Spain 2023

This summer we once again spent in Spain.	Alexi and Sharon spent almost the entire month of July in Spain, while Mateo and David spent two of the weeks in Prague.
This is the gorgeous view of Playa San Pol that normally greets us when we arrive in Spain...	...and this, Las Rocas, is where Sharon and David renewed their wedding vows a year after marriage.
For the first week we stayed in a neighbor's apartment at cap Ducal, and saw La Puerta in daylight...	...and here is the gorgeous view of La Puerta illuminated at night.
Mateo and Alexi were once again super excited to participate in Campus Girona.	Camppus Girona is the soccer camp run by Girona FC, and David was thrilled it was back in Platja d'Aro.
Super cool street art depicting Spain's love of soccer.	And here is awesome graffiti with words to live by.
Sharon arrived in Spain about a week after David, Alexi and Mateo, due to having to be at school.	David and Sharon went shopping the very day of her arrival, to take advantage of having the car.
Mateo practices piano daily at the San Feliu Music School in one of their practice rooms.	This summer for the first time ever Sharon got to attend one of Mateo's practice sessions.
Mateo was working on several pieces assigned by his piano teacher Miss Irina.	And here is Mateo standing by some cool art at the Music School.
David and Mateo went to Prague for Mateo's music camp, and Sharon and Alexi moved back into our apartment at Cap Ducal with this incredible view of sunrises.	First thing Sharon did once David and Mateo were in Prague was head to the beach.  Sharon spent all her childhood summer's at the beach, so la playa truly is Sharon's second home.
Mateo got to perform with his SMS friend Yosef at several concerts in Prague, including one at a nursing home.	Yosef and Mateo doing their annual soaring in the air picture coming back from the Prague Music Festival.
Sharon loves going for walks along the beach...	...and seeing humanity's interaction with the sand.
Sharon and Alexi spent many mornings and afternoons together at the beach when David+Mateo were away...	...soaking in the rays, swimming in the Mediterranean, and having picnics in San Pol together.
A family tradition is to head to La Rambla Sunday mornings for a pastry breakfast.	Alexi enjoys going into the patisserie, speaking Spanish, paying in Euros, and trying different pastries.
We once again spent the fourth of July in Spain, and celebrated with this culinary confection.	Sharon shows off her patriotic American spirit with red, white and blue nail polish.
Sharon and Alexi spent mornings and afternoons together in town on La Rambla....	...and also at home with Alexi destroying Sharon in Spanish Monopoly.
Alexi did a week of extra Campus Girona soccer camp while Mateo was in Prague.	Alexi went by himself each morning by riding Uncle Daniel's mountain bike.
While Alexi was at camp, Sharon was attending the virtual AP PreCalculus APSI on Zoom.	Crissie Ricketts led this APSI, and Sharon is so excited to teach a new course- AP PreCalculus(!)
During breaks from Zoom APSI Institute, Sharon headed to the pool to swim laps...	...while Alexi headed to a different place to play pool.
We always bake in Spain, and Alexi and Sharon made sugar cookies on Sugar Cookies Day.	Mateo is a huge fan of the freshly baked bread we buy in Spain every morning.
The San Feliu de Guixols trolley is still in full effect, and we take a ride in it to the beach every summer.	Alexi and I show our exuberance at riding the trolley from the beach to our apartment in Spain.
Sharon returned to her yoga practice in Spain....	...doing yoga early in the morning on the balcony.
Cat sightings are pretty rare in our region of Spain...	....though Alexi and Sharon always enjoy seeing them.
This is Sharon's absolutely favorite flower in Spain.	The name is unknown, though the smell is heavenly.
With Sharon's PAEMST application and rewrite involving so many late nights this year, she was so happy to get to go away & relax on summer vacay.	This picture is a calm, early morning moment at the beach where Sharon would walk down to do yoga twice a week, to destress and live in the moment.
Mateo and David returned to Spain bearing gifts...	...Barcelona team jerseys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This rainbow bench was a new addition to La Rambla, and became the favored seat for our family.	Mint Vichy Catalan was an amazing discover, spurned by the kids though LOVED by Sharon and David.
Mateo and Alexi enjoying some pool time together.	Mateo holding a lovely lettuce from the market.
We made our annual summer outing to play mini-golf in Platja d'Aro.	Alexi channels his inner grandpa by checking for the direction of the wind before putting in his ball.
The mini-golf course in Platja d'Aro is known for its impossible holes, like this one, straight uphill.	Mateo measures out the distance from his ball to the hole to make a par two with his shot.
Mateo and Alexi love to throw a ball around in the water, whether it is in the Mediterranean...	...or in the big pool at Cap Ducal.  It represents endless hours of fun.
Sharon enjoying some early morning yoga on the balcony.	The kids absolutely loved playing pool together in the rec room.
Navy blue was Sharon's fashion color of choice this year.	David dug out this vintage T-shirt from Aunt Kay from when Alexi and Mateo were little.
Sharon is a novice ping pong player...	...beaten handily by these ping pong masters.
Annual highlights of our summer vacation in Spain each year include a classical guitar concert performed by Giulia Ballare and Pauline Gauthey...	...as well as a day trip to the beach at Castell, which is a beautiful spot we discovered after speaking with our Spanish friend Gloria, which has a pink house(!)
David had the brilliant idea this year of taking a family day trip to Montserrat, where he had been as a young boy.	Montserrat is translated to be "serrated knife", which is exactly what the mountains look like.
This elevation profile shows how high we climbed up on a hot day to reach the monastery & cathedral at Montserrat.	The way we convinced Alexi &Mateo to do the morning hike was a promise of a zipper train ride down.
The residents in town tried to convince us otherwise, though this family was determined to hike up Montserrat during a very hot summer day.	We did choose to do the easy, more gradual hike, up Montserrat, as opposed to the steeper though shorter climb.
Mateo posing by some amazing scenery on the way up Montserrat.	Our family shows that we are at the halfway point up the mountain.
Sharon was excited to do this hike, since it was her half birthday.	She poses under a rock overhang, dwarfed by Mother Nature.
Mateo and Alexi pause for a much needed water break.	Our family poses at the top of Montserrat...we successfully hiked to the top!
The Cathedral at Montserrat is absolutely stunning.	And at the alter you can peak at something special.
The Black Madonna and Child is famous all over Spain, with pilgrims coming from all over the world to visit this very holy statue.	The Black Madonna and Child is covered in bulletproof glass, though their is a small opening where you can kiss the orb held by Mary.
Outside the cathedral is a place to light candles.	We lit a few candles for our cats and ourselves.
Beautiful artwork adorns the walls of the cathedral, ranging from the birth of Jesus the Christ...	...to this super realistic pieta showing the deceased Jesus in the arms of his mother Mary.
The zipper train transports tourists and religious pilgrims up and down Montserrat.	This zipper train is such a marvel of modern engineering.
As promised to the kids, we took the zipper train down the mountain.  It was celebrating its 20th anniversary.	David and kids point to Montserrat, the amazing mountain that made for an incredible hike&pilgrimage.
Next we drove to Lleida and visited Seu Vella, the old cathedral there on the top of the hill.	We barely made it in town before the cathedral closed.  Here we are in one of the spacious cloisters.
Teresa Carles is one of the oldest and most famous vegetarian restaurants in Spain-this is the original.	Whenever we go to a vegetarian restaurant abroad, we have to try the local veggie burger...this was delish!
Mateo samples a vegan "chicken" nugget.	Vegetarian nachos are definitely a family fave.
Teresa Carles makes a vegan paella which is yummy.	We discovered that fried eggs translated as scrambled.
Seu Vella illuminated at night.  When we visited here before dinner, we had no idea this is where the concert we would be attending that night was being held.	A student in Miss Irina's studio, Philina Zhang, performed in a competition piano recital in Lleida, and she was PHENOMENAL.
Mateo posing with Philina and her sister Nickita at the end of the concert (we gave the flowers).	Nickita joined Philina to perform an encore at the end of the recital to a packed audience.
Every summer we go for a paddle boat ride.	This year Mateo got to paddle(!)
Mateo also enjoyed being a back seat driver.	Alexi enjoyed going down the slide into the sea.
As a family we did our annual walk around La Ronda.	La Ronda is one of Sharon's fav places in Spain.
Alexi and Mateo walked ahead and went into this cool gazebo built high above the cliffs.	Mateo poses in front of the door to nowhere, which is one of our favorite stops along La Ronda.
Mateo framed by a frame.	David framed by a tree.
Who's the movie star behind the foster grants?!?!?	Our annual family portrait taken in the gazebo.
The San Pol bathhouses are iconic, a view of a bygone era.	Of course one is never too old to make a moat in the sand.
Castell is a beautiful beach we discovered several years ago...	...its claim to fame is the pink house high above the Mediterranean.
Sharon poses in her favorite beach hat at Castell....	...while Alexi and Mateo pose in their fab pink.
Mateo and Sharon also show off their matching pink.	And it seems some pink monsters replaced MJ&AJ!
Sharon got to ride with both kids on the trolley.	Mateo and Alexi enjoyed an activity from childhood.
Mateo enjoys snorkeling in the Mediterranean with Sharon.	David loves cooking truita in the place of its origin each summer.
Alexi really enjoys our Sunday mornings in town, eating pastries and then shopping in el mercado.	Sharon loves becoming a beach bum in the summer and spending nearly every day at the beach in pigtails.
This summer we bought a bocce ball set, and enjoyed playing together as a family.	We all were basically at the same skill level, so we had different winners each round.
Towards the end of trip, we spend a night in town and go out to dinner.	Dressed in our fine summer threads, David and Sharon pose for a picture.
Catalan pride is strong in San Feliu de Guixols, where we spend our summers.	Since COVID times, we enjoy eating outdoors now at our favorite San Feliu de Guixols restaurant, Cibu.
We were soooooo excited that Cibu added a vegetarian section to their menu, including this scrumptious fake meat appetizer.	Cibu also offers their very own veggie burger, which definitely holds its own against NYC veggie burgers.
Alexi stuck with his usual pizza from Cibu.	And Mateo stuck with his usual pasta at Cibu.
The sunrises we witness from our apartment are exquisite.	As are the amazing sunsets we can observe each evening.
Who's the movie star behind the Foster Grants in those Santa PJs?!?!?!?	Mateo has been wearing his Santa PJs all year long, making true the saying, "Keep Christmas with you all through the year."
Cool colors for the botchee ball set we purchased.	Lovely sunset as seen from our balcony.
Our final day in Spain for this summer vacation began with sunrise over the Mediterranean...	...and ended with this beautiful view of Playa de San Pol on our final evening in Spain.
The sunrises seen from our balcony are awe-inspiring.	The sunsets as seen from our balcony are incredible.
After a whirlwind 6 months of teaching and speaking engagements due to her PAEMST finalist status, Sharon was so happy to have time off and go on vacation.	Spending time outdoors, walking to town, yoga on the beach, swimming and snorkeling in the Mediterranean and spending time with family were the best part of Sharon's vacay.
Vanilla sky	Illuminated moon
Final morning in Spain...an amazing trip as always.	Mateo and Alexi are already looking forward to returning to Spain next summer.
We feel so incredibly blessed to spend weeks of our summer in Spain.	And this is absolutely, always and everywhere, true.