Blanes

By the time we arrived at Blanes I was beginning to have feelings of familiarity again. During the first week in Blanes we spent a lot of time going to the beach (which is gorgeous with amazingly clear water, sorry Puerto Rico), relaxing by the pool, etc.

Cala Boadella, a naturist beach, close to my parent's house. We went with my dad's scooter.

We had lunch with Mar’s family at Can Vinyals (a house that is hundreds of years old and has been in her family for many generations). After lunch we hiked around the property and went to some places where Mar and her sister used to play as young kids. We climbed through caves formed by fallen boulders and up and down hills throughout the property. Her young cousins came with us. One was going to be watching Schindler’s List at summer camp the next day (I thought it was a rather odd choice for a twelve year old). As Mar began to explain the story she stopped her to ask, “Wait, who are the Jews?”
“Sylvia, you know that there are people who believe in God?” Mar asked (I am paraphrasing since I don’t actually understand Catalan at all).
“No,” she replied.
You can imagine the rest of the conversation for your self since that is essentially what I had to do too.

Can Vinyals. Well, a corner of it.I'll try to take a better picture next time we go.

Picking up cherries. The black doll on the chair is to scare the birds. They had another dall hanging from the neck right next to a dead sea gull. Apparently birds don't like dead sea gulls or black dolls.

More fruits and vegetables: green beans, lettuce, prunes, carrots, cucumber, zuchini, strawberries, tomatoes, eggplant and green peppers.


The "caves" in Can Vinyals backyard.

The property is gorgeous. Back country Catalonia, filled with farm lands and open fields. Hills roll up to castles that overlook the countryside. Ancient houses still stand, stone weathered by years of sun and wind (but not much rain). It’s no wonder Spain is such a gastronomic paradise with all the herbs that grow wildly throughout the forests. Anise, rosemary, dill, thyme - the list goes on and on. The meals I have been having hear have been delicious to say the least. Among my favorites have been some of the sausages and charcuterie - dried sausages called fuet, chorizo that explodes with the flavor of spice and grease in your mouth, blood sausage, Catalan sausage, more and more and more. Even the fresh tomatoes here have a certain freshness and magic about them. Needless to say, I have been eating well (so don’t worry Mom).

Among the more memorable moments in Blanes so far has been Antonio (Mar’s father) feindishly dancing at her uncle’s wedding. As the cava (sparkling white wine) flowed, his moves became more and more daring. As a crescendo, he lead the chicken dance followed by a conga line that went serpenting through the room and out into the nearby yard. Not only did the cava increase his prowess on the dance floor, but it also made him a bolder (and I must say better) English speaker.
At the wedding. We didn't dance the chicken song or the conga. We are too classy for that (and we weren't drunk as everybody else!)

Ok, I slacked a little bit on this post. A lot more things happened in Blanes, but I am on vacation. Sometimes you need to enjoy the moment without worrying about capturing it.

-Greg

Heading to Spain

After arriving in the airport and checking our bags we had some time to kill so we walked around looking for souvenirs for Mar’s family. We went into every place that sold clothes in the A terminal looking for a shirt with an American flag on it for Mar to wear in Spain (so she could show off her proud heritage). We didn’t find any so Mar settled on some shirts that say Philadelphia for her parents. We also bought neck pillows to make the flight more comfortable then popped some pills (to sleep) and got on the plane. After about a half hour I still didn’t feel anything so I took another pill. Another half hour passed and the meal service came through on the plane. I figured I would force down some airplane food so I wouldn’t be too hungry when we landed. All of the sudden I began to feel very happy (see above, I took some pills - not quite sure what they were but Mar is a pharmacist so I trust her with these things). I tore open the lid to see chicken with rice and sad looking vegetables, but as I began to eat, the vegetables started to turn happy. Each bite felt like an explosion of flavor and happiness in my mouth. Often during the meal I remarked to Mar that I was having a party in my mouth. Oh, drugs. I fell asleep and slept through the majority of the flight.

When I woke up we had already crossed the pond and were cruising over Spain. The flight crew came through with danishes for breakfast (I wasn’t nearly as happy at this point) and “coffee.” We landed shortly after and were officially in Spain.

Mar’s parents picked us up at the airport and took us back to their house in Blanes (about an hour north of Barcelona). I spent much of the ride gazing out the window at the Catalan scenery. I always feel strange when I first find myself in a different place, especially in a different country. The land felt different and unusual. The mountains lush with trees that looked very unfamiliar to me. A bit of shock comes along with such a change for me, but a shock that is unexpected. I had been in this country before, even along this same road. I had seen these mountains and trees and experienced them when they were truly unknown to me, when I had never seen them before, but I still had the same feelings when looking upon them as I did when I had first come here in December. Even more strangely, I remembered having this feeling when I returned to Pennsylvania from Puerto Rico last year. The mind (at least my mind) seems to find a way of acclimating to one location and deciding that all others are foreign, no matter the duration of time spent in any other.

-Greg

Home sweet home (kind of...). Greg posing in the yard.

With my sister Anna and Ivy waiting for lunch.

At night we went to have dinner with my parents and their friends. Here everyone.

We, the young ones. Greg, me, Susagna, Anna (my sister), Rosa, Josep and Monica.

America!

Ok, so after Puerto Rico we flew to Newark, NJ before heading back to Scranton. We took the red eye flight from Aguadilla and arrived in Newark early in the morning. We met my parents and headed for Scranton. My dad, as he would decided to take the more scenic route through a town near the Delaware Water Gap. We stopped at a small corner store offering a variety of home cooked pies, breads, and pastries. I got some much needed coffee and Mar satisfied a craving she had been building for months (doughnuts). The nice country folk at this store graciously gave Mar the doughnuts for free. Having satisfied our cravings, we napped for much of the remaining drive (yes, I can nap immediately after drinking coffee with no problems at all).

First day in America after leaving for good Puerto Rico.

This was in the place I got the doughnuts for free!


Vale, vale, Scranton abridge:

We went to a graduation party at a friend’s place (Barren’s, it was Kim’s graduation - they grow up so fast!). We went to dinner at a very interesting restaurant in Peckville called Cafe Soriano - I would recommend it to anyone, especially the fried pasta. We went hiking around Lackawanna State Park. We went to visit my aunt and uncle at Long Beach Island, NJ, where we went on their boat and relaxed a little bit. And we had lunch with my grandmother (Mom Mom) in Philadelphia before going to the airport and heading for Barcelona. Ok the last parts weren’t technically Scranton, but we are going to see past that anyway. I was glad I got the chance to see some of the family before leaving for the summer. It had been quite a long time since I had seen them last. It’s nice to know that family will always take you in like no time has passed.

Pebbles on Pablo's boat in New Jersey. Greg wants a boxer like her. I want a boat like Pablo's.

Having lunch in front of the beach in New Jersey. Greg is making a face because he wasn't wearing sunglasses, it was very bright.

Oh, and we also went to Austin to look for an apartment. Here’s Austin abriged:

We looked at a lot of places. We looked around campus and found a place that looked like a house Mar used to go to often as a kid. We had some fantastic food at street carts (including pork belly slider, cheese grits with mushrooms, zucchini, and a duck egg, pulled pork with mustard aoili, and roasted quail spiced to perfection). We rested on the grass of the capital building in the blazing heat of the summer sun. We figured out how to use the public transportation system. We went to a jazz club near our hotel. We saw some of the weird people Austin boasts.

-Greg

Puerto Rico

The flight was uneventful (despite the imminent rapture). Save for a few gate changes and a slight delay, I arrived in Puerto Rico without any problems. Thoroughly surprised that Continental got me to my destination without a major outrage, I headed out of the airport to meet Mar. Seeing her felt like going home. This summer that home will be spread between Puerto Rico, Spain, and Sicily.

The day after I arrived in Puerto Rico we were set to go caving in Cabo Rojo. We woke up early and headed out. I complained the entire time because I didn’t get my morning coffee. We finally made it through my grumbling to the meeting place where we found Tim and Jeff (read last year’s blog for more on them if you are so inclined).

After a short drive we made it to the beginning of the excursion (at least the part on foot). We hiked for about a half hour before reaching the first cave. It was an average cave with a ceiling just low enough that you have to bend down to walk through it. The floor was dirt and the walls were rather smooth and rounded. If you asked a child to draw a cave this would be what you would get. It was ordinary, not much to write about so I’ll stop writing about it. I was already dripping with sweat.

We left the first boring cave and walked to the second (really just another part of this same one). This one was bigger, with higher ceilings and several rooms that opened up majestically. Light poked through holes in the ceiling in a few places. Rats hid with cockroaches in tiny holes in the walls (the holes were tiny but the rats weren’t). We saw giant spiders (called whiptail scorpions) at several points along the way. Farther down the cave we came to a room emanating a warm draft with a familiar smell for anyone who has gone caving before, the smell of bat. We entered the room to the sound of screeching bats, flying, flapping, and diving through the air. The feeling was completely overwhelming and capped off yet another successful caving adventure.
My favorite thing to do in Puerto Rico is caving. It s so humid in there that Greg always gets super wet from sweat.

Some of the animals we found in the cave. Big toad.

Bats.
Whiptail scorpions. People called it a spider but it is not a spider.

This is a spider. A tarantula. I was afraid to get closer... I don't like spiders!

Since we left Puerto Rico a while ago (now in Spain, don’t worry we’ll get to that), I am going to give the abridged version. I was lazy before and didn’t want to write the blog, I’m sorry! I’ll do my best to keep recent with it now. So, Puerto Rico, the Abridged Version:

We.... went to Sancho Panza several times (I think every time we went out to dinner), which meant tostones and asopao de pollo (a Puerto Rican dish that is fantastically good). I made goat cheese from Anais’s (Mar’s goat) milk that turned out fantastic! I fell in love with the baby goat Anais had recently, I miss her (sad face). The power went out at least three times during the two weeks we were there. Puerto Ricans drive even crazier than I had remembered. We watched Barca beat Manchester United to claim the UEFA Champions League (Yeahhhhhhhhh). We saw an amazingly beautiful and bright Bioluminescenct Bay on the island of Vieques, which was otherwise very depressing and included being stranded by people who we had already paid to take us back to our hotel. And there was a lot of moving going on - furniture, clothes, pictures, etc.
Greg with Anais and the baby goat. Greg and the baby goat fell in love with each other!

Anais grabing a guineo (banana) from Greg. They are in the front yard in my house in Puerto Rico.

The best view in Vieques, after the biobay.

-Greg

Welcome to the blog!

May is almost over... where did the time go?

I graduated from Penn State barely two weeks ago. My time there was magical - filled with experiences that I will always cherish with people I will never forget, but the time came to move on. My progress toward moving on began in Puerto Rico...

Just like last year, I found myself on a plane headed to Puerto Rico after the end of another semester at Penn State. Although the feeling was familiar, things were quite different this time. I was no longer a student (at least not at Penn State, and I haven’t started at Texas yet). I was no longer headed to an unfamiliar place full of unfamiliar people. Things just felt different - and they were. I am different. Next year I will move to Texas with Mar (coauthor of this blog) and begin the next stage of my life. This blog will be about a summer of travel before the beginning of this next stage.

Ok, let’s get started.

-Greg

Greg in his graduation at Penn State.

Me with my advisor in Puerto Rico, two days before leaving.