Saturday, April 6, 2013
On the ground!
We are on the ground in CLT! Parents we will see you on the other side of customs!
Au revoir for now readers and thanks for coming along on this adventure with us!
Au revoir for now readers and thanks for coming along on this adventure with us!
In Munich
It was very tight due to short connection and lots of security checks but we are all on the plane bound for Charlotte. Next update when we land in CLT
At the Barcelona airport
We are through security and waiting to board our flight to Munich. The kids have found the McDonalds and eating breakfast. Lotte is flying back to Munich also but on a different flight so we were able to go through security together and have more group hugs and goodbyes. At this point the kids are plotting a sit-in because thy don't want to go home...sorry moms and dads!
Friday, April 5, 2013
Last day in Spain
Well after our adventures in Tossa we boarded the boat for our return trip where the kids promptly passed out :). We returned late afternoon to Lloret de Mar and divided into two groups. One went back to the hotel for a siesta and the other hikes out to the fisherman's wife monument we found yesterday and shopped on the way back.
We met for a rematch if Dutch shuffleboard in the rec room if the hotel and then headed to dinner. This hotel has a buffet dinner and it was not too popular with our group.
After dinner we headed to the lobby to sing happy birthday to Wyeth again (we also sang on the boat!). And we had a card and thank you's for Lotte. The tour director makes such a difference in the tour experience and she really went above and beyond for us! We have invited her to Mooresville and hope she will take us up on it. Several group hugs later we sent everyone up to pack because our departure time tomorrow is 4 am! It is going to be a rough morning!
I am downloading camera cards to have a backup of their photos and the girls have just finished straightening Lotte's hair for her first time. Who knew the hair straightener would be such a hit!
I will update tomorrow as we progress through airports but other than that there probably won't be much action on the blog :)
We met for a rematch if Dutch shuffleboard in the rec room if the hotel and then headed to dinner. This hotel has a buffet dinner and it was not too popular with our group.
After dinner we headed to the lobby to sing happy birthday to Wyeth again (we also sang on the boat!). And we had a card and thank you's for Lotte. The tour director makes such a difference in the tour experience and she really went above and beyond for us! We have invited her to Mooresville and hope she will take us up on it. Several group hugs later we sent everyone up to pack because our departure time tomorrow is 4 am! It is going to be a rough morning!
I am downloading camera cards to have a backup of their photos and the girls have just finished straightening Lotte's hair for her first time. Who knew the hair straightener would be such a hit!
I will update tomorrow as we progress through airports but other than that there probably won't be much action on the blog :)
Tossa
So the catamaran dropped us off on the beach and we walked through town to the other end where the castle and walls are. It is the only example of a fortified medieval town on the Catalan coast. There is evidence of human life found here in the Neolithic era. The view today is typical of the 1300s. At the top of the hill stood the former castle of the Abbot of Ripoll lord of the town. Now here is a lighthouse at the top and remains of an old abbey. We are winding our way back down the narrow cobblestone streets shopping as we go. Lots of stairs!!
On the boat to Tossa
We are taking a catamaran up the coast to the little town of Tossa. It a small village with an amazing preserved castle wall fortification. It's about 14 km from Lloret and will take about 40 minutes on the boat. Should be interesting because the sea is rather choppy and Lotte gets seasick :). But the kids are enjoying seeing the houses along the coast and the rocky cliffs. It's a bargain if a ride because Lotte bargained the boat company down to 5 euros a person instead of 8 and in the summer it's 15 euros. Still low season here!
Happy 18th Wyeth!
What a great place to celebrate turning 18! Wyeth is officially an adult and was even able to FaceTime with his parents this morning.
We are heading off to ride a glass bottom boat up the coast!
We are heading off to ride a glass bottom boat up the coast!
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Dinner & Dancing
After our rousing game of Dutch Shuffleboard (which is what Google tells us was the game Lotte taught us to play), dinner was next on the agenda. This is a largish hotel full of two types of people - young Americans and old Spaniards. I'm not sure the old Spaniards are really thrilled with this American invasion of their quiet seaside holidays!
Dinner was a buffet - which I think the kids enjoyed getting to pick their own food for once. Will was delighted to see they had rice pudding, which we had at the Bon Voyage dinner, and I saw they had albóndigas (meatballs) as well, which we had at the dinner too. The one odd thing was we had to pay for water, which caused some confusion because the bottles were already on the table. We were quite happy to have been the first group to come in when dinner opened at 7:30 because in short order the line became very long. But we hurried through dinner to get on to the next part - dancing!
In the basement (which is apparently a disco at some times), we watched a group of traditional Catalan dancers perform 4 traditional dances for us. It was interesting (to me at least) to think about what traditional American dances we have, because I couldn't think of any other than the macarena and I can't imagine that being a tourist type event :)
After the four dances, the fun REALLY started because they invited the kids on to the dance floor to learn some of the dances we had seen. They started with the Saldana, and most of our kids got up to join in the fun, partnering with the professionals. Of course we have two ballerinas and at least two Fame castmembers with us, so this group can dance! They were just having a blast, learning the dances, switching partners. Even Mr. Tang danced with the group. I just couldn't take enough pictures and video! I think you will enjoy the photos and video - not the best quality but the best I could do with the lighting :)
Video 1:
Video 2:
Video 3:
Video 4:
And now for some pictures :)
Dinner was a buffet - which I think the kids enjoyed getting to pick their own food for once. Will was delighted to see they had rice pudding, which we had at the Bon Voyage dinner, and I saw they had albóndigas (meatballs) as well, which we had at the dinner too. The one odd thing was we had to pay for water, which caused some confusion because the bottles were already on the table. We were quite happy to have been the first group to come in when dinner opened at 7:30 because in short order the line became very long. But we hurried through dinner to get on to the next part - dancing!
In the basement (which is apparently a disco at some times), we watched a group of traditional Catalan dancers perform 4 traditional dances for us. It was interesting (to me at least) to think about what traditional American dances we have, because I couldn't think of any other than the macarena and I can't imagine that being a tourist type event :)
After the four dances, the fun REALLY started because they invited the kids on to the dance floor to learn some of the dances we had seen. They started with the Saldana, and most of our kids got up to join in the fun, partnering with the professionals. Of course we have two ballerinas and at least two Fame castmembers with us, so this group can dance! They were just having a blast, learning the dances, switching partners. Even Mr. Tang danced with the group. I just couldn't take enough pictures and video! I think you will enjoy the photos and video - not the best quality but the best I could do with the lighting :)
Video 1:
Video 2:
Video 3:
Video 4:
And now for some pictures :)
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Lotte, Queen of Dutch Shuffleboard
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| Traditional Saldana dancers |
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| Traditional dancers |
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Traditional Dancers |
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| Learning the dance |
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| Louisa and Tamie learning from the professionals |
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| Louisa opening her birthday cards from us and her family |
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| Learning dances |
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| Wyeth and Cami dancing |
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| The look says it all :) |
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Second dance, weaving between partners
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| Lotte and the girls after the dancing |
Game for the Americas??
I have no idea what this game is called but the kids are loving it. These wooden discs float on a wooden board with slots at the end. Each player has three hands to shoot the 18 discs down the table with the goal of getting at least one disc in each slot. It's kind of like skee ball meets corn hole meets air hockey. Lotte says they call it Sjoelen. Anyone ever heard of this game??
A little history on Lloret de Mar
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| The hotel |
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| The castle of Sant Joan |
While the kids were shopping, Lotte, Kevin and I did a little exploring to find out some more about this little town. As we walk down toward the beach, which is a half-moon shape, to the left are rugged cliffs and a castle. This is the Castle of Sant Joan, from the 11th century. It was used to defend Lloret against any attacks from the sea. After the 17th century it fell into disrepair, and the castle's tower has been restored. A few of the girls trekked up that way during free time today to see the view but they said they couldn't quite make it all the way up.
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| Church of Sant Romà |
In the middle of the pedestrian district where we left the kids to find lunch is the Church of Sant Romà. This is a small church compared to what we have been seeing in Barcelona in Paris. It is mostly in the Gothic style, finished in 1522, and used as a refuge from pirate attacks. In the early 1900s it was restored and updates, and now it has a lot of other architectural influences and is quite colorful.
On the other end of the beach, the southern end, there is another rocky cliff that we climbed to find the Monument to the Fisherman's Wife. It was built in 1966 to commemorate the town's millennium. Supposedly if you touch her foot while looking at the horizon your wishes will come true. It was a beautiful hike up and then back down to the beach area.
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| The monument to the Fisherman's Wife |
We are back at the hotel now to get ready for a game at 5:00, which I'm not exactly sure what it is but Lotte was really excited about it and that made the kids excited too. After dinner we have dancing lessons and demonstration of the Saldana, which is the typical dance from this region. I'll update with our dinner and dancing adventures before bed tonight :)
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| A "selfie" times three :) |
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| Locals playing pétanque |
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| Looking south from the statue |
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| Looking north from the statue |
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