Road Trippin (¡claro!)

Just finished up the first of many road trips to come, and my very first holidays abroad. And they were awesome.

After a few days in Barcelona, we jumped up to Lloret de Mar to stay with one of Joe´s friends from Davis who, along with her lovely family, showed us incredible hospitality and all the best of the Costa Brava. I also paid my second visit to the Teatro Museo Dalí, which was much better and way trippier without hordes of summer tourists around.


We picked up el coche in Barcelona on Christmas Eve, and headed straight for the hills. We followed a series of sketchy maps, and the Guía del Camping we picked up, and spent our Christmas Eve camping under the very starry sky. (this was also, evidently, the first time I realized how damn cold Spain gets in the winter!! ¿Donde esta mi calor español?)

Christmas Day we spent in San Sebastian, a cozy (and again, freezing) Basque town in the North. We might not have known it was Christmas, were it not for a massive sweet baby Jesus display overtaking a town park, complete with rock concert lights, very very odd holiday music, and locals singing and dancing along. Naturally, all the Spaniards were out drinking and celebrating after praising the Lord in church, until it was time for siesta and everyone disappeared. But, the biggest reminder that it is indeed Christmastime in Spain, are all the incredibly frightening burglar Santas that everyone hangs off of their balconies. These little gnomes have been freaking us out for the last 8 days.

We finished off the trip with a a drive through La Rioja, Spain´s wine country. Since you couldn´t do tastings at local wineries, instead we decided to drink some wine along the way, and then drink wine all night long in the awesome rooftop hostel room we scored. It was a great trip. Now we´re checking out Madrid, and onto the next adventure...