Preparing wasn't very difficult. Combining what I already knew about Barcelona with some tips from others and some Internet research made our Barcelona preparations go very smoothly. The plan was for Martha and me to travel from Corvallis to Barcelona (PDX-IAD-BCN) and spend four nights in a boutique hotel then have Allie travel from Salt Lake City to Barcelona and spend another four nights with us in a VRBO apartment. Then Martha would fly home while Allie and I spend a week or so walking a section of the Camí de Ronda along the Mediterranean coast.
Having already done a Camino with Allie made it easy to get ready for the Camí de Ronda in Cataluna. We knew the right equipment and the right mechanics of through-walking, and we knew how to pace ourselves. I had been walking 10K or more every day for several months and was in good shape for a through-walk. What came as a surprise was how busy the Costa Brava would be. On the Camino, we made hotel reservations as we progressed along. For the Camí we had to book everything before leaving the USA, as Costa Brava lodging was in high demand during tourist season.
Before leaving, we made a list of things to see and do in Barcelona. One of my business trips had included a weekend there during which I started to get to know Barcelona as a whole city rather than just bits and pieces here and there. So I had a good starting list. The Web helped us fill in a lot of details with updated possibilities.
As you'll see in the blog, food was a very important part of our trip! There were a few things that were absolutely "must eat" items. At the top of that list was escalivada - a traditional Catalan tapa. That would end up as one of everyone's favorites. We were fortunate to get a map with restaurant recommendations from an HP ex-pat in Barcelona, and we ended up eating at about half of them.
Learning about the Camí de Ronda meant reading quite a few blogs (in English, Castilian, and Catalan) and also reading a good guidebook: The Costa Brava Way by Sergi Lara
As soon as Allie's summer term in PT school at U of Utah ended, we were off!
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