Back to the USA _ Costa Brava ( Picture heavy)

Sunday, Sept. 20 – We started the day by having breakfast on the patio.

 It was our last day in the Carrer Beltran apartment, we had spent some really unforgettable days in Barcelona but we were excited about going to Platja D’Aro.

Sonia came to pick us up and after cleaning the apartment and getting the entire luggage ready; we were on our way to the Costa Brava!

We stopped first in Santa Cristina de Aro to Sonia and Eric’s apartment. She had fixed lunch for us, Catalan salad, canalones and tarta de Santiago. All very good.

 the apartment is small but very nice, and she wishes she had a little garden area but they have a small balcony and a nice view of the mountains.

On the way to Platja, we stopped at the Cemetery where my mom and dad are buried.

We said a little prayer and went on to see what apartment we finally got!

We rented the apartment in Platja through Airbnb, but there had been a couple of changes, and we were not too sure what we would be getting. Luckily for us it was a nicely remodeled apartment on the grounds of Hotel Aromar. It was called Delfin Apartment, right by the sea; it was in the 3^rd floor. But the greatest thing about it was the wonderful view we had.

There was a lovely terrace all around the apartment, and a table with chairs where we spent a lot of time just enjoying the view. I have never seen a bluer blue than the water that first day. We had wonderful weather while we were in Platja! We all got our feet wet the first day.

At night we went to a bar called Costa Brava and had some tapas and watched the European basketball finals, Spain won over Lithuania.

Monday, Sept 21 -The next morning we woke up early to watch the sunrise. It was gorgeous, right in front of us. We truly enjoyed it. 

After breakfast, Sonia came to pick us up and we drove to San Feliu, and S’Agaro on our way to Restaurant Rosamar in Canyelles. This restaurant was located on a bluff overlooking the sea and rocks, it was gorgeous

 Eric and Nicole were already there. We had a nice lunch –I had filet of sole with almond sauce- but there were lots of bees (we were told in September the bees are out in force) and Nicole freaked out big time and kept on getting up and running away from them, un til Eric got really upset with her and she settled down a little.

Later on we went back to Platja, and waited for my sister and Monica and her daughters to come from San Feliu. I had talked to Nuri earlier in the day and she was a little upset that she couldn’t meet me earlier but we already had the reservation for Rosamar.

Around 7PM they showed up. I went to meet Nuri and we hugged,

she didn’t look so well as she had been pretty sick with hepatitis 3 and was under medication. She gave me a rolled painting that had been in my parent’s house for many years. It depicts my mother, sister and me, when I was about a year old. I was happy to have it even though it needs heavy restoration; I’m looking into it now.

The 4 cousins

After talking for a while and saying hello to Monica and Aida and Irina, I invited them all for dinner in a restaurant right by the seaside named Pijaume close to the apartment.

We all had a good time and exchanged stories and took pictures. We would meet again the next day in San Feliu.

Singing with Nuri

Tuesday, Sept. 22 – We awoke to the sound of the French and Belgian people that were having a petanca tournament.

My foot was hurting so I went with the girls to the doctor to have it lanced and bandaged. They were super nice and I had a nice talk with them in catalan of course, about the coming elections. After that we walked around

My mother's apartment

Platja D'Aro

and bought a couple of things for the “boys” at home, then I went to sit down by the terrace and rested while the girls and Sonia went to get some lunch.

In the afternoon, Sonia drove us to San Feliu to Monica’s house. I sat down on the couch and prepared to listen to Nuri’s stories. Monica and the girls went for a walk around San Feliu; they took Willy the dog with them. 

Willy dancing

Nuri talked and talked and talked, she’s mad with Sonia and Eric, too long a story to repeat here. She sort of apologized in a round about way about not sharing the money she got for our mom’s apartment, but I didn’t bring anything up and just let it go, just let bygones be bygones. She has a nice apartment in La Bisbal that she bought after she sold her apartment where she had her beauty salon, but she survives with social security which comes to be around $640 a month. Is a good thing all her doctors and medicines are free.

After a long visit –she hardly asked anything about my life or how I was doing, although she asked about Marvin- but that’s here, very self centered, she has not changed.

Saying goodbye to Nuri

Sonia and Eric came to pick us up and we went to see Eric’s mother, she also lives in San Feliu. I wanted to thank her for letting us use her car for all our displacements. She’s a very nice person, and we are Facebook friends.

After that, we went to Sonia’s house where Eric had fixed dinner for us. He’s a good cook and we had breaded pork, butifarra amb munxetes, jamon, sangria, pa am tomaquet and pebrots. It was a good time.

Tomorrow we will be going back to Barcelona.

TO BE CONTINUED