Barcelona

With my sisters working on their Trek Trips, I returned to Barcelona to see Josh and Rebekah. They live in the historic Gothic district with beautiful old buildings and tiny narrow streets. It’s very charming. After a quick tour of the city, we went a friend of his who was having a traditional Brazilian BBQ. In the evening, we went to a launch party/ celebration because another friend had just opened up a high end clothing store in Barcelona featuring designer wear from Denmark. Hanging around Josh is like being at the United Nations. There are always people from 10 different countries, who are married, or dating someone from other nations, and living in a third country. It’s quite impressive. I didn’t left the fact that I don’t know Spanish prevent me from speaking Spanish. I even managed to talk about the psychosocial aspects of hereditary cancer. (When a person has cancer, it’s not good…when a person has cancer very young, it’s more bad for the family. It’s difficult to not have a mom or dad when you are young. I work with people like this.) My conversations skills were probably helped by the free champagne they were serving.

The next day, Rebekah returned from visiting the States. A trip to the coast of Spain would not be complete without a dip in the Mediterranean. So we headed to the beach in the late afternoon before having a dinner party back home with a grad school friend of Josh’s. Seeing the sights of a destination can certainly be fun, but what I really enjoy are the intimate dinners with great friends that last way into the night, discussing customs in remote countries visited, parallel universes, and the best place to buy chocolate.

Hiking in Girona

On my last full day in Girona, Liz, Kathryn and I hiked to the top of the mountain near Pals. The trek was a nice little walk, and at the top was an unfinished fort. We climbed one of the round turrets and admired the view of the ocean. Here's Kathryn peaking out from one of the walls.



More gorgeous views.


Artistic photo by Kathryn

France for an hour

Stephanie and Dan needed to head back to Provence, Stephanie to prep for her next trip, and Dan to coordinate the world. (He’s the world logistics coordinator for Trek! I wonder where you move up to after coordinating the world?) So we spent the afternoon in downtown Girona. The buildings were the shades of sunsets and very picturesque by the river.

We then drove them up the Costa Brava and into France to catch their train. I didn’t thing I’d be visiting France this trip, so what a nice surprise (even if it was just for an hour!)

On our way back to Girona, Liz, Kathryn and I stopped at two more quaint medieval towns. The second town, a walled medieval city, was fully equipped with a moat! As I walked the streets, I tried to imagine who had walked these same streets 600 years ago. How many other people had passed through these doorways? The town was beautifully maintained. We wrapped up the evening with dinner at their main square, eating outside mainly because it was so charming, even though it was pretty chilly. Fall has definitely arrived here in Spain.

Trek Travel: Girona

After our adventures in Barcelona, we headed north to the beautiful Girona, where Kathryn and Liz have been guiding. When I borrowed a sister’s jersey, it got me thinking about a potential career change. Trek Travel could use another Stewart sister, right? (To the UCSF people reading this….I’m just kidding. To Trek Travel readers… where do I send my resume?)

Only 5km into our ride, we came to a beautiful medieval village and stopped for lunch and a bit of shopping. But then it was back on the bike across rolling fields, more medieval towns, and of course, a bit of rush hour traffic…..a Shepard herding his sheep. One of the dogs tried to round up Kathryn too! All in all, we biked about 50 miles through the beautiful Girona and then wrapped up the evening with a sumptuous dinner cooked by Dan.




Watch out for the sheep!

Urban Folding Bikes

It’s impossible to be with 3 trek travel guides and a trek travel logistics coordinator and not spend some time on a bike. We only had a limited time in Barcelona, so after visiting the Boqueria Market and a quick stop at Starbucks, we decided to rent some super cool folding bikes and explore the city.



First stop was Antoni Gaudí's Sagrada familia church. I was impressed to see visable changes since my last visit here 11 years ago. This cathedral has been under construction since 1882! Then it was off to the funky Park Guëll. Although it was an overcast day, we still had some good views of the city from the park.

Liz, Stephanie, Kathryn and Dan...being silly at Park Guëll.


These are fantastic bikes for the locals. You pay a monthly fee and can pick up a bike at any of the many sites around the city when ever you need one. Then when you’re done, or you just need to park, you return it at any other location. It’s kind of like the car share programs in some US cities, only better! (Photo courtesy of Dan.)

At the end of the bike ride, we came to the Cristóbal Colón statue (Christopher Columbus) and I asked where I should head next. He pointed East and so that’s where I’ll head next... to Argentina.

Last night we arrived in Barcelona to find the city in the middle of one of their largest street festivals. The streets were packed with thousands of people and musicians playing. We checked into our hotel after calling them several times to get help with the directions. When we ask the best way to get there, they just said, “oh, yes, you are very close.” We knew that….we just couldn’t find the tiny alley where it was located. Eventually, we found it on our own. Then we hit the streets to explore the festival until 4AM in typical Barcelona style.

Today, as we explored the city, we came across several events, including my favorite, human castling. This sport is a long standing tradition in Catalonia and it’s quite amazing to watch. The first group we saw, here in red, was up in no time at all, as we stared in amazement wondering just how high they’d go and in awe of their speed. Yes, they really are just standing on each other’s shoulders. It’s amazing to watch how they climb up on each other, using their belts as foot holds and locking arms for support. The castle is considered complete when the smallest child reaches the top and raised 4 fingers, symbolizing the 4 yellow stripes in the Catalonian flag. The group in light blue went next and they seemed to wobble a bit more. When the castle was nearly complete, they were sudden gasps as the castle fell apart, sending people flying! Obviously there is a huge group of people at the bottom acting as a human safety net, but it’s still very shocking. Stephanie managed to catch them mid fall in the photo.


Check out this link for more about human castling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIIzGnoYUtc
(be sure to watch the end, around minute 2:40!)

The rest of the afternoon was spent eating ice cream and drinking Sangria in glasses the size of fishbowls. In the evening, we met up with my college friend, Josh Thomson. He took us to a great restaurant/bar where we had Spanish tapas and champagne to celebrate his engagement (to Rebekah) and Stephanie’s engagement (to Chap).

Packing for 6 months

Written at SFO airport:
A Confucius quote states more or less that "every journey begins with a single step." I beg to differ. At least for me, this journey has started with two very large overstuffed suitcases that are just slightly over the weight limit and a strained back from weighing them multiple times while packing last night. It's difficult to pack, period. But add a 6 month trip to three different countries, two hemispheres and an extra large shoe collection, and you start to see that the journey has really begun before even taking a single step.

So after pairing down my little black dress collection to just 4 dresses, packing woolly sweaters for Ireland, bike shoes/pedals/shorts for Spain, hiking gear for Patagonia, and enough toiletries to open a small salon in Argentina, I am off on my adventures.


A map of my travels