Author: magrilless

If you had to guess the most expensive city we’re visiting this summer, would you consider Barcelona? Probably not. And yet, finding a place here not too far over our budget was difficult. In fact, the only accommodations I found in Barcelona were docked sailboats (where our bathroom would be the communal building at the marina).

Which is why we ended up in Badalona, a working class suburb at the very end of a metro line. And (unbeknownst to us when we made the reservations) steps from the best beaches of the greater Barcelona area.

And that is why, although we were next door to a historically, artistically, culturally, and culinarily rich international city (which we paid a lot to be in), we spent half of our precious visiting days merely splashing in the Mediterranean Sea. (Well, that and the heat wave, which made that water oooh so inviting.)

In terms of immersing oneself in a culture, though, a local beach is a pretty good place to learn what the people are like. We watched babies drink sea water out of the inflatable play tub their moms placed in the shade of their umbrella. We watched teenage boys play pickle ball and pretend to throw each other in the water after a medusa (jellyfish) was spotted. Women of all ages in social gaggles (topless, always) alternately dipping in the water and laying out in the sun. Families bringing bags and bags of prepared food in Tupperware containers and blankets and litter soda bottles. Lots of summer camp field trips where the teachers blasted rap from speakers on the march back to school. And we bought churros and chocolate from the churros truck (but only 100 grams, unlike the señor in front of us who ordered 400).

And we invested in a couple cheap snorkel masks to watch fishies, dive for shells and sea glass, and try to find a ray again (the girls swear they saw one our first day).

Yes, we also went into the actual city of Barcelona. (I do think I’d like to go back in February, when the streets and all their accompanying big-city smells aren’t steamed with the baking sun and humidity.) Gaudi’s work, of course, was a big draw. The only building we shelled out the cash to go inside was his (still under construction) masterpiece: La Sagrada Familia. Whoa. Just, whoa. You’ve never been in a church like this. Or any other building either.

He was a big nature guy, so it’s meant to feel like a forest in there. The supporting columns are huge trees (made of different stone types to imitate different species), branching up towards the bright sky. The stained glass windows are not the mishmash of kaleidoscopic colors you’re used to; they are coordinated to make a gradient rainbow, the color wheel projected massively onto the stone walls. And no fussy statues crowding all the corners or peering from on high or making shadowy nooks. (Save that for the outside, and then some!) It’s airy and light and … big in there. Construction is supposed to be complete sometime this decade (begun in 1882), so mark your calendars for a trip to see it!

Also, we took ourselves to a few air-conditioned museums. One for art, specifically Joan Miró and his colorful surrealist paintings and sculptures. We had a lovely time sketching and learning and wandering and playing there. (Bright colors sometimes make art more accessible somehow.)

And then to a science museum where there were lots of hands-on exhibits and good English translations and a whole big flooded room meant to simulate the Amazonian rain forest. It took us a full 15 minutes just to get in, actually, because the entrance is a huge spiral ramp going down 4 floors, a beautiful tree carcass entwined in a pattinaed copper ribbon in the middle, with helicopter seed pods fluttering to the ground.

Overall, Barcelona was okay, feeling a bit more gritty and urban than is generally our jam. Some of that can be blamed on the timing of our visit, I’m sure. But without that, we probably wouldn’t have spent so much time in the sea on some of the best beaches we’ve ever experienced. So it’s hard to complain!

Now off to the middle of the country, to Toledo (and hopefully a little peek at Madrid too)! Hasta luego!

We knew we would be traveling west along the coast from Nîmes into Spain. So we absolutely could not get that close to Carcassonne (a medieval village whose namesake board game we’ve been playing for a decade) and not visit!

It’s a completely walled fortress (double-walled, actually) with 50 towers and 4 gates and a basilica and a chateau. (And tons of shops, tchotchke and otherwise, restaurants, museums, hotels, and more than a few day-tripping tourists.) We decided to stay overnight, even though we were still really just passing through, inside the walls, to get as much time (and as few people) there as possible.

Our hotel really did feel like it was part of a castle, and the view from our patio confirmed it.

I think, if we had known the weather, we might have sprung for 2 days. That way we could have relaxed in our room during the 100 degree part of the busy day, then emerged in the cool evenings and mornings for full exploration.

But even with our hot and abbreviated stay, we’re glad we stopped by. How often do you get to play Carcassonne in Carcassonne?!

We visited Nîmes sort of on a lark. It’s a smaller city (we tend to like those best), it has some sweet looking Roman relics, and it’s the birthplace of denim (the fabric “de Nîmes”), which we thought was pretty cool.

We also discovered it has the oldest designed public park in Europe, inspired by Versailles, but for the plebes. We spent a couple days just walking the sculpted grounds, around fountains with fish and swans, throwing balls for local dogs, and generally shade-hopping to sketching vantage points.

The Roman ruins are indeed the highlight of this locale, though. There are several well-preserved sites to tour, including an amphitheater which hosted several big name bands (Kiss, Sting, Ben Harper, amount others). It was fun to go sit in front of the arena and watch different kinds of concert goers line up, and then listen to the start of each show from outside. (The girls have never heard so many curse words in a row as at the Sum 41 opening!)

But there’s also a guard tower on a hill (with 140 steps to the grand view at the top), and several temples, and just a general feel of Roman influence.

There is even a segment of aqueduct over the Gardon River, just a cheap 45-minute bus ride away (which is an experience, really, all by itself). We went twice. Because it was near 100 degrees outside of the cool river, and also because — I mean — swimming under a Roman aqueduct!

We found frogs and fish and swam right underneath an arch and jumped off the rock walls into the deep cool water and counted our lucky stars.

We’re now on our way to Carcassonne. (We will miss the Tour de France by only a few days. Darn!) Just a quick stop. But don’t worry — we brought the board game with us so we can play on the ramparts!

She’s a pretty cool customer, Paris. There’s soooo much to do and soooo many people doing things and soooo many boulangeries and patisseries. Soooo amazing to be a part of it! We kind of did a “greatest hits” of Paris this time around. I purchased tickets before we left home for a few things, having learned a little something from last time we were here.

Starting with the Eiffel Tower. (It happened to be a super rainy day. Although that meant our views weren’t spectacular, I think it cut down on the crowds a teeny bit. And insured that we left the apartment at all instead of cozying up when the city was waiting for us. And let us buy a souvenir umbrella!)

We also visited the Louvre.

And the Catacombs.

And Musee d’Orsay, the Rodin museum, and Montmartre.

Whew! Somehow we also had a bit of energy left to just experience the city and, you know, eat croissants.

It can be a tad overwhelming and feel a bit frenetic after awhile for us small-town folk. (Plus our budget is near laughable here.) And we struggled with a bit of the grumps after a train strike disrupted our exit plans.

But — I mean! — Paris! We totally know this was the second of (what is for many) a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Because Paris: oo la la!

Porto was a wonderful place to stay. Even without the grand party that was St. John’s Day, it’s a little funky, down to earth, a lot beautiful, ancient and friendly and easy to spend time in. Lots of cobbled, steep, narrow alleys with cafe tables precariously tucked to the side, locals smoking from their thresholds talking to neighbors in their own doorways, laundry drying overhead and cats creeping around cars that should be much too wide to exist where they do.

The beginning of our trip was cool and rainy. (We actually wore our jeans and sweatshirts, which we packed with utmost skepticism!) A perfect excuse for museum hopping. We went to the customs house where Henry the Navigator was born and took a wee boat ride through Portugal’s maritime history and just up the street from us was the São Bento train station with its famous azulejos (blue and white decorative tiles).

You know we simply walked around a lot. Big garden spaces, large public art installations, the insistent chugging of the Douro River.

By the end of our visit, it was perfect beach weather: you can’t ask for more than 70 degrees and sunny. Plus, the sun isn’t so powerful at this latitude; even us super pale gringos didn’t burn to a crisp immediately. (Looking at you, Mexico.) The Atlantic is freezing, so we didn’t do much more than get our legs kissed. (Some of us were a little more determined to be fully immersed in the experience than others.)

Yes, we tried the famous Francesinha sandwich (toast with chorizo, cheese, steak, more toast, ham, cheese, an egg and the special tangy sauce). No, we didn’t tour any port caves or visit vineyards or even get on a boat on the Douro. But we did our own samplings of local port (mmmm) and walked across the Eiffel-designed bridge on both the upper and lower levels. We listened to the ocean breathe and came to recognize faces on our street and knew the shortcuts home from the train station and from the river.

Now we leave Portugal for a month. Up next: Paris!