Back in Vienna
What an awesome mini trip!! I am back! Well, I was back yesterday but I was busy eating mac and cheese, snuggling with the Kid, meeting with a new therapist for the Kid and catching up with my friend who is back in town (yay!). Barcelona was an amazing place to visit and I hope to go again next year...if they will have me.
On Sunday we hit the town of Garaff which is about a 25 minute train ride outside of the city. It is a completely idyllic sand beach. It was busy but not over crowded. We arrived around noon and rented a couple of loungers and an umbrella. We stared out at the sea and I took in the waves and thought "nope". I did go up until my knees on my first attempt but the sea was angry that day, my friends, and I was convinced my ridiculously too small bikini top would have been a victim and nobody needs to witness that.
Around one, we walked up to the beach restaurant and met up with a friend of my friend. We ordered a bottle of wine, some food, and I kept thinking "Is this real life?!" It was just absolutely perfect. Friend's friend had just flown in from Mallorca and she said how great it had been because there were 4 stormy days in a row. I laughed thinking she was being sarcastic and then I realized that if you live in a climate like Barcelona, some grey days are a welcome change. Does not compute for this Canadian. After a leisurely lunch we headed back to our loungers and took in the waves and the families. Two observations:
1) There were a LOT of boobies. I mean every type of booby you could imagine. And while I am not a prude, I did note how somewhat bizarre it was to see everyone talking to people without tops. Men talking to their mother in laws. Wife's friends coming by to chat. A real Conference of the States Boobies and not once a southern glance from the menfolk. And while I think that is awesome, I think I would be a little miffed that not one person would glance at the "girls" if I made an effort to take them out for a walk.
2) We spent a couple of hours watching a family build a sand fort. A dad and his two kids were digging and digging. After about 20 minutes the little girl did the international "screw this" move by doing cartwheels. The son kept going but you could see he wasn't as invested as time passed. The dad, however, was in it to win it. Sweating and swearing and just short of hiring a foreman, the dad built a structure worthy of an architectural award. He even added foliage. He was so proud that he had his wife grab the camera and take pictures of him in his structurally sound fort. Then she called her friends over and they took pictures of themselves standing in the fort... so, more boobies.
I dipped into the water a few times and then around 6 we headed into the little village. We stopped for a drink and then made our way to the train station to take us back to Barcelona. Once home we changed and went for a quick pizza dinner. It was truly one of the most relaxing days I have had in a very very very long time and it was great to re-charge the old batteries... because madness is about to start. The Fall is going to be epic and wild and busy. I have a lot of writing to do, I have a lot of articles to work on, there is going to be The House of Canada party in October, as well as our annual Halloween party plus it looks like we will have a stand at the Feschmarkt in November. We are also upping the Kid's therapy so we will be burning the midnight oil on all fronts.
I am also back on my better eating plan. My nutritionist has asked me to do 3 things for a couple of weeks and then we will look more into my eating. In combination with the 3 things, I am also for the most part eating vegan... which unfortunately does not mean "eating a vegan". Barcelona and yesterday was not vegan. No, I am full of cheese. But tonight I will be going to spin class, tomorrow I will go for a run and on the weekend I will be doing spinning and bikram. Time to get my fitness on because the wildness is about to begin! Woot! Come on September: the beginning of my favourite time of the year!
On Sunday we hit the town of Garaff which is about a 25 minute train ride outside of the city. It is a completely idyllic sand beach. It was busy but not over crowded. We arrived around noon and rented a couple of loungers and an umbrella. We stared out at the sea and I took in the waves and thought "nope". I did go up until my knees on my first attempt but the sea was angry that day, my friends, and I was convinced my ridiculously too small bikini top would have been a victim and nobody needs to witness that.
Around one, we walked up to the beach restaurant and met up with a friend of my friend. We ordered a bottle of wine, some food, and I kept thinking "Is this real life?!" It was just absolutely perfect. Friend's friend had just flown in from Mallorca and she said how great it had been because there were 4 stormy days in a row. I laughed thinking she was being sarcastic and then I realized that if you live in a climate like Barcelona, some grey days are a welcome change. Does not compute for this Canadian. After a leisurely lunch we headed back to our loungers and took in the waves and the families. Two observations:
1) There were a LOT of boobies. I mean every type of booby you could imagine. And while I am not a prude, I did note how somewhat bizarre it was to see everyone talking to people without tops. Men talking to their mother in laws. Wife's friends coming by to chat. A real Conference of the States Boobies and not once a southern glance from the menfolk. And while I think that is awesome, I think I would be a little miffed that not one person would glance at the "girls" if I made an effort to take them out for a walk.
2) We spent a couple of hours watching a family build a sand fort. A dad and his two kids were digging and digging. After about 20 minutes the little girl did the international "screw this" move by doing cartwheels. The son kept going but you could see he wasn't as invested as time passed. The dad, however, was in it to win it. Sweating and swearing and just short of hiring a foreman, the dad built a structure worthy of an architectural award. He even added foliage. He was so proud that he had his wife grab the camera and take pictures of him in his structurally sound fort. Then she called her friends over and they took pictures of themselves standing in the fort... so, more boobies.
I dipped into the water a few times and then around 6 we headed into the little village. We stopped for a drink and then made our way to the train station to take us back to Barcelona. Once home we changed and went for a quick pizza dinner. It was truly one of the most relaxing days I have had in a very very very long time and it was great to re-charge the old batteries... because madness is about to start. The Fall is going to be epic and wild and busy. I have a lot of writing to do, I have a lot of articles to work on, there is going to be The House of Canada party in October, as well as our annual Halloween party plus it looks like we will have a stand at the Feschmarkt in November. We are also upping the Kid's therapy so we will be burning the midnight oil on all fronts.
I am also back on my better eating plan. My nutritionist has asked me to do 3 things for a couple of weeks and then we will look more into my eating. In combination with the 3 things, I am also for the most part eating vegan... which unfortunately does not mean "eating a vegan". Barcelona and yesterday was not vegan. No, I am full of cheese. But tonight I will be going to spin class, tomorrow I will go for a run and on the weekend I will be doing spinning and bikram. Time to get my fitness on because the wildness is about to begin! Woot! Come on September: the beginning of my favourite time of the year!
Yeay! love it, sounds all so familiar :) Bring on September!
ReplyDeleteWoot! We are going to be soooo busy!!!
ReplyDelete