VII International Music Week, Barcelona 2015

As soon as we got back from Huesca, I got a message from Maricarmen Vasquez a member of our church and fellow choir member in Cornellà Ward, she told me that she would be participating in the "International Music Week" with her two sons and asked if I wanted to join them.  International Music Week is a week long musical bootcamp, organized by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who are also professional musicians.  The event attracts musicians and singers from all over Europe and this year it would be held in Barcelona.  

The week culminates with three public concerts.  The first concert was to be held in Santa Maria del Pi, which is a beautiful 14th century church right in the heart of the Gothic quarters (Barri Gòtic) of Barcelona. The second concert would be held in the crypt of the Sagrada Familia.  How amazing would it be to sing with a choir in the Sagrada Familia!!!  The last concert would be held at the Barcelona Stake Centre.

The Music Week started on Monday August 24th in the afternoon and there would be practices every morning and afternoon until the first concert on Friday August 28th. Bob was very supportive and looked after the kids allowing me to attend the practices.  It wasn't easy.  The music was much more complicated than I was used to.  Fortunately for me, most of the songs were in English, although we did sing a couple of songs in Latin and in Spanish.  It was fun meeting singers and musicians from many different countries: France, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Australia and from all over Spain.

So many young amateur musicians performed along side seasoned professionals like Igor and Vesna Gruppman (Igor Gruppman is the conductor of the Temple Square Orchestra in the Utah).   I dragged Ciara and Rylan with me to the concert at the Santa Maria del Pi and even Rylan was impressed.   Bob came with all the kids to the concert at the Sagrada Familia on Saturday August 29th.  It was inpiring being around so many young and talented musicians, made me wish I had practiced a little harder when I was a kid ;)

Rylan and I in Santa Maria del Pi

Vesna and Igor Gruppman performing in Santa Maria del Pi

Choir getting ready to perform

Vesna and Igor Gruppman performing Vivaldi in the Santa Maria del Pi

Choir performing Halleluja in the crypt of the Sagrada Familia

You can't see me very well because I'm short, but I am in the second row, middle section

Basque Country & Huesca Trip Day 7

Friday August 21st

We packed up our things and prepared to leave the house in Agüero.  We were all pretty tired from our travels and a few of the kids were not feeling that great, but we made one last stop before heading back to Barcelona.  We wanted to see the Mallos de Riglos up close.  This is the most famous conglomerate rock formation in Huesca.  It is over 300m high and a popular destination for climbers.  I was thinking of trying a via ferrata (climbing with the help of an iron cable), but that will have to be for another trip.

Approaching the town of Riglos

Town of Riglos with Mallos de Riglos behind

Basque Country and Huesca Trip Day 6

Thursday August 20th,

This morning, we headed back to Murillo de Gállego for our next adventure, whitewater rafting!  We were glad that this time, we didn't have as much trouble putting on our neoprene suits.

Ready for rafting

We drove to the nearby Gállego river where we received our first lesson in whitewater rafting.  We had our own raft and guide, although we shared the river with quite a few other rafts.  After learning all the safety rules and how to turn and move around in the raft, we set off down the river.  It was really fun, even Ciara had to smile :)

After our half day of rafting, we decided to visit a nearby castle called the Castillo de Loarre.  We were really impressed with this castle which was built mainly in the 11th century and is the oldest fortified castle in Spain.  It is built right into the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains and was the setting of the movie "Kingdom of Heaven."

On our way to the Castillo de Loarre

Inside the castle walls

Great views of the Huesca Valley below

We took this shot as we were leaving Loarre

Basque Country & Huesca Trip: Day 5

Wednesday August 19th

At 8:30am we left for the town of Murillo de Gállego, about a 20 minute drive from our house. There we waited to meet the guide that would take us canyoning.  Prior to this trip, I had seen many pictures and videos of canyoning and it looked fantastic but also a little dangerous.  I was frankly surprised that the company we booked with, All Rafting,  allowed us to bring a 6 year old along (Cole was still 6 at this time).

This is an example, we never jumped from this high!

Lots of wading through really cold water

We met our guides, and picked out our equipment.  You need lots of equipment to go canyoning.  We all drove to Sierra y Cañones de Guara Natural Park about 45minutes away.  We met up with another young family from France also canyoning for the first time.  Once we reached the outskirts of the park, we had to hike into the canyon with all of our equipment (helmet, two piece neoprene suit, harness for repelling, neoprene socks and hiking shoes).  All of this equipment is very heavy, and the kids really struggled to carry it all.  We hiked for about 1.5km, but it felt like much longer because Bob and I had to carry Ciara and Rylan's stuff as well, the guide carried Cole's equipment.

Once we finally reached our starting destination, the place where we would repel down into the canyon, we had our greatest challenge of the day, putting on our neoprene suits.  None of us are really that big, sure Bob and I could loose a few pounds, but the kids are downright skinny.  It took us about 30min of struggling in 30ºC weather to squeeze ourselves into very tight neoprene suits.  Some of the kids were close to giving up, to them, no matter how fun canyoning would be, it was not worth the effort of putting on that suit.  It was good that it was hot, because once we reached the canyon, the super cold water felt pretty refreshing.

Here we are just about to set off on our hike to the canyon, everyone was all smiles!

Repelling into the canyon itself was pretty fun for the kids.  Once you land into the cold water, it's a bit of a shock, but the thick neoprene suits prevent you from feeling too cold. Canyoning was not quite what I expected.  It's pretty tricky, and the guide is essential because he knows how deep the water is, when it's safe to slide or jump.  I was really impressed with the kids, because it's quite physically challenging.  The canyon was busy that day with  many other groups descending at the same time as us.  We kept a good pace and the guide was also impressed that the kids weren't afraid to jump off of high ledges.

Well, it was definitely an adventure!  We signed up for a half day of canyoning, and we finished at around 3pm in the afternoon, completely exhausted, I can't imagine what a full day of canyoning would be like!

Here we are at the end of our canyoning adventure

Basque Country and Huesca Trip: Day 4

Tuesday August 18th

Tuesday morning we prepared to leave San Sebastian.  Nathan and I were still feeling pretty weak from the night before, but fortunately we only had a bit of driving planned for the day.  We headed south and made a brief stop in Pamplona to check out where they did the famous "Corridas de Toros"  or Running of the Bulls during the San Fermin festival.  Pamplona is a beautiful city with lots of interesting historical sights that we didn't have the time or energy to visit.  

We then drove to Agüero, which is a tiny village in the region of Huesca where we had rented a house for 3 nights.  It is a very quiet and secluded village that looks like it hasn't changed in the last 100 years, but had a beautiful view of the mountains and particularly the Mallos de Agüero.  

Bob in front of the famous Plaza del Toro in Pamplona which is still used for bullfighting today and is the end point of the "Running of the Bulls"

Rylan standing with the Toro Loco, a mascot of the San Fermin festival

A view of the Mallos de Agüero from the village

A view of the village of Agüero with the Mallos de Agüero behind

Basque Country and Huesca Trip: Day 3

Monday August 17th,

We spent the day in San Sebastian sightseeing.  One of the nice things about San Sebastian is that it's a small enough that you can get almost anywhere by foot.  We walked along playa de la Concha until we reached the other side of the city, the old quarters at the foot of Monte Urgull.  First we went to the aquarium.  The Aquarium Donostia/San Sebastian is worth a visit if you are traveling with kids, it's definitely better and also more reasonable than the Barcelona aquarium in our opinion.

After visiting the aquarium we walked through the old quarters and sampled about two dozen different pintxos.  Most of the restaurants in the area were very crowded, so Bob and I decided to divide and conquer because there was no way we could all find a place to sit in any restaurant.  I took Ciara and Rylan and we went to one bar and picked out about a dozen different pintxos, it was so much fun and very reasonable at 2€ a pintxo.  Bob took Nathan and Cole and hit a different bar and did the same.  Then we met up in a park to try all of our different pintxos.  So delicious!

This is what a typical pinxto bar in San Sebastian looks like. 

After lunch, we walked back across to the other side of the Bahia de la Concha to Monte Igeldo.  It was a hot and sunny day. Here is where I think I made a grave error.  We packed up the remaining pintxos and carried them with us.  I didn't want to waste any food.  Of course the pintxos are made with fish, seafood, eggs, cheese and other ingredients that should not sit out for too long.  The problem is that you are never sure how long a pintxo has been sitting out before you buy it, and so you should eat them immediately or refrigerate them.  I think that we all might have consumed some pintxos that we shouldn't have.

There is a small amusement park at the top of Monte Igeldo.  We took the funicular to the top. There are no extreme rides, but it was fun enough to entertain our kids for a couple of hours and you get an amazing view of the bay and city from on top of the hill.

Nathan and I started to feel sick in the evening and we both had a really rough night.  No one else got sick that evening but everyone suffered from some minor stomach problems during the rest of our trip.  Fortunately we didn't have any physical activities scheduled for the following day :)

Overlooking playa de la Concha

Aquarium

Catedral del Buen Pastor

View from Monte Igeldo

One of the rides

Beautiful day in San Sebastian

Basque Country & Huesca trip Day 2

Sunday August 16th

In the morning, we attended sacrament meeting at the ward in San Sebastian.  After church, we drove down the coast towards Bilbao to visit the one of the many Geoparks along the Altlantic ocean.  We stopped in the town of Zumaia and checked out the beaches there.  It was fantastic!  Amazing rock formations and caves caused by erosion from the ocean and wind. Here's where we got some of our best pictures from our trip.  The waves were pretty high and we had to be careful because the tide came in quickly.

Near Santiago Beach

Overlooking Itzurun Beach

Itzurun Beach

almost getting trapped by the incoming tide, Itzurun beach

Rylan and Cole climbing up the rock face

Here's where Nathan got his shoes wet.

Next stop was Bilbao, where we walked around the Guggenheim Museum, but decided that we wouldn't go inside, instead we spent a couple of hours in the playground beside the museum.  It was a really good playground.  

Jeff Koons "Flower Dog" outside the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao

Cool playground beside the museum

Colourful concrete balls

9 metre tall spider! "Maman" by Louise Bourgeois

Before heading back to San Sebastian, we stopped off to visit the hermitage dedicated to Saint John the Baptist called San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. I still don't know how to pronounce the name.  It was built in the 10th century and is located in Bermeo, a short distance from Bilbao.  You must park at the top of the cliff and hike down a very steep path to get to the bridge which connects the islet to the mainland.  Then you climb 241 stairs to reach the hermitage, but it's well worth the effort.  

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe

Ringing the bell of the church

headed back down the stairs

Basque Country and Huesca Trip Aug. 15th - 21st

It's already mid January, and I still have to blog about our summer vacation.  We planned to take a family road trip at the end of August.  I really wanted to visit the Basque region of Spain and also I thought it would be neat to do some really adventurous outdoor activities.  Bob and I are not getting any younger, so I figured this was the time to try canyoning (barranquismo) with the kids.  

Day 1: San Sebastian

We left Barcelona on August 15th and drove the 5.5 hours to San Sebastian.  Once you enter the Basque region it is all of a sudden very green and lush, there are mountains and you are close to the ocean, it reminds me of the West Coast of Canada.  We rented a three bedroom apartment in San Sebastian near Ondarreta beach.  After exploring our surroundings a bit, the kids wanted to put on their bathing suits and swim at the beach.  It wasn't that warm outside, around 20ºC, but the waves were very enticing.

Playa de Ondarreta

First time for kids swimming in the Atlantic Ocean

Really big waves. I wish we knew how to surf

Saturday August 15th happened to be the final day of their biggest festival of the year called la Semana Grande.  Just before dark we headed over to the playa de la Concha and we were fortunate enough to find a good spot to watch the fireworks on the beach.  It was one of the most amazing fireworks displays we have ever seen.

Walking over to the main beach to watch the fireworks

Dusk, playa de la Concha