Tuscany – Fucecchio

Venice is obviously not an auto zone which is quite refreshing. Since we arrived in Europe we are constantly yelling “CAR” and in typical Canadian fashion, we attempted to locate a non-existent hockey net in the middle of the road.  We all quickly became accustomed to the traffic driving on whichever side of the road pleased them that day.  The cars come quickly and the sidewalks are narrow and apparently reserved for Vespa’s when speed and auto avoidance converge. The set-up is usually Calvin in the front and then all of us single file behind him with me pulling up the rear.  We are pretty sure that most drivers will try to avoid him.  On our last day in Venice we needed to get to the auto rental agency which is obviously located off of the island. 

The route to the rental agency is only ten minutes but when you are carrying 100kgs of cargo in high humidity, 10 minutes can feel like an hour.  The only real obstacle in Venice is the stairs to the bridges that cross the various canals.  Calvin had the largest backpack and pulled a wheelie filled with Aidan and Devin’s gear plus other stuff (read my shoes).  We did it without any serious problems and picked up our Fiat people carrier a bit earlier than expected.   The auto was quite roomy in the back for its size.  We set the GPS for Tuscany and said arrivederci to Venice.

Calvin and I came to Italy a few times before Noah arrived on the scene and we remembered that the gas station/rest stops in Tuscany were quite amazing. They are called Autogrills but they should be called Gourmet Autogrills. We stopped at one about 1 1/2 hours outside Venice and had a great 3 course pasta, salad and dessert meal. Before we got to the villa we made our regular three day grocery stop to get our supplies.  Noah needed some extra model paint as well but we gave up our search after a few stops with no success.   

We booked an apartment at villa La Scuola in the countryside of Tuscany about an hour outside of Florence just north of the small town of Fucecchio.  La Scuola is a renovated old school house which seemed appropriate given our ‘plans’ to begin homeschooling.  It now has 5 apartments with 1, 2 or 4 bedrooms. Ours was spacious for us with 4 bedrooms. Enough space to be very comfortable and a great swimming pool just a short walk down a hill. The owners were great (brother and sister team) and went over the map of the area with us and told us about the weekly market 10 minutes away. We have a few set questions that we ask now. Is the water safe to drink? where is the grocery store? What is the Wi-Fi password? and where do we dump our garbage and recycling?  We unpacked the groceries and swimsuits and headed for the pool. We met another family from the UK who are also staying in one of the 5 apartments and chatted with them for a while. A light dinner and straight to bed.

The next day was market day in the town of Fucecchio and there were some supplies we weren’t able to pick up the day before so we set out to find the market. Half of the market reminded me of a flea market with clothing, shoes and household items and the other half was fresh fruit, vegetables, cheeses and nuts.  The third half was unique – it was cages full of pets for sale. There were parrots, parakeets, and other birds that I did not recognize, rabbits, ferrets, hamsters, rats, mice, gerbils and other lovely little rodents.  Most apartments in Italy are tiny and most pets are proportionate to the apartment size so the animal market was very active with young children picking from the more popular birds, hamsters or gerbils.  Devin had a brief flashback to his gerbils he gave to a loving family but luckily he didn’t dwell too long as there were birds and parrots to investigate.  We sauntered around the “flea market” and really found nothing of interest and then headed over to the food section.

There was very, very little English to be heard in this small town market so I relied on my small Italian vocabulary and sign language. I managed to buy olives, cheese, oatmeal, figs, and some assorted vegetables. As we were leaving, we spotted an outdoor rotisserie which had a large group of people and incredible looking grilled meats. Where there is a long line of locals, we go!  I wanted to get in on the action and we decided that we would pick up some delicious looking spareribs for lunch. The boys went to get the car and I stood there for about 10 minutes before I realized (did I say ‘limited’ Italian) that everyone was holding a little pink piece of paper with a number on it. Darn! So I grabbed #75 when the sign above the chaos read #56.  Oh well, I took the extra time to see what everyone was buying - mostly grilled chickens, ribs, rabbits and mozzarella balls. I was so caught up in watching the locals ordering that I almost missed my number when it was called. I successfully ordered my ribs and mozzarella balls and walked away quite proud of myself. We enjoyed our lunch back at La Scuola and swam for hours just watching the clouds sail by.    

It has been really great for the kids and for us to meet other families while we travel.  We didn’t plan to rent villas with 4-5 apartments but it certainly has worked out better than expected as most places have had wonderful families with kids within a few years of ours.  The kids are hearing all sorts of different languages and accents and we are having some great conversations, dinners and drinks with the parents. 

After dinner, we joined a couple from Germany and from England outside the villa for some drinks and a chat.  The men seem to drift into conversations about the economic situation in Southern Europe and the Germans rarely lacked an opinion on the subject as they were the ones expected to bare the brunt of the south.    

Day trip to Pisa

Calvin and I visited Pisa when we were in Italy previously, and would not have gone again but Pisa’s leaning tower is an iconic symbol of Italy and the boys REALLY wanted to go so we packed up a lunch and hit the road.  There is really nothing else of much interest in Pisa so the intention was really to get in and get out.  

For some reason the GPS wasn’t leading us to the tower so we were driving around for a bit until one of the kids spotted it leaning in the distance. It was quite exciting for all of us! We managed to find a really close parking spot and walked over to the square. Unfortunately, cheap souvenir shops line the entire walk to the tower but we tried to steer the kids away from them. We took many fun pictures of us pretending to hold up the tower. 

The tower itself was smaller than Devin thought it was going to be but more impressive than Aidan and Noah expected it to be. It has been heavily restored even since Calvin and I was here in 1997 and it is quite lovely. We enjoyed our lunch before leaving and then stopped in the city of Pisa for some gelato and model paint for Noah…have you noticed a pattern – gelato, gelato and more gelato?

That night we set the table outside with candles and enjoyed a great BBQ steak under the Tuscan sky. After dinner, Noah and I were having a serious discussion about which one of us was the strongest to which Calvin interjected “there’s only one way to find out”. I declined the offer to wrestle my 12 year old out on the grass in beautiful Tuscany until he called me a chicken. I said “ Pardon ? GAME ON “!!! 

We squared off and within minutes I had him on the ground in a submission hold that would make Hulk Hogan proud. Of course Noah wanted a rematch because he apparently “slipped”. Funny enough each one of the boys wanted some of the same medicine afterwards and I had to take each one of them down. I ended the night with grass-stained knees and the boys ended the night with a new found respect for their dainty little flower of a Mother.

The next night we converted the lawn of the villa from a wrestling ring back to an outdoor eating area and spent the evening talking with the two other families. The 11 of us (kids as well) sat out until the wee hours talking and laughing with each other. We had to finally say goodnight and wish our new friends a safe journey back to Germany and England as we needed to get up at 7:00am for our trip into Florence for a cooking class.   

Venice

 

A travel day is no fun.  We are going to try to limit flights as they take far too much of our valuable vacationing time.  We had to repack everything while guessing the weight of each bag to remain within the airline maximums.  This is no easy exercise for us as we are carrying a lot of cargo….by Calvin’s standards.  Everything was packed and ready by the door the night before our departure.  The alarms went off at 6:30am – it’s been a long time sense we’ve seen 6:30am.  We packed the car and said goodbye to Rocallaura.  The trip to Barcelona was not without a bit of excitement – we decided to try to outwit the GPS again, by following the street signs to Barcelona airport vs. the recommended route provided by our GPS.  GPS 3, MacInnis 0.  We spent an extra 25 minutes getting to the airport but we still had time to properly return the rental car (in a dark garage where no ’new’ scratches or dents could be identified) and headed for the gate.   Welcome to flying with Spanair – after some nervous moments on the road and at the terminal, we were welcomed to our gate with the following announcement: “due to operational issues, flight blah blah blah to Venice is delayed indefinitely”.   Indefinitely was just short of 90 minutes – just enough time to grab a bite of lunch and travel back in time to witness a scene from an 18 century Catholic household.  The unexpected and free entertainment during our delay was a mom and her NINE children….yup, reread it and it’s still the same….nine children all under the age of 12 were running circles around two sections of seats.  The people watching the family were almost as entertaining to watch as the prolific mother.  Every woman within viewing distance of the family was glued to the mayhem with their jaws on their chins and eyes bulged – two parts amazement and one part shock, no doubt. 

Mom seemed to randomly yelp at kids as they ran by and if they mistakenly ran within reach, they usually received a twist of their earlobe.  Most were deserving of the twist while others seemed to be guilty of nothing more than bad depth perception by running too close to mom.  Perhaps she was handing out preventive medicine as the twisting did seem to deter the bad behaviour – I’ll have to try that on our boys if they act up.  Calvin and most of the dads watching the action were most impressed and I think a bit envious of the father who showed up after browsing in one of the DUTY FREE shops or EVERYTHING UNDER $20 store, no doubt. He flopped into a seat in the middle of the circus, pulled up his hoodie, popped in his iPod and slipped on a pair of mirrored sunglasses for a few zzzs while mom managed the offspring.   This is a man in control of his household (Calvin’s perception) or a man who needs a good ear twisting himself (Deanna’s). We heard the announcement for our flight and I’m not going to lie to you , I was praying that the family was not going to Venice.  They were not and we finally boarded the plane and had a smooth flight for just less than 2 hours.   

Getting from the Venice airport to the old island (tourist area) of Venice is chaotic because there are so many different modes of transportation (helicopter, auto taxi, private or public water taxi {vaporretta}, shuttle bus, public bus, etc.) and unless you take the water taxi from the airport, you are going to take 2 to 3 different modes to get to your ultimate destination. Since we really didn’t have a good handle on where our apartment was located, we decided to splurge and take the private boat into Venice.  

This is by far the most expensive way to enter Venice but I’m telling you, if this is your first trip to Venice (which it was for Calvin and the boys) the water taxi from the airport is the way to go.  When we entered the Grand Canal, we stood up and watched the sights pass by.  There were gondolas paddling by, ancient bridges to float under and palaces of Italy’s wealthy, lining the water’s edge.  We were in awe as we really had never seen anything like this before. 

The boys were snapping pictures in every direction. It was my 2^nd time in Venice but many years ago and on a tighter budget but I didn’t see it from this angle.  It was magical.

The boat dropped us at a smaller canal only two blocks from our apartment.  Calvin had phoned the owner, Sebastiano, when we left the airport and we waited for him to come and collect us. The apartment is in the eastern district of San Polo and was only about a 3 minute walk from our boat stop - thank goodness because these backpacks are HEAVY!

Our location is ideal.  In the day it is busy with people visiting the Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.  The Santa Maria is the church within the square that the apartment backs on to and it rings its bells every fifteen minutes and on the hour.  At first, it seemed a bit much – can’t they just buy watches and stop the 15 minute bell ringing … geez!  But after a few hours we failed to notice it…perhaps that’s why Italians work at a slower, more comfortable and civilized pace – they’ve learned to ignore the church clock.  At night, our location is very quiet, with only a few people looking for late night gelato.  Luckily, or not, one of the best gelato joints is at our doorstep…..damn, that stuff is good.  The apartment itself has everything we need but is smaller than we have grown accustomed to in Spain.  Sebastiano highlighted the key areas on a city map including a few of the favourite pizza joints, restaurants, tourist sites, grocery stores, etc. We dropped our bags and ventured out into the twisted and very convoluted city. 

We were all pretty hungry and so we went on a mission to find “the best place for a slice in Venice” according to Trip Advisor – our new traveller’s bible.  It wasn’t much of a place on the outside but you knew you were at the right place when you saw the line ups.  It did have some really great prices and combinations.  The boys choose the following: Devin – the ever adventurous cheese; Noah and Aidan went for ham; Calvin went for spicy vegetarian, and; my mouth watered for a feta and spinach number. We found a great spot on the steps of the Grand Canal to eat our pizzas and watched the gondoliers try to get as much money as possible from the tourists hoping for a ride.  

They clearly profile their victims (tourists) as the prices varied significantly depending on where they presumed the couple to be from – anywhere from 70 euro to 140 euro for an hour.  After the pizza, we walked around for hours looking at the sights, sounds and shops of Venice.  I didn’t remember the shopping being this great. Expensive items but very unique. The boys must have gone into a dozen Venetian Mask shops. We stopped for groceries and called it a night.

We wake up to the church bells every morning and it has become a nice sound to wake up to…..   Around 9:00am, in the square that our apartment backs onto, an incredible opera singer starts his day and adds, significantly, to his bankroll.  We have been unable to upload video for some reason but here is a pick of the handsome gentlemen that stops both tourists and locals in their tracks for a song or two or three before they return to their day.  We’ve made numerous donations to his hat or can during our stay and he has earned every cent – to our untrained ear, he belongs on Broadway.   In the evening, around 9:00pm, another gentleman sits in the same square playing violin until midnight and never repeats the same song.  We’ve ended more than a few nights with gelato and a bit of Paganini. 

On our first full day in Venice we visited many more mask shops and walked to the Rialto Bridge. This particular bridge is one of Venice’s most famous sights and offers great views of the Grand Canal and all the boats and gondolas passing under. Apparently many ladies have been proposed to on the bridge, under a full moon. It was one of the first areas in Venice to be inhabited.

The boys finally decided that they were going to spend some of their souvenir money on a Venetian mask.  Not the easiest to carry around for the rest of our travels but good keepsakes to remind them of Venice.  

They negotiated the price for 3 and got a pretty good deal.  The masks seem to be the most sold tourist souvenirs just slightly ahead of the locally made and beautiful, but expensive, Murano glass.

We are having a blast getting lost on the streets of Venice.  It’s the best route to discovery.  On one of our winding street maze adventures, we followed some great music to a piazza with an outdoor restaurant that was selling a mixed plate of seafood (calamari, anchovies, sardines, octopus and bream) and a glass of cold chardonnay for 8 euros.  There were small outdoor tables set under umbrellas in the square and it was a really pretty setting. We bought 2 plates and shared the fish. The boys did not like the fried sardines and anchovies so I got to eat all of those. Actually I ate most of the fish off of the two plates so all the boys were still hungry so we stopped at another spot and the boys had some lasagna. Not a great meal but they were full. It has been hard to get good value for the money we spend on food here, other than a slice of pizza.  The pizza is so nice and thin just the way we like it. The kids have decided they like the Italian pizza much better than what we get at home.  We have been taking out pizza from our local pizzeria for 7 euro and adding a great homemade salad at home for a great dinner most nights.  

 

We found our way to San Marco square and it was a busy place full of lots of tour groups. We took the elevator to the top of the Campanile to get the most amazing 360 degree view of Venice. This is where Galileo demonstrated his telescope in 1609.  We spent quite a bit of time up there taking pictures and relaxing. Calvin spotted a wedding coming out of the basilica. The men wear typical white straw hats and the women very fancy dresses and hats.  

Sebastiano mentioned that if we were interested in a boat tour that there was a stop quite close to us that would take us to Murano , Burano and Torcello islands around the lagoon of Venice. This is the way to go as there are many tour companies offering outrageous prices to take you on the same route as the public boat taxis.  We decided to spend the next day taking the tour. Calvin managed the streets and got us to the vaporetta stop and we found the boat to Murano. Venice is full of Murano glass shops. I had read that if you want to buy any you should go directly to the island of Murano which makes sense. It turned out that Murano Island’s designs are more traditional styles than in Venice.

As soon as we stepped off the boat in Murano there were guys directing us to the glass factories, likely for a commission on our purchases.  I did also read that you shouldn’t be turned off by the aggressive manner in which they “direct” you as there is no condition that you have to buy something and that you will most likely get to see the glass blowers at work.  So we followed the crowd in to the first factory. The glass blower did do a 5 minute demonstration and then we were ushered into the showroom to buy. The chandeliers were really ornate and quite magnificent but really not our taste.  Perhaps more suited for a grand ballroom than our house.  The boys picked a huge blue glass piece that would barely fit through our front door.  We looked around and really admired the work but didn’t buy anything.  

The boys had to visit the bathroom and we experienced our first pay to pee washroom. We paid 1.50 euro for each of them. We continued on to the next factory that wanted to charge us 3 euro each to watch their demonstration so we kept on walking finally reaching a factory that put on a demonstration for about 15 minutes and was free so we stayed and watched. The kids were pretty impressed to see how the glass was blown. He made a vase and an ornamental fish while we watched – some serious skill.

After the factories, we followed the path into the small town where the locals live. The tiny row houses are all painted a variety of bright colours and all look freshly painted - orange, bright yellow, turquoise and fuchsia. I loved it. We visited a few shops and peeked in a gallery that had the most beautiful Murano glass mosaics. If it wouldn’t have cost a busload of money to get these home, I would have bought one. 

We stopped at a restaurant that was recommended in a book from our apartment. They put us in a room and basically forgot about us for a while. When we did finally eat, the pasta was great but the rest of the food was pretty meager. We were not impressed with the food overall or the service, which would not warrant much of a tip back home, but in Italy most places charge a service fee automatically.  Got us again! We have yet to feel satisfied with the value or quality for food in Italy….it’s only been a few days but come on!  Calvin has planned some level of revenge by ensuring both the good and the bad are recognized via tripadvisor.com.   

After lunch we boarded the vaporetta for Burano which is famous for lace making. Very similar to Murano but much prettier and less ‘in your face’ salesmen. More vibrantly painted houses and quaint little lace shops. Burano also has a leaning tower in the center of town which is off by about 5degrees.

We walked in to the town and couldn’t notice the lean until we were right beside it. Not as much as the Pisa tower but still kind of cool. The boys hypothesized why the towers were leaning, including sneezes while building and other loud noises that would cause this.

We found the right boat back and enjoyed the ride back to Venice sitting at the front of the boat with the early evening sun in our faces.  In fact, we enjoyed it so much and felt so confident managing the vaporetta schedules that after dinner we hopped on one of the boats and went up one side of the Grand Canal and then back down the other which probably took 1 ½ hours. We sat at the back of the boat and just took in the night lights over Venice. We had some midnight gelato in front of our apartment and called it a night.

You may have noticed that I am sporting holiday hair. That is naturally curly and I am enjoying the freedom but the colour needed some touching up. You know what I mean ladies!! So I booked an appointment a few days ago at the hair salon that is close to the apartment. Monday was hair day! I got there at 9am and left at noon. I managed to explain “highlights” to the hairdresser but after that nobody spoke to me but I sat there watching the 9 or so ladies come in for appointments. These hairdressers were true professionals. My highlights turned out amazing and they gave me a blowout that rocked!  I left a happy camper and it didn’t break the bank. The boys all said I looked so different but who knows what that really means. 

Rocallaura II

Although the roman pool at Can Sula was very authentic and very refreshing we asked the guys where we could find a larger (warmer) pool. It turned out that the local community pool was about 10 minutes away in another town so we decided to try and find it one afternoon. There of course were no signs to follow so we had to drive through the town looking for people with wet hair, towels or blown up toys. We circled the town from above a few times before Noah caught a glimpse of a pool down below.  We buttered up the sides of the car and began our tight squeeze through ridiculously tight streets and corners that looked far too narrow to accommodate our car.  Most of these streets are two way but we were lucky to not run into any oncoming traffic so we didn’t have to navigate backwards as well as forwards.  It was a very large outdoor pool with grassy areas to lie out and an outdoor bar with tables and chairs for the parents. This is what our local pools need while us parents sit through swimming lessons week after week! There were lots of locals relaxing around the pool and the boys went right in for some laps and play. Noah is on a mission when he gets into any pools these days and does a minimum of 25 laps and 100 sit-ups with his feet up and over the ledge while he pulls himself out of the water – Calvin and I grabbed a beer and cheered him on. He is keeping in shape for hockey when we get back. 

The next day was hike day.  Oriel told us about a beautiful hike to a river and waterfall and showed us a video on his Iphone that he said looked a bit like Jurassic Park.   His broken Spanish directions were a bit sketchy,” When you see the sign of the town la Fabre, you’ll see a path in the 25th km and maybe some cars”.   Here are the directions as we remember in case you are ever in the neighborhood….it is well worth the effort: 

Drive to la Fabre (not on most maps but it was on our GPS) and watch the signs as you leave town – approximately 4-5 Kms from la Frabe you will see roadside kilometer markers and within a few meters of the 26Km post on the right side of the road.  There is a gravel driveway that is accessible from the right side of the road.  It slopes immediately from the paved road so be careful of cars leaving when you enter.  There will likely be cars parked there and roofs are visible from the road.  Parking is limited to 5-6 cars.  We saw a car leaving and I jumped out and did my best charade of swimming and waterfalls. They confirmed we were in the right spot.

We parked and I swatted a fly (I thought) off my leg and was instantly stung by a wasp. I could not control the profanity for a few minutes – a bit educational for the boys but it really hurt!!! I pulled myself together and grabbed an ice pack and held it to my leg while we walked. Calvin likes to tease me that it was a mosquito but I assure you it was not.   At roughly the 10 minute mark, there is a fork in the road – turn left (I believe there is a G for Il Gorges painted on the rock but I’m pretty sure it pointed to me for ‘Gorgeous’ – ice pack and all).   It’s approximately 20 minutes of brisk hiking down switch backs to get to the end of the dirt road where you enter the path through the woods to river.  When you arrive at the first swimming area (swimming all depends on the season as it was pretty shallow that day) you must cross over the rocks and shallow water to the other side.  We forgot that part and it cost us 20 minutes of hiking each way to get back to this spot.  Cross the water and you should be able to see the entrance to a path – another 20 minutes and you’re swimming under a waterfall.  Bring a picnic, plenty of water, some fly spray and a camera.   

We swam, ate our picnic and the boys explored a few small caves with a flashlight Calvin had brought, while I sunbathed. It was a really nice afternoon but a hot, long hike, uphill the entire way, back to the car.  This spot is truly magical and very private.  We didn’t see or hear anyone all afternoon AND there are no bears or mountain lions to worry about. 

Can Sula does not have a dishwasher so the boys have been doing the dishes. It has been great. They take turns washing and drying and someone always needs to go to the bathroom when it’s their turn to dry but the dishes wait for them. It reminds me of drying dishes with Aunt Deb when I was a kid. We used to sing and harmonize together to pass the time but I used the bathroom excuse often. 

The boys have been catching up on down time while chillaxing in Rocallaura.  Reading and a few old movies fill most of our days.  Noah and Calvin are watching the Terminator series and Devin, Aidan and I are catching up on Back to the Future. 

We’ve been trying to book an apartment in Venice but having to drive 30 minutes to find an internet point has proved to be a bit of a hassle.  Noah and Calvin left the morning of our final day to drive to Tarrega (approximately 30 minutes away) to search for model paint and an internet point.  They apparently found both pretty quickly but when hunger struck, they decided to set out to find another recommendation we received from the guys – Hostal del Rector.  It’s a small restaurant in a hill top town slightly larger than Rocallaura but in the opposite direction.  The boys found it with ease (GPS) and apparently had the best meal of the trip.  10 euros each got them a three course meal: spaghetti Bolognese, grilled pork with frites and alliolo (a rich garlic, olive oil and mayonnaise mix), chocolate mousse for desert and two cokes.  Noah said he could have eaten a bucket of the spaghetti.

Calvin and the boys were very disappointed that they did not have an opportunity to make hay while visiting in Cape Breton so he and Noah stopped on their way back from Tarrega to help a few farmers with their summer harvest.  Not sure what animals the locals are feeding with these hay bales but maybe Oriel’s Jurassic Park reference wasn’t all in humour – ya gotta think T-rex when you see food packaged in the size of small cars.

We are off to Italy tomorrow.  An early breakfast, fast drive to Barcelona airport and an airplane ride to Venice via Spanair.  Flights in Europe are super cheap and the distances are shorter than in the US as they use KM here instead of miles. Not sure how they really do it but we are flying to Venice for approximately $200 cdn for the family – that’s like flying from North Vancouver to Calgary but we would pay that much per person. 

Rocallaura was a great place to bring our time in Spain to an end – very relaxing and it felt like we really experienced the Spain of old!  Spain has definitely become a favourite of ours and we will miss it but we will be back. 

Spain 2011

Madrid - Toledo - Granada - Fuengirola - Gibraltar - Malaga - Seville - Fuengirola - Barcelona - L'Escala - Rocallaura - Barcelona

2,868km

Best experiences:  Devin’s divin' save on the beaches of Malaga; muddin’ up at the Roman baths; bullfight in Sevilla; the sights, smells and sounds of Barcelona; cruising the Costa Brava with handsome Peter, and; hiking and swimming in the mountain waters of El Gorges.

Best accommodation: Barcelona for the style; Malaga for the view; L’Escala for the company; Rocallaura for the peace, and; Madrid for the location.

Best meals:  Hostal del Rector in Vallfogona de Riucorb (last day) and Tapas in Madrid (first day)

Best desert: Churros in chocolate

Bested by an animal: One spider; Shrewdness of Apes; One wasp, and; a small child in Guell Park.

Best cathedrals: Toledo and Montserrat

Best repeated new phrase: “Excuse mee, I am sORRy but IT is abSOlutely FORbidden” and “Holy Toledo!”

Best city: Barcelona

Best beaches: just about everywhere in Costa Brava

On the Road to Rocallaura (new country song perhaps??)

Rocallaura – Last stop in Spain  

We packed up the car in the morning and headed to our favourite croissanteria for café and breakfast. Believe it or not I don’t think I have gained any weight. I think it is all the walking we are doing and because of the heat we really don’t have big appetites but this croissant breakfast has got to stop. While Calvin and I went online to look for accommodations the boys played some pool. We stayed for quite a while but they are so laid back around here that we could have sat there all day. Aidan tried some Spanish to ask for the key to the washroom but came back with his legs still crossed because they tried to give him a knife. I went back in and we figured it out.

I really did not want to leave the area without going to that Dali museum and so we drove back to see if we could do it but no luck.   The line was longer than the last time and the day was hotter so we said it just wasn’t meant to be. Of course, the museum was in the opposite direction of our ultimate destination that day so we backtracked the 40 minutes and started our journey to our new villa. 

Calvin found an amazing accommodation for us in the tiny country village of Rocallaura.  We drove in the general direction while stopping every 30 minutes to send another email or make a phone call to the owners of the apartment with the hopes we would finalize the price and arrival time.  Well done Calvin for getting us a last minute discount! 

This is a thankful change of pace after L’Escala.   Rocallaura is WAY out in the country with a population of about 200, no shops in town and NO English to be found but a local pub and very small park where you can share a cool beer with the locals.  History interlude – there are two diverse groups here in Spain: the Spanish and the Catalans (different language, different flag, different culture and a hope to separate one day – sound familiar).  Rocallaura is a Catalan community so whatever Spanish we learned was not terribly helpful although some of the locals knew Spanish and sign language which we have mastered over the past few months.   We will be kicking some butts at the Christmas family charades tourney. 

Rocallaura is about 90 minutes inland from Barcelona and the villa is called Can Sula.  It’s about 400 years old. It was a farmhouse that was recently renovated in such a special way that retains the old charm and character but has all the modern conveniences that we expect. After loading up on groceries we met two of the owners, Roland and Oriol at the house. Two great guys who were so enthusiastic about this project that they undertook with 2 other partners that they spent about an hour and a half with us drinking cava and telling us great stories about the place. 

The home had been vacant for over 40 years.  The owners left to visit Barcelona one day and never returned.  When they pried the doors open, it was just as the owners had left it the day they went to Barcelona with sheets on the bed, bottles in the wine cellar, etc..  

They found some great antiques and all have been restored to perfection and are integrated with all the new furnishings.   The guys were leaving for France and invited us to meet them at their place at the beach near Tarragona upon their return but we had already booked our flight to Venice – too bad, we were having a blast. The guys also pointed out all kinds of interesting spots to visit on the map.   

 The villa is divided into 3 separate apartments with a huge shared common lounge/bar area that used to be the barn.  Spanish construction of that period had the animal accommodations below the human sleeping quarters.  I’m not sure how they rid the place of 400 years of horse smell but there’s a Fabreeze commercial in the waiting.  You would never know it was a barn if it wasn’t for all the farm equipment decorating the walls.  Our place was a self-contained apartment with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, kitchen and laundry.

There is a roman pool which was a small, freezing cold pool to dip in and jump right back out. Good for cooling off but definitely not laps.  The best feature in my opinion was the terrace off our kitchen. It had a breathtaking view of the valley and rolling hills below the village.  The only downside to this home we later discovered was the excessive amount of flies. I guess the farming fields below us brought them out, but it was very irritating to deal with.

We were so high up in the valley that the breeze in the late afternoon was so beautiful that we wanted to have the windows open but the flies were too bad. After a day or two, we mastered the fly flow and reduced their numbers to a civilized few.  That first night we went for a little walk around the village and everyone was very friendly, greeting us in Spanish. We found a little park and the kids played for a bit and then headed back home. We met the other family that was staying in one of the other apartments.  A really nice couple from Limerick, Ireland – Annette and Sean and their 13 year old daughter, Caoimhe  (pronounced like Queva ). We sat down in the lounge and talked for a couple hours and they shared a nice bottle of Spanish Beer (wine bottle size) and some very dry Sherry that is made locally.  We ended up spending another night with them staying up very late listening to Irish music and feeding them my vodka cocktails.

On that first night I went out to the terrace to hang up some clothes and just happened to look up to see a shooting star! I was so excited. The next 3 nights we all laid down and watched the sky together and every night we were rewarded with many shooting stars. Apparently it is the time of year for it??

We spent many days relaxing in Rocallaura. The quiet village atmosphere seemed to warrant it. The owners told us that twice a week the baker came into the village and honked his horn to let you know he had arrived. We were playing cards together and heard the honking on Sunday. We all looked at each other and yelled “the baker is here”!!

I grabbed my wallet and we all went out. We stood in line with all the grandmothers and waited our turn. Fresh baguettes, loafs of bread and a sweet treat that seemed to be a large thin baked cracker with sugar on top. We bought a couple of those and some fresh bread. The baker short-changed me 5 euros and even after I brought it to his attention he still played ignorant. I thought the ladies were going to put a hit on him…they smiled at me and glared at him while wagging some powerful looking fingers in his direction. Doesn’t matter where you are, us sisters stick together!

One of the cities not too far from Rocallaura was Tarragona.

 

The city has roman ruins (yup, Roman ruins along the water….it’s hard not to be impressed by the Romans and their ruins) and a walled city so we thought we would look for some WiFi at one of the malls and then venture into the old center. It turned out to be quite a big city.   

Noah has been interested in building models so he found a hobby store and bought a car model.

We just missed the festival by one day that features castellers which are breathtakingly tall towers made entirely of people. These truly impressive feats of teamwork, strength, and bravery are the product of traditional festivals in the Catalonia region.  And yes, castells do occasionally topple back to earth. Small children top the tower and wear helmets. Even though we missed the festival there were many monuments and museums that show the towers, usually about 8 people high with four people at each level so that’s 32 per tower with another 30 holding the base together.  

The amphitheatre was one of the best we’ve seen.  The romans had the best real estate available when they conquered a city and did a great job putting it to use. 

We had dinner at an Italian restaurant within the walls of the old city and left Tarragona with a full belly.