Some time in Spain

 Hi all, It's been a while since I wrote an update and while I'm actually back in the US now, I'm going to attempt to remember and share what the last few weeks of the trip were like -- just as much of a way of keeping you all informed as to document and store the memories for myself so that per Claire's recommendation I can come back to these posts and remember what happened! So, the last week in Canet after Kaitlin and Larry headed out was peaceful and low-key. I spent a lot of time by myself and played around with walking out the door only with a loose plan and seeing what happened.  Highlights from the week: I went back to a Japanese restaurant Kaitlin, Larry and I had been to the week prior -- Sake Tasca Japonesa  -- to treat myself to their shoyu Ramen. As before, I was one of the only people in the restaurant and got to chatting with Mio, the owner and her coworker Nyadeh. Mio had a super interesting story -- she was born in Japan and moved to Great Britain at 18...

Hi all, It's been a few days since I've been back with the laptop which is the only way I can think of to relay adventures from the last few days in appropriate detail. Kaitlin, Larry and I grabbed the Renfe last Wednesday from Canet all the way out to Ribes de Freser which is a small town in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains. The trip took 3.5 hours and cost $3.00 each. Once at our apartment in Ribes we (Kaitlin & Larry, the mountaineers) quickly set about planning hikes for the next couple of days. Our first outing took place at 6am the next day, where we caught a funicular further up the mountain to Vall de Núria where there is a pristine lake and funnily enough, a giant hotel built around a church. We got started before the sun came up on hiking toward the Puigmal summit which is a roughly 6 mile hike that takes about 5 hours ( All Trails link here ). I've never been in such epic mountains before. Hard to describe the experience in appropriate detail so I'...

On Friday, September 30th (happy birthday Kristina!) Kaitlin and Larry got in to town via overnight bus (flixbus) from Genoa. We met near Arc d’Triomf which is also where I was dropped off by the airport bus my first day in Barcelona, so I felt relatively familiar with the area. We grabbed coffees near the Arc and jumped right in to planning the day around visiting Sagrada Familia. Sagrada : Sagrada deserves its own chapter. Fortunately there are books, Wikipedia pages and museums that describe its history in detail but I’ll do my best to relay my own experience. People often talk about the architecture in Europe being inspiring generally, and I have definitely felt that since being here in Barcelona. Not only has Barcelona done a great job of creating density through constructing a variety of low, mid and high rise housing and mixed used buildings in close proximity to public transit (key for making mixed income, walkable communities possible), it seems like every building is thoughtf...