

Our first trip out of the city was to do a tour of several wineries



Now that's what I call aging a wine!

Of course, to go with all the good wine in Spain, we had to eat a lot of good food



We had a rule to only eat at each restaurant once but we went back to this one at least half a dozen times.  It had great food, really friendly servers who all loved Audrey and was kind of grubby.  It reminded me of someplace on the Drive. 

Our second trip out of town was to the Pyrenees, where Auds and I did a little hiking.  It was cold, though!

Luckily, back on the Mediterranean it was pretty warm and nice most days 

Another plaza near our apartment.  Yeah palm trees!

We walked a lot, and saw some amazing sights, like this Cathedral

A fountain in the park.  Yeah gold horses on top of an arch!
There is so much great public art in Barcelona

 




Even the graffiti is vibrant and cool

Lots of bike paths

Who doesn't love cycling AND tapas?!

Oddly enough, Audrey rarely got comments on her hair like she does here in Canada

But she got a lot of comments on her cheeks!

Half way through our visit, my two sisters joined us.  Yay!

We went on our third day trip all together up to Montserrat

You may remember this from my June 2007 blog posting as the monastery in the mountains where Nelson proposed to me

I took Audrey for a hike and showed her all the sights, and told her lots of stories of Nelson and I's weeks camping and climbing up here.
Our final daytrip was to the ancient city of Girona, then to Figueres - Salvador Dali's hometown where he created a museum for many of his works before he died.
I breastfed near this piece.  I'm not kidding

Yes, that is a full sized lips couch!

A special surprise treat was that Dali also made jewelry, which I didn't know and was quite delighted by.  If you think about it, it's just miniature sculptures.

Of course, we also saw lots of Gaudi's fanciful masterpieces, including Parc Guell.

Do you like my hat?

Unfortunately, we all headed back to frigid Canada addicted to fresh figs and pomegranates, not something you generally find in your 100 mile diet here in winter!  Mmmm...



Tuesday, 28 August 2012

International Travels

After the success of our 3 day bike tour on the old rail bed from Castlegar to Christina Lake we decided to continue our exploration of other rail grades.  We were originally planning to do part of the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) but then found a rail bed in Northern Idaho that's 72 miles long (116km for us Canadians) and is paved the entire way! It's called the Trail of the Coeur D'Alenes and is filled with beautiful scenery.  It was also a little easier on Audrey's little bobbling head!  Before spending three days on The Trail of the Coeur D'Alenes we warmed up with a one day trip on the Route of the Hiawatha that begins in Montana and ends in Idaho.  This is a 15 mile rail grade that has also been converted to a bike trail.  Like parts of the KVR, it's full of trestle bridges and tunnels.

ROUTE OF THE HIAWATHA

Audrey all bundled up for the 2 mile long tunnel! 
Inside the tunnel - lights are mandatory.
The state line between Montana and Idaho is inside the tunnel. 
  

Lynda with Audrey in tow, trestle bridge in the background. 
 



TRAIL OF THE COEUR D'ALENES

We found this cute little Portuguese elf on our porch so we decided to take it along for the ride.

Sound asleep

Any beer with the word 'drool' in it works for me! 


Mornings were brisk but Audrey kept happy in her camping high chair.

The sign says it all.  Welcome to America!

One of the several swampy, marsh areas we cycled through. Moose are frequently seen along this trail but the only moose we saw were on the bottles of beer Audrey kept pounding back as we rolled through.  Don't worry, she had two designated drivers.

One of the rest areas along the way.

Check out my ride.

Eat your 'hart' out Amelia

The trail crosses over Lake Coeur D'Alene on this long, stepped bridge.


On our way to Harrison, a quaint little town on the lake.