Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Run a mile...
...jump a stile, or eat a country pancake. Yesterday, Holly opted for the former. I'm notionally in training for the BUPA Edinburgh 10k, and after school I suggested to the kids we go for an easy 20 min run with them riding alongside. Louis was happy to oblige, but Holly wanted to run with me. I had my doubts, but she got all kitted up, then took us through a wee warmup routine before heading off to the BMX track. Lo and behold, she managed the whole 1.75km in about 12 mins, without stopping. I was well impressed. The GPS track below is a bit wonky, but gets the time and distance about right:
Sunday, August 28, 2011
I've Got A Bike
Louis has a new bike. As you might expect, he's inordinately pleased with it. The wee Mongoose he learned to ride on has done sterling service since before his third birthday, and we were planning to get him an Islabikes Cnoc 16 for Christmas. In the meantime, I'd been keeping an eye on eBay and a good one came up in Aberdour, so we snapped it up. It seemed a shame to hide it until December...
Back to Reality
The sky is grey; the rain falls in that relentless but half-hearted way; the central heating is on and my goodness, aren't the nights fair drawing in? Edinburgh does not fare well by direct comparison with the clear blue skies, balmy evenings and numerous al fresco bathing opportunities of Catalonia, but it has its compensations. We had a nice birthday dinner with Eloise and the Stirlings at Bar Roma; a ride on the carousel in Princes Street gardens; we took in an excellent Fringe show, The List Operators for Kids; and by no means least we went plane-spotting by the airport. A short stroll down a farm road brings to you a spot where you can - like Wayne and Garth - thrill to the planes thundering by, mere metres above your head. The kids derived just as much entertainment from - literally - a hole in the ground.
The Others
If you've perused the last few blog entries, you could be forgiven for thinking that - photographically speaking at least - we Millars kept ourselves pretty much to ourselves. And for the French part of the holiday, you'd be right. Spain was a different kettle of fish, with 22 adults and children sharing a massive old stone villa in rural Catalonia. Here are a "few" snaps of our fellow travelers. Some pics with rudey bits are friends and family only...
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Homeward Bound
Louis is pretty relaxed about the "hurry up and wait" of modern international travel...
Pont de Llierca
Last day of the holiday. We'd been pointed towards Sadernes as a good spot in the lower Pyrenees for swimming. We drove up there to find that it's more of a hiking spot, with the nearest swimming hole 20 (adult) minutes walk away. We had a spot of lunch in the shade, then backtracked to the Pont de Llierca, an ancient bridge straddling some gorgeous pools for swimming and - more to the point - jumping. It was a fantastic way to end the holiday, and we rounded it off with a wee beer and ice cream stop on the road home.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Isabel feliç aniversari!
We had a birthday party for Isabel, who was 4. We had party games, Helen borrowed a (stubborn) pony from the local stables, I organised a treasure hunt around the house and woods, everybody joined in and a great time was had by all.
Més De Catalunya
Our nearest large-ish town in Catalonia was Banyoles, sitting on the edge of the Estany de Banyoles, site of the rowing events of the 1992 Olympics. It's a beautiful, clear, natural freshwater lake surrounded by wooded hills and awash with wildlife. Swimming is allowed in a couple of spots, and we took full advantage. I think swimming in fresh water is one of my very favourite things. We also visited the town and its market, and of course a dip in our own pool was a daily fixture. Evenings (once the kids were in bed) were spent with a glass of Cava, watching the light fade over the Catalonian hills.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Anem a Catalunya!
In week two, we waved goodbye to La Belle France, and drove south back to Mas Pelegri, a splendid villa outside Serinyà, a wee village in the hills near Girona. First item on the agenda was the pool, then looking for the secret (so secret we couldn't find it) cave in the woods at the back of the house. We ventured out to Besalú, a pretty medieval town nearby, and took the petit train tour before allowing the vendors in the town square to empty our wallets for lunch.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
France - Part Deux
The second half of our week in Languedoc was dominated by visits to Domain La Yole adventure park - Holly loved the high-wires, cargo nets and zip wires. We also managed visits to the beach, and - horror of horrors - endured one morning of rain. A handy excuse to take it easy for a day, as it turned out...
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
France - Les Premiers Jours
Here's the first batch of pictures from our summer holiday. We flew to Girona with Ryanair (a far less horrendous experience than anticipated) and drove north to the South of France, a wee seaside town called Valras-Plage near Béziers. We rented a wee mobile home at Camping Les Sablines, and spent happy days pottering around the pool, on the beach and at the market. Pat and John were visiting chums in Paris and popped down to visit for a few days. More to follow...
Summer's Lease
"Summer's lease hath all too short a date" said that Shakespeare bloke, and he was pretty much right. The school holidays are well and truly over, along with our own family holiday. An excellent holiday it was too, but sorting through the 1200 pictures I took is proving something of a daunting prospect. In the meantime, here are a few snaps of Holly and Eloise climbing at Ratho, cleaning the algae-clogged pool, and meeting up with Niamh and Ella at the Ceramic Experience before we went on holiday.
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