This year's adventure took us to Iberia: we flew into Lisbon and out of Barcelona, stopping in the regions with excellent hiking:
1) Costa Vicentina, on the southwestern coast of Portugal (we stayed in the countryside outside Odemira);
2) Andalucía, in the south of Spain (stayed in Grazalema and Lanjarón);
3) The central Pyrenees (stayed in a small village called Aragnouet, outside Saint-Lary-Soulan in France, and Rialp in España).
My trip journal tells me we hit a trail 9 of the 18 days of the trip, which is pretty darn good, considering we moved around a lot with a 2.5 year old.
Good thing I have that trip journal... I've forgotten most of the trip already (doh!!). Guess I'll need Davo and Kick-Kick to help me write this.
What was your favorite place?
KK: the water and the ocean
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| on the beach outside Barcelona |
D: the town of Grazalema (favorite town), Aragnouet (scenery)
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| panorama of Grazalema |
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| church and sunbeams in the French Pyrenees |
N: Lisbon (city), Grazalema (town), French Pyrenees (countryside), Boavista Dos Pinheiros (favorite AirBnB - we had an entire 3-bedroom house in the Portuguese countryside)
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| Portuguese countryside |
Which place did you like the least?
KK: I didn't want to be in the ocean [I think she's referring to the waves, or being in the water]
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| teeny tiny human on the cliff for scale |
D: least favorite town was Rialp, least favorite hiking was the Sierra Nevada/ "white villages of Las Alpujarras" outside of Lanjarón
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| pueblos blancos de las Alpujarras |
N: Rialp, I think because of the location of our AirBnB (backing up to a gas station) and the weather (rainy)
What was your favorite food on the trip?
KK: galletas! [COOKIES!]
D: olives, the meats
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| yum yum |
N: the abundant and inexpensive produce - red peppers for days!
What was the most stressful moment of the trip?
KK: I left Polar Bear behind, I was sad and I missed Polar Bear.
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| it's ok, polar bear's counsin now lives with us |
D: going to Andorra - dealing with the malls
N: Naomi's meltdown on the flight home. She had a terrible stomach ache, wailing in pain (of course the infant ibuprophen was in the checked luggage).
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| sleepy preschooler under our seats |
Which was your favorite hike?
KK: animals and tigers and do like this [covers ears with hands] and I can see them being so loud. There's no dinosaurs here.
D: Puerto De Las Presillas outside of Grazalema
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| who wants rocks? we've got rocks |
N: Lac d'Oô would have been my favorite, but it was so windy (and cold) that day. So I agree with Davo.
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| beautiful waterfall at the back of the lake |
What would you do the same the next time we travel?
KK: I want to take a train to the airport.
D: AirBnB
N: If we're planning on moving around a lot - AirBnB. Not having to break camp every morning was fabulous, plus we had a place to hang out in the evening after Naomi went to bed. But I did miss camping.
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| our house in Portugal |
What would you do differently?
KK: Paper. I'm gonna play with it all long day.
D: Go later in the season so we could do more hiking in the Pyrenees. And, get a babysitter so we could do the Camino del Rey.
N: Research things that are very specific to us in advance. For example, grocery stores are closed on Sundays in Spain, which messed with our plans both Sundays we were there.