Adventures in Provence & Catalunya

The past couple of weeks have been really productive in terms of research. I've had some really informative interviews and have gotten to know some really great people. One young Catalan couple we met showed us their home, which is an old and humble home (but with a lot of character) where they grow their own food and harvest their own eggs. Afterwards, we visited their parents' home a bit further out in the countryside. The home was AMAZING. It was originally built in the early 12th century, and has been completely renovated over the past 20 years by this couple. They maintained a lot of the castle-like features but also added some modern elements. In our final opinion, the home was a work of art.

On our time "off" (not interviewing, not on the computer and not on the phone), Mike and I visited the beloved Costa Brava. Not being much of a beach couple, we spent most of our time hiking and walking along the coastline. After a couple of hours of working up a sweat, we took a nice cool dip in the clear blue Mediterranean waters. It was wonderful.

Today, we returned to Olesa de Montserrat, where we had seen the fire-run a couple of weeks earlier. This time, we witnessed Catalan castells, or human towers. A team of people literally form towers which can reach up to 9 stories high. The base is formed by the oldest and strongest individuals, while the higher stories are made up by the lightest and youngest. Adding to the drama of this human assembly is the traditional Catalan music provided by drums and flutes in the background.

We also saw another Catalan tradition at the Olesa festa major known as gegants. These gegants are large 15ft high giants made of paper mache and dressed in rich fabric. After the castells, they performed their own dance.

After our visit to Olesa, we headed to Montserrat, which literally means "serrated mountain". It is a monastery built in the mountains, whose highest peak reaches approx. 4000 ft. To say the least, there were some amazing views.