The Catalonian “Ase”

It seems we are seeing the regional donkey sticker on every other car bumper in Girona. This Catalonian donkey is a symbol of Catalonian differences from other regions of Spain and these burros are everywhere! They adorn everything from lighters to coffee cups and now we’ve caught the fever! We are on the search of our very own ase sticker.

Our first attempt was in a local convenience store. We tried to ask the clerk if she sold any stickers, struggling to get the Spanish words out and drawing pictures. The clerk called out burro! for affirmation and solidified it with a “hee-haw”. Hilarious. But, we left with no stickers since the store was out-of-stock.

The search continues.

Hola from Girona, Spain!

Sleepy morning. Ella Zole quietly sipped her leche, we drank coffee one cup at a time with a traditional espresso maker, and Buena Vista Social Club piped through our travel speakers. Great start to the day.

We entered the city of Girona today with some drama by the bridge. Christie got excited approaching the river and BAM! She landed on both her knees, not seeing the step below her, and slightly twisted her ankle. An old Spanish women watched over me from the bridge to make sure I was ok. I gave her the universal thumbs up.

We spent the morning wandering through the old Jewish Quarter (shalom!) poking in and out of shops and snapping photos. Naturally the aroma of wine and the barrels perched on the sidewalk lured us into a wine shop. We sampled “dos” glasses of wine with a “yo no hablo Ingles” Catalonian gentleman. For just a couple of euros, he poured us samples straight from the barrel. We enjoyed a delicious ruscat and robust red for the “signor” (Tony, Christie’s brother in-law).

An hour before siesta we were ready to begin without the locals. We lunched at family owned and kid friendly La Bistrot. Machenga cheese filled pork, fresh cod with a dynamite sauce that Christie cannot remember (she’s 40 after all), and curried chicken all served with fresh vegetables and local frijoles. Muy delicioso!

Adios for now!

~Travelinggals.

Exploring Amsterdam

Well, we recovered from our embarrassingly bad jetlag and have made it through day 2. And by embarrassing, I mean Anna went to bed at 8pm and woke up at 10:30am.......I think 16 hours should do it. Today the three of us: Christie, Anna, and Tante Ikel (Christie's aunt) wandered around Amsterdam looking for the the Borneo Islands (no, not the tropical ones in Indonesia but the manmade ones in Holland). We enjoyed fantastic toasties at a very hip lounge on the water and then went shopping for a bit in the rain. This after taking about 50 different connecting trams and buses. Oh, did we tell you that Christie stepped on a dead mouse? Squish. That was DISGUSTING!!

Once we returned to Amsterdam center, we hunted through every souvenir shop for Luca's newest fashion statement: a pin of Amsterdam (check out his vest). Supa dupa! Fly boy. Deciding that he was properly dressed for dinner, we finished the evening eating Rijsttafel (Rice Table) a great way to sample Indonesian food - a bunch of little dishes on the table at the same time.

Because we jumped on tram #51 after dinner, we were giddy as we boarded and this compelled the conductor to inquire if Ikel was OK! I told him she drank too much water at dinner.

We're signing off now, not feeling especially funny tonight, must be the jetlag but don't be disappointed, we will return soon.......

Adios Amigos.....