First Day of School (again!)

The girls were ecstatic to be off to their first day of school at Aranda for 2019!

Introducing Bijou

Ella has been pestering us about getting a bird since last year and we managed to delay the process thanks to our travels to France. Now as a reward for her resilience in attending school in France (she found the experience to be way out of her comfort zone) and as combined birthday present we bought the said bird today!

As so introducing our newest member of our family...Bijou (that's French for jewel).

Within an hour of arriving, Bijou was ready for training, or so Ella thought! Despite his protests (bites), Ella managed to have him sitting on her hand by nightfall!

 

Farewell Barcelona and Europe!

Collecting our bags from the apartment at 2pm, we had 8 hours to kill before our flight left. With 100kgs of luggage we were rather restricted with activity choice. We began by eating a late lunch at the cafe conveniently located at the bottom of our apartment building!

Finishing that we lugged our gear to the airport bus stop which very conveniently left from Placa d'Espanga a short 300m walk. We were slightly nervous about this part of the journey but it was extremely easy hauling our luggage onboard for the 25min ride to Terminal 1.

As luck had it, the drop off point, had us entering the departure area in front of the Qatar check-in counter that was open (for an earlier flight) and the lovely lady on checkin allowed us to check in early! We were so happy to be rid of the bags especially the ski bag!

Now we had 6 hours left before boarding - enough time to explore the airport! Making our way through security, we headed for section E where our plane was departing. It was here we made the unfortunate decision to go through passport control not realising that we would be unable to access the bottom floor of the airport (where the majority of the shops were!) Instead we had a newsagent, two duty free shops, a cafe (it closed early) and Burger King to keep us entertained!!

The hours ticked by and everyone managed to keep mostly busy and happy but we were glad to finally board the plane at 10pm! Our first leg was 6hrs to Doha. We had stressed to the girls that it would be good to get a few hours of sleep as there would be loads of time on the next 14hr flight to Sydney for movies and entertainment. Of course who listens to their parents? Katy managed 2hrs while for Ella it was just 1hr!

In Doha, we had a few hours wait. The flight to Sydney was long. Andy, Katy and I all managed 5-6 hrs of broken sleep while Ella continued to resist the temptation....but finally succumbed to an hour of so before we landed!

Our flight continued on to Canberra after a 2hr transit with only 25 people aboard the plane! We touched down on time at 10.30am and were all so glad to be in Canberra. It was fantastic to see Nana and Grandpa at the airport and Pippa at home.

The rest of the day we unpacked, revelled in being home and in our own space. We met up with Al, Rob & girls plus Jase & girls at Little Oink for coffee in an attempt to keep awake. Ella was first to crash at 4.30pm sleeping for 13 hrs, Katy made it to dinner (just) and slept for 15 hrs! We thought that we'd perfected avoiding jet lag but as we found out it wasn't the case!

Park Guell

Our last day in Barcelona and Europe! Park Guell was to be our final sightseeing adventure with tickets to enter the famous Gaudi park at 11am. That gave us plenty of time to pack all of our belongings up and clean the apartment. Thankfully we were able to leave our bags there until 2pm.

In the early 1900's Eusebi Guell gave Gaudi a brief to develop an estate for well-off families on a large property in Muntanya Pelada (bare mountain). With splendid views over Barcelona to the sea and the clean air, Guell thought that the 60 triangular plots on the estate would be popular.

However by 1914, due to a lack of buyers, the works were abandoned with only 2 of the 60 houses being built. Guell lived in the existing mansion (now a school) while Gaudi along with his family and father bought one of the new houses. Thus the park became a large private garden hosting civic events in the main square. In 1918, Guell died and the estate was bought by the city council. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.

We spent a few hours exploring and relaxing in the park. It's an interesting place.

 

 

Mountains and Memories of Montserrat

Today we travelled by train an hour north west of Barcelona to Montserrat. As the train chugged along, in the distance we could see the outline of the serrated tips of the Montserrat mountain range rising from the valley floor. Excitement levels increased as we rolled closer with the shape of the individual rock pillars becoming clearer.

 

Disembarking at Montserrat Aeri, we joined the hoards queuing for the cable car ride to the monastery. Luckily we were the last to be bundled into cable car and immediately began the 5 min ride to the top.

 

The views at the top were spectacular but we hadn't come here to look around the monastery, so bought a one way ticket for the Sant Joan funicular and continued to go higher!

Now our hike begins. We take a sharp right immediately after the funicular station and are on our way. Conditions turn out to be much warmer than expected so the beanies and raincoats stay in our bag. At the first junction after a selfie, we veer right before finding ourselves heading downhill and immediately question whether we on the right track. After back tracking, we discover we should have gone left. A good lesson to take more care in reading the signs in future!

The rocky outcrops are huge and stunning. The rough track weaves through forest, traverses huge rock slabs keeping us all on our toes. Andy and I enjoy the beauty of the place immediately while the girls are more concerned about how tired they are or how far we have to go! Ahh the joys!

 

 

In particular Ella is uncomfortable about not knowing exactly what to expect and it's hard work to keep her going in a positive mindset. We step from the track to climb one of these rocky pillars (not to the top though) for fantastic views and is the perfect spot to break for lunch.

 

Post lunch rest, we continue on our way towards Mt Jeroni. We admire the spectacular views at Serra de les Paparres lookout but don't linger. Our path dips into the forest at the head of the valley, crossing a small stream before arriving at the junction - straight on takes up to the highest point of the  Montserrat Mountain range while turning right takes one back to the monastery. Ella notices this and decides to stamp her disapproval about going on. The hike to the top is 25 mins from this point.

Our family splits with Katy and I walking slowly on while Ella and Andy have it out. Without phone reception and out of sight I'm not sure what is happening and whether to continue, what for them to catch up or turn back.  While dithering, Katy and I hear a clattering sound and look around only to spot through the trees, two Iberian Ibex perched on a rock! As we admired these Andy and Ella turn up. Glad to all be back together again, we resume walking only for Ella to start complaining. Having had enough of her whinging, we figured it wasn't too far from the top so suggested that she remained here while we went on.

And so walking on briskly and in peace, we past the Sant Jeroni Chapel before climbing the many, many concrete stairs to the summit. At 1236m, Mt Jeroni is the highest peak in the Montserrat mastiff boasting views from Barcelona, to the Pyrenees to Els Ports and Majorca. Sadly today these were obscured by the haze. Nevertheless the rock formations and shear drops were amazing.

 

 

We returned to find Ella who was still furious that we'd gone up the top and began the walk back down to the monastery. On our way down we spotted a small little grey snake emerging from a tree stump on the edge of the path. A few other tourists stopped to have a peek only for it to get spooked and slitter back into the bushes. Back in the apartment we searched online to discover that it was a Lataste's viper, a highly venomous snake!

The trail took us into a lush green valley until the very end when we descended more and more and more stairs arriving back at the monastery. Conscious of the return train to Barcelona times, and with not much energy left to sightsee around the monastery, we headed straight for the cable car. Exiting this, we arrived at the station with a few minutes to spare. Unfortunately the train was very busy and we missed out on a seat which meant another hour on our feet! Everyone was glad to rest at the apartment before heading out for dinner.

From the Foothills to the Beach

There wasn't much enthusiasm to do touristy sights amongst the crowds today, so after a lethargic start, we eventually were on the metro travelling to the foothills. A short walk from the metro station was Parc de Laberint d'Horta. Described as a neoclassical park with a cypress tree maze, terrace pavilion, water features and picnic area we thought this would be great spot to spend a few hours.

We didn't wander too much around the oldest garden in Barcelona. In fact we beelined straight for the maze. Once there we raced each other through the maze, which didn't take too long before strolling out the other side climbing a few flights of stairs to a large water feature.

 

After leaving the labyrinth garden we had a small snack before continuing by metro to the beach. Despite the gloomy weather, there we lots of people relaxing on the beach but not many swimming in the Mediterranean. Andy and the girls were not put off by the conditions and were soon splashing around in the cold water. It was a refreshing short swim and in the meantime I conveniently guarded the bags! Lunch at a nearby cafe completed our day nicely.