ML, <BR>I've really enjoyed your report of your Catalunya adventures- am so glad that you had a great time, that travelling sans car wasn't a problem for you, that you enjoyed your 2 nights in Nuria (sigh!-I'm envious) and that the Cal Sastre could accomodate you after all! <BR>You're so right about Olot's not being equal at all in charm to the other villages (just larger, thus with more hotel rms and convenient bus service)-really glad to hear that you were able to change your plans and be in the heart of La Garrotxa for your walks. <BR>We've put Cal Sastre on our list for our next Catalunya excursion (and Judy's and your turret room at Val de Nuria!). Is there a particular room that you 'd recommend? (we've seen one and pictures of others-just wondered if one stood out in the charm depart.?) <BR>Sounds like Sitges was a perfect choice for winding down at the end-we have artist-type friends who live there-it's a real hoot, always entertaining to watch the goings on, particularly during Carnival, as you can imagine! <BR>Thanks again for your great report-was eager to hear about your journey to Catalunya and glad that things worked out so well for you. Welcome back. <BR>Regards, <BR>Maribel

Maribel, when are you going to Catalunya? My turn to envy you! Our bodies may be back home but our minds are still in Spain! <BR> <BR>In Cal Sastre, we asked for a room with a good view and were given Habitacion 10. I didn't see the rest of the rooms in the hotel, but Room 10 was perfect for us. Can you imagine waking up to a view of farmhouses, volcanoes and rolling hills? If you're going during summer, take some time off to sit in their garden. It's very peaceful and tranquil. <BR> <BR>In Nuria, if you cannot get a room with a turret, a room with a view of the lake wld be very nice. If you state yr request in yr email to the hotel, they wld try their best to accommodate it. I was pleasantly surprised when they remembered my request for a turret and gave me Room 215. <BR> <BR>Where else will you be going besides Nuria and Santa Pau, Maribel? Have you finalised yr itinerary yet? <BR> <BR>

Hi ML, <BR>I've just returned from our annual six week pilgrimage to wonderful "Green Spain" (Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country) and just like you, my heart is still there! I'm aching to be back! <BR>Because I had a job in Pamplona during San Fermin, we couldn't include Catalunya this yr., so since I can't seem to go a day without planning another trip, I'm now dreaming about another stay in Catalunya before our soujourn in the Basque lands. Most definitely Val de Nuria and Cal Sastre will be on the agenda-many thanks for your rm. rec! (and my apologies to Lynn for confusing her with Judy!). <BR>We'll be taking along friends of ours who have never visited Catalunya, so besides Barcelona, I think we should include some time on the northern section of the Costa Brava. I really love the busy but beautiful and unspoilt area of Pals-Begur-Aiguablava-Llafranc- <BR>Calella de Palafruguell for its lovely little coves, Iberian, Greek and Roman ruins and nicely preserved medieval villages (like Peretallada). Incidentally, I just read an article on this area in the travel section of the Sunday Telegraph, "Costa Brava: Melting pot". Here's the url: <BR>http://www.travel.telegraph.co.uk/tr...etcostab11.xml <BR> <BR>Then I think we'll head to la Garrotxa so that I can show my friends Santa Pau, Besalu, Rupit, Setcases and tiny Beget, then on to Nuria (up on the tren cremallera but will definitely do the walk down to Queralbs-with plenty of sunscreen!), ending in the Cerdanya region at "El Castell", right outside of Seu (with an obligatory stop at my favorite rustic country restaurant/inn, the "Can Borrell" in Meranges-really great food). But I'll probably modify this a hundred times before next June! Any thoughts/hints/suggestions? <BR>I'd really love to hear more details about your adventures if you have the time. Feel free to email me directly. <BR>Regards, <BR>Maribel

Hi ML <BR>So glad you had a great time in Catalunya. Like Mirabel I remember Nuria with a ..sigh......Isn't it wonderful! <BR>Glad too that you got the room with the turret. <BR>We spent our 3 weeks in July driving around France and had the greatest time. But we have already put Catalunya back in next years trip for at least a week. We missed it! <BR>Maybe Nuria again after reliving it's glories through your trip report. <BR>Thanks again for the updates on this year's Catalunya. <BR>Regards, <BR>Lynn

Hi Lynn, <BR> <BR>Yes, I'm back and thanks to all the advice I received from you and the rest of the fodorites, I really enjoyed myself tremendously! <BR> <BR>Maribel, you are so lucky to have all those places to look forward. I don't think I am an expert in Catalunya to give you advice/suggestions, but my thoughts? Sigh... wish I'm going with you too! <BR> <BR>Will you be staying over in Setcases? We had dinner at Hotel Coma and it looked like the nicest place to stay in the village. We stayed at Hostal la Cabanya. It was clean and basic, suitable for skiers. <BR> <BR>By the way, forgot to tell you we stayed at Edelweiss in Camprodon after all. The staff there were very helpful and one of the ladies spoke very good English. She was taken aback when we told her we had arrived in a taxi and didn't drive. I think Camprodon is more of a stopover for people who are village-hopping or on their way to Vall de Nuria. We were there on a Sat night and they had a disco going on under the bridge. It was fun watching everybody, from toddlers to the elderly, dancing to Tom Jones and very catchy Spanish folk/pop songs. <BR> <BR>I read the article by The Sunday Telegraph. Very good! We too were surprised that there weren't any British around where we were. I thought there wld be loads since Britain is so near. I suppose they wld rather be soaking in the sun at the Costa del Sol.Most of the tourists were Catalans, which is good because then these places wld stay authentically Catalan and not try to change to suit the tastes of foreigners. I even liked the fact that they only speak Catalan, Spanish and French. Gives me the feeling I'm definitely on holiday in a whole different country. <BR> <BR>Our greatest obstacle during the trip was the language barrier. We don't speak Spanish and not to even mention, Catalan! Most of the Catalans don't speak English, so it was hilarious how we tried to get our message across by using sign language.Can you imagine us trying to tell the taxi driver we didn't want to stay in Olot after all, and cld he pls drive us to Santa Pau and no, we don't mean the Sant Pau in Vall de Camprodon, so don't drive us all the way back there again??? My husband had to take out his map and point, 'here to here, not here to there, si?' Poor Senor Benito drove us straight to the Tourist Information just outside (the correct)Santa Pau, where a lady was able to translate for us. We MUST take up Spanish lessons before we go on our next trip...... <BR> <BR>Another interesting thing we noticed is the mealtimes. I know the Spanish eat late, but I didn't expect them to be that late!! We usually had a huge breakfast, skip lunch and then had dinner when the sun sets. We were always the first ones in the restaurant, no matter how hard we try to be fashionably late. It was really a shock to see families strolling in at 11:30 pm and still able to order food from the kitchen! My husband suffered from indigestion in the initial stage because he cldn't get used to going straight to bed after such late and heavy meals. We are never the first to come down for breakfast wherever we go for holidays, but guess what, over here, we were considered early birds! What a nice change! <BR> <BR>I can certainly get used to the Spanish way of living, so laidback and relaxed... well, except for traffic in Sitges. Now that is an entirely different story! <BR> <BR>So, what are some interesting things you notice that are unique to the Catalans or the Spanish as a whole?