Travel Notes: Barcelona

Now and then, timing is everything, and during the last weeks luck was seriously on our side. I had to fly to Germany on business, the husband had to go there at the same time, and we managed to take a week off for a short well-earned vacation.

We flew to Barcelona, where we rented a holiday flat in the Sant Marti neighborhood. Leaving behind the winter in Buenos Aires and enjoying the summer temperatures in Spain was only part of the fun.

We took walks along the beach and through our favorite barrios. We ate fish and tapas whenever we could and went to our favorite church, the Catedral del Mar, and lit a candle. We spent one afternoon on the beach sunbathing and doing nothing, and we finally visited the city museum, a thing we hadn’t managed to do while still living there. But the best part of course was meeting old friends and catching up with them.

In one case, we did this up north on the Costa Brava coast in beautiful S’Agaro. Our friends took us there on a day trip to give us the chance to get away from the busy city streets and enjoy a break at the waterside. The one-hour-drive in itself was very nice since it took us through the green hills of the hinterland and gave us plenty of time to chat with our friends – and listen to the international music mix that our driver a.k.a. DJ Jaume played for us.

S’Agaro is one of the smaller coastal towns on Costa Brava with a beautiful bay and a small harbor. A well-maintained footpath along the coast connects the different bays and beaches, and we took it for a relaxed stroll underneath the pine trees, checking out the vista and the picturesque villas that stand along the way. We went as far as Sa Conca bay with one of the best beaches in Spain, and then returned to S’Agaro for a delicious paella and a glass of red wine. Ah, just one of those perfect summer days. Again, thank you, guys!

Apart from spending a very relaxing week free of work and recharging the batteries, our trip to Barcelona once again confirmed our determination to come back as often as we can manage and perhaps grow some form of roots in this amazing city. But for the time being we have returned to Buenos Aires to see what experiences this differently amazing place has in store for us.

I'll keep you posted.