Excursion

It seems we have family here that we knew nothing about.  Raquel, Alec's stepmother, has five sisters, one brother, and countless cousins, nieces and nephews.  Olga is one such cousin---she lives with her husband Bjorg (a Dane) and their dog, Vagabondo, about a half hour outside of Barcelona high up in the hills overlooking the Mediterranean, and below the ruins of a very cool castle. We took the train from Barcelona--it hugged the sea, and the train was full of daytrippers heading to the beach for the day.

Bjorg picked us up at the station and drove us up, up, up a winding road to the house.  We arrived moments after both C.C. and Milo informed us that they were about to puke---fortunately we arrived without either of them filling the ziploc bags I keep in my purse for just these situations.

The house is ringed by gardens, full of clematis, allium, and a gardenia that's as big as a tree and perfumes the whole yard.

We were joined by Olga and Bjorg's daughter Lisa, her husband (whose name I can neither pronounce nor spell) and their two children Andrea (5) and Billy (3).  From the moment we arrived Bjorg never stopped moving, shuttling from kitchen to grill, cooking up a mountain of chicken, lamb chops and two kinds of sausage.  We sat outside at their table and ate and ate, finishing with watermelon and the sweetest honeydew I've ever eaten.  When we were finally able to move again, we swam in the neighbor's pool and laid out on the warm terracotta tile to dry.

Bjorg insisted on driving us back to Barcelona even though we had purchased round trip tickets on the train.   Most of us were grateful for the ride, which got us home much faster.  C.C., who threw up just 5 minutes from home, announced that she would have preferred the train.