The restaurant was in a beautiful courtyard and you could feel your lungs being filled with oxygen with each breath. There were lights and candles and it was very relaxing. The kids were delighted by a kid menu – the first we’ve encountered here. We haven’t had a problem finding delicious things for them to eat, but they enjoyed being catered to for a change. Chloe’s ‘chicken and fries’ was amazing – she said it was the best chicken she’s ever eaten, and although I didn’t have any it looked really good. Julia had a good ol’ hamburger which she ate but I can’t say it looked like anything special. Our ‘adult’ food though, was superb. Jeff had a garlic mushroom shrimp appetizer (I can’t even come close to describing it but it was excellent) and I had asparagus wrapped in ham and cheese. Anyone of Dutch descent may recognize it as something eaten many times (witlof), just substitute the Belgian endive with asparagus, and gouda with a stronger flavoured Spanish cheese. Yum. Then came the main event… Jeff had the duck (which had been recommended by the waiter) and I had a clam/shrimp/monk fish risotto. I tried to take a picture of mine but it wouldn’t turn out – it just looked like a bowl of rice. It’s interesting how unadorned the food is, they just let it speak for itself. It seems so unusual (to me) to have a cream coloured meal (everything in it was the same colour, not even a fleck of parsley or something else green) and then serve it in a plain white bowl. It may not have looked like much but it had incredible depth of flavour. Jeff really enjoyed the duck which I tasted and thought was pretty good too. Admittedly I’m not a fan of duck, although I don’t know that I’ve ever really had it anywhere other than a Chinese restaurant where it always seems really greasy. This duck wasn’t greasy at all and was beautifully prepared. Julia had some homemade mint gelato that was crazy delicious – I was very jealous of her choice! It was so fresh and light and I would buy cases of it if I could.
Okay, enough about dinner. We woke up this morning and ‘some’ of us were a little red. My husband, in particular, has a very rosy glow. Neither of us expected that, and although I’m a little pink it’s nothing much. Julia’s back is definitely rosy despite applying sunscreen multiple times and even making her put on a shirt for the last hour or so of swimming. Chloe seems to just absorb the sun and she has turned a beautiful Mediterranean brown. Lucky girl. The redness changed the plans for the day – pool day turned into exploration day! Well, it was supposed to…..
Our intention for the day was simple… get up, throw a final load of laundry in, and head to Girona. We wanted to wait for the laundry to finish washing so we could hang it up and have it dry while we were out exploring. It was a full load of basically all of our things and we needed it all dry so that we could pack up our suitcases before bed tonight. The washing machine here takes forever – close to 2 hours so I was patiently waiting and listening for it to be done. As soon as I heard it finish I went it to remove it and I couldn’t get the door open. It was sticky the last few times we washed clothes but this time it was super stuck. I called Jeff in for assistance and he couldn’t get the unlock button unlocked either. We tried everything imaginable besides drop-kicking the thing – but I can assure you that we both wanted to. Jeff found an old screwdriver in a drawer and proceeded to remove the entire back and top of the machine but we still couldn’t access the inside of the drum (to get the clothes out) or the front of the machine. I couldn’t believe there wasn’t an override button! I’m not sure I can describe the level of frustration we were feeling… and we needed those clothes! This house does not have a phone, and as we don’t have phones that work here we had to make the trek into the main town to call Sigrid, the lady in charge of the house. Jeff also mentioned the ant ‘problem’ and the fact that the shower doesn’t really drain. (Ick.) To her credit she came very quickly and brought a handyman with her. We walked to a restaurant for lunch (more on that experience later!) and killed time while they hopefully fixed the problem. An hour or so later we returned and the guy had the machine all apart and they were trying to figure out the issue but, on an up note, we were told the drain had been de-clogged and we can now look forward to luxurious showers. We didn’t want to sit around wasting our day so we thought we’d leave the guy to figure out the issue but he ran after us yelling, “Dos minutos!” so we assumed he meant that he’d have it fixed in two minutes. For once our assumption was correct!! Hurray! We’ve never been so happy to hang out laundry. I must say, Jeff and I held our cool today when we both wanted to scream. I was very proud of us!
Our day trip to Girona was squashed (by that time it was a bit too far) so we took a little trip to a close town called Pals. What a cute, medieval city! The buildings and alleys are very old and quaint, and you truly feel like you could be walking there 400 years ago. The doors and knobs are gorgeous and I just love looking at that old architecture. The only problem is that it was HOT. Super hot. We wilted a bit, had a refreshment, then headed back home.
A quick backtrack to lunch… There is a little hotel down the road from us called El Convent. It is (obviously) an old convent but it dates from 1716. It is a gorgeous little hotel (don’t know the prices but I’m sure they are huge!) and we’ve been curious about it ever since we arrived. Due to the washing machine snafu we took the opportunity to walk there and have lunch. We were ‘early’ (it was 1:30 and no one eats until after 2) but they obliged us. We shared the world’s biggest appetizer (seriously!) and then I had amazing tuna with black sesame seeds. Um, yum. It’s such a cute place and one I’d love to return to someday.
As it’s our last night here we still need to pack up our things and make sure to check all the nooks and crannies before we leave. It’s amazing how much you ‘live’ in a place after a full week and we hope not to leave anything behind. Chloe thinks she left her Ken doll’s favourite shoes in Barcelona so we need to have every Barbie shoe accounted for. Easier said than done.
Tomorrow is a travel day – we take the car back to Barcelona for a 3:35 pm train departure to San Sebastian. From the Mediterranean coast to the Atlantic coast! I’m pretty sure our apartment there has wi-fi (boy I hope so!) but if you don’t hear from us tomorrow that’s why.
Until Basque country…!
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