Our trip to Spain would not be complete without a visit to the local wine region nearest to Barcelona called Penedes. I researched and signed up for a one-day tour of the region, complete with three winery visits & tastings, as well as lunch at a local Penedes restaurant via El Moli Tours (www.elmolitours.com). We got up at 7:30a to catch the 9:05am Renfre train to Penedes from Placa de Catalunya. After our Sitges trip days earlier, we were now professionals on the Renfre train. The 1-hour ride took 20 minutes longer due to unanticipated construction-related issues, but Paddy Minion (owner [View Full Entry]

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I have repeatedly heard about the beauty of the 125-miles stretch of beach north of Barcelona called Costa Brava (“wild coast”). For that reason, we made a conscientious decision to get up early and catch the Sarfa Bus to Cadaques (the northern most Costa Brava town, recommended by both of the local guys at the concierge desk). Early for us was 9am - which mind you, is a few hours later than what is typical for us in Hawaii. We rushed to the Barcelona Estacio Nord via taxi, and bought 38 euro each roundtrip tickets between Barcelona and Cadaques. The bus [View Full Entry]

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We have quickly acclimated to the Spanish culture of eating lunch and dinner at typically later hours, than we are accustomed to in the US. Due to our late night last night, we didn’t start the day until after 1pm today. It was a cloudless, clear, and sunny day, so we decided to go down to the coast to spend the day at the seafront town of Sitges. Christian (the hotel concierge) recommended Sitges based on the short amount of time we had, since it is only a 40-minute train ride down from Barcelona. This would leave us enough time to [View Full Entry]

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The lack of sleep definitely caught up with Boyd this morning. Although we originally woke up at 8am, he easily fell back to sleep (which for him is virtually impossible). We didn’t leave the room until 1pm, and by that time, my empty stomach was growling intensely. Barcelona is made up of three main areas: Old Town (the city center and heart of Barcelona - where we are staying), Eixample (where the greatest assortment of Art Nouveau/Modernist buildings are located), and Montjuic (the hill which overlooks Barcelona’s commercial port and is home to the Parc de Montjuic). Si [View Full Entry]

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We had no plan for today other than to let our feet guide us around the bustling coastal city of Barcelona. Still jet-lagged from the 24-hour travel time from Hawaii to Spain, Boyd didn’t get up until after 10am. As we exited Hotel Pulitzer, we headed in the direction of La Rambla (the main street in Barcelona full of shops, eateries, street entertainers, and countless tourists from all over the world). Hotel Pulitzer is in a great location, right off of Placa de Catalunya (a main piazza in the center of the “Old Town” of Barcelona). Luckily, we were given a [View Full Entry]

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All of the blogs for our week in Barcelona are now uploaded...enjoy! We did! Guest Author: Boyd (aka. Coop) I arrived in Barcelona at 5:30 pm not knowing what was in store for me in terms of immigration lines and inspections. The 26 hours of traveling had worn my nerves thin to say the least. Surprisingly there was just a short line and a quick stamp of the passport and I was in. No inspections or questions of any kind. Heading downstairs I found my bags and Teri. We gathered everything and headed to downtown Barcelona via taxi. Our driver knew [View Full Entry]

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I planned to take the 8:25am ferry to Capri this morning, so I requested that Roberto prepare a to-go breakfast for me in advance. Unfortunately, he forgot so I left the room at 7:30am as originally planned, but empty-handed. The walk down to Amalfi was as beautiful and peaceful as ever. When I arrived at the dock a little after 8am, the MetroMare ferry ticket office was surprisingly opened. I had the choice between two ferries (the 8:25am took 1.5 hours with two other stops and cost 14 euro vs. the 8:40am which took 55 minutes at 16 euro). I opted [View Full Entry]

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I deemed that today would be a beach day, so after talking story with Roberto during my leisurely breakfast, I started walking down the hill in search for the staircase that is supposed to lead to Minori. Of course, I did not find it. Roberto said it would be about 400 meters down the hill, but I didn’t see any signs so I kept walking. The walk led me up another hill, and at that point I knew I was lost. I asked his friendly neighbor Joseph for directions and he pointed me down the right path. Once in Minori, it [View Full Entry]

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There are three main islands in the Bay of Naples, and Capri is the most popular amongst foreign tourists. My agenda for Tuesday already included visiting that island to meet up with my girlfriend, Kelli and her man, Erik (later referred to as E-dog), so today I made plans to go to the largest island of Ischia. In order to take the one and only Amalfi-Ischia ferry at 8:25am, I had to wake up much earlier than usual. Although I forgot to prearrange a to-go breakfast with Roberto, he and Milly were in the kitchen when I headed out so I [View Full Entry]

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During my dinner conversation with John and Patty last night, they described their pleasurable bus ride back from Sorrento to Ravello. Apparently, the trip takes almost two hours, but the bus hugs the winding cliff roads and the views are supposed to be amazing for people who aren’t afraid of heights. For this reason, despite the fact that I already visited Sorrento during my one and only previous vacation to Italy, I was intrigued. After breakfast I waited at the Civita bus stop for the Ravello-Amalfi bus, and as I was waiting, Claudio drove past. He made a u-turn and took [View Full Entry]

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