Remember how I said here that the Travelodge in San Rafael made me rethink the strategy of saving money when it came to hotel rooms?

Well, in this case, our choices were slimmed down because we had Riesling with us and I started searching late in the week for a place to stay. In hindsight (isn’t that always the way), I should have booked us for one night at The Village Motel (it was in a good location) and then one night somewhere on the east side of the park, because I could tolerate one bad night, but two in a row after a long day of hiking?

This motel is located right on the corner of two main roads that are used as major thruways for folks getting around the Adirondacks. And our queen room was on the very end, literally eight feet from the road. It sounded like semi-trucks and motorcycles were driving through our bedroom the entire night. We noticed that this might be a problem right away when we checked in around 6pm but the woman owner and her husband swore that the traffic died down after 8pm and they’ve had no complaints.

Give me a &^%$# break.

Our only option was to move to a room with one double bed but the next morning I was ready to sacrifice sleeping space for sanity so I went to the office just after 9am to ask for a different room. I was greeted with a message on the dry erase board that no one would be back until 3pm. Of course, by the time we returned from our long day of hiking the office was closed again and all the other rooms were taken. That’s what we get for staying at a crappy, family run motel, I guess.

Thankfully, Saturday night wasn’t nearly as noisy as Friday (we were also exhausted), but the amount of road noise was beyond ridiculous. I’ve stayed in hotels right next to the interstate that were quieter than this place. Our room also had two walls worth of floor to ceiling windows, so it was as bright as can be with all the outdoor lights this motel had burning all night. Another fun detail was the “absorbent” paper bathmat and a shower that was so small you couldn’t bend over to wash your legs without bumping your bum on the wall.

Obviously this place wasn’t expensive, but it wasn’t exactly cheap either. She forgot to charge us the $10 per night pet fee, but that was a small consolation to the horrible sleeping conditions. As we checked out the owner asked if the noise was a problem and I told her absolutely it was. But what could be resolved at that point? You know how you can look back on a bad experience and laugh? Well, I’m not sure that will ever happen in this case—avoid this place like the plague.

We were staying less than an hour from the Baseball Hall of Fame, so Eric figured we should take advantage of the proximity since when would we be in central NY again? Indeed.

We visited on a Thursday in the late afternoon and I was pleased at the small town feel of Cooperstown. As the town wasn’t very busy, we managed to snag a parallel parking spot practically right across the street from the museum (in the shade, so nice and cool for pup) and within walking distance of several restaurants on Main Street.

Inside the museum, I was surprised to discover that all the items in the extensive collection are donated; the Hall of Fame doesn’t purchase any memorabilia. To my relief, there was plenty of history and interesting items to keep us busy for close to three hours. One of my favorite things was a Ladies ONLY ticket to a Cubs game and we even saw a pair of girls take a photo of themselves flicking off the LA Dodgers team locker.

Of course, I took tons of photos of Chicago Cubs stuff. :)

We were running out of steam by the time we got to the Hall of Fame inductee room, but found a few of our favorites.

Something to note is that your admission gets you in for the whole day, so you can visit in the morning, take a break for lunch and come back in the afternoon. Plus, it’s not a requirement, but almost everyone was wearing their favorite team gear, and it was highly variable, not just Yankees fans!

After her shady nap, pup needed a walk, so we strolled around town checking out restaurant menus and enjoying the view of Lake Otsego.

We finished the evening with a lovely dinner at Nicoletta’s Italian Cafe on Main Street.

The following are some of the places where we ate during our week in Barcelona. Unlike most of the places we visit in the US, there are no websites to accompany these, so I’ll give street locations when possible.

Pizzas L’Avia—Just down the street from us on the corner of C/Cera and C/Botella was this busy pizza and empanadas place. We weren’t terribly hungry by dinnertime on our first night, so we grabbed a chirizo pocket and a ham & cheese pocket to go. Both were a little dry, but tasty. I imagine the pizza is very good as that’s what most people were noshing on. There are bottles of their signature cava for sale above the bar for about 2€… so tempting.

3 Hermanos—This cozy tapas place is located at C/Carme 59. We split a 1/2 liter of sangria and enjoyed three small plates that filled us up completely, fresh manchego cheese, sliced jamon drizzled with olive oil, and patatas bravas. One notable thing was the selection of American music playing, perhaps due to the early hour of our dining?

La Fragua—Located at Rambla del Raval 15, we liked this place so much that we ate here twice! The first time we split a bottle of Torres Rose de Casta. I enjoyed the valencia paella (semi-blurry photo below) and Eric had a jamon and cheese flauta and a patatas bomba. The waiters were just flying around this place and ours was no exception. He even insisted on treating us to dessert, a chocolate cake, how nice! The second time we got a half bottle of rioja and split a spicy shrimp skewer, patatas bravas, and a jamon flauta. Everything was beyond delicious.

Rita Rouge—This restaurant is located just behind La Boqueria off of C/de les Floristes de la Rambla bordering a parking lot. Even though rain was in the forecast (like every night we were in Barcelona) we opted to sit outside. Two other tables were enjoying pitchers of sangria, but it wasn’t on the menu. When we asked, our waiter looked confused and came back with a price of 17€, which we declined. Instead, we split a bottle of a local Spanish white and amusingly watched folks cram themselves into tiny parking spaces while waiting for our food. My Fajitas de Gambas al Ajillo (shrimp fajitas) were well seasoned and plentiful and Eric enjoyed his Chicken Tandoori Masala. We also witnessed our first ever bill-dodgers who ran around the corner when the waiter wasn’t looking!

C/Vermell courtyard restaurant—While wandering around Barri Gotic on our first full day we stumbled upon this place in a quiet courtyard area on C/Vermell just a few blocks up from the Picasso Museum. We grabbed a table outside and Eric had a huge glass of sangria and me, my first glass of rioja in Spain. We split an order of pan amb tomàquet (bread rubbed with a cut tomato, garlic and olive oil), chirizo, and a traditional potato pancake.

C/Princesa ice cream shop—On our way back from the beach, we stopped just before Jaume square for a cold snack to stave off the hunger as we still had another two hours until dinner. I enjoyed a coffee ice cream while Eric opted for the chocolate chip (even though he asked for mint chocolate chip). It was a tasty and a generous portion, but I liked the flavor of the French ice cream better.

Mercat de Sant Antoni, Mercat Santa Caterina & La Boqueria—While I enjoyed the bustle of each of these markets, I thought that the Sant Antoni market had the best prices and was a more authentic experience. I overheard lots of tourists speaking English in La Boqueria and even helped an British couple order some cheese. :) The selections of fruit, meats, and cheeses were very overwhelming (in a good way), and be prepared to see skinned sheep heads (and entire animals) for sale alongside the ordinary cuts of meat. Go to La Boqueria for your tourist photos, but head to another one of the local markets to do your actual shopping.

A nice added touch, each stall has their own branded cheese paper. The two below are from La Boqueria.

One of the nicest food-related things about Barcelona is that there are bakeries on practically every corner. We had lovely baguettes, croissants, and chocolate pastries from a number of places. Another thing to note is that we didn’t try any place I had written down before we left, in fact, we found all these places by simply walking around and checking out menus.

Our two weeks in upstate NY is coming to a close as today we start our three-day trek home. We will spend the afternoon hiking to (even more!) waterfalls in Ithaca and Watkins Glen and then continue south into Pennsylvania to spend some time in Ricketts Glen State Park tomorrow. Tomorrow night we will stay near Frederick, MD, arriving home in time to watch Spain win the 2008 Euro Cup Final on Sunday afternoon. :)

It’s been an interesting two weeks to say the least. It only took me about two trips to learn the route to and from Hamilton College from our hotel and I haven’t used to GPS at all this week. Anyone that’s been to Utica knows that the streets are needlessly complicated, so this is a pretty amazing feat for me.

The folks at the Red Roof Inn have been wonderful and I would definitely recommend this property if you find yourself on the Thruway and need a place to stay for the night. It’s also the only place around that doesn’t charge extra for your pet, so they earn even more points with me.

Our trip to the Adirondacks last weekend was a little less “state park” and a little more “tourist attraction” than we were hoping for (stay tuned for a scathing review of our motel in Speculator), but we did manage to find some beautiful secluded areas and I have about 15 more waterfalls to add to our database. We wore pup out good and proper and she is currently surrounded by packed luggage wondering where in the world we are taking her this time.

I’m working on one more post for Barcelona, detailing the places where we ate, snacked, and drank. Then I can get started telling you guys about Cooperstown, the Adirondack waterfalls, and the six breweries we will have tried by the time we get home!

One of my favorite parts of visiting Montserrat was the Santa Cova trail. Legend says that the Virgin was found in this cave and when the men tried to transport her to Manresa, she grew too heavy to carry. Therefore, a monastery was built in the location where she was found.

All along the trail to the small chapel are statues that tell the story of Christ’s life. Each one uses the landscape to heighten the affect of the message.

The Santa Cova chapel is built right into the mountainside and is the same pink color of the local sedimentary rock.

Inside is a shrine where people have left items of thanks to the Virgin, including signed sports pennants, an ultrasound photo, and a pair of children’s crutches.

The hike to the chapel was well worth the climb and the outdoor sculptures made stopping to rest for a minute even more enjoyable.

Montserrat is truly nestled in amongst huge pink cliffs. The mountains tower over the abbey and we thought they looked a little like figures watching over the cloisters.

From the outside the abbey is very attractive, but we were blown away by the interior and the detailed sculptures that lined the open courtyard.

The amount of detailing and decoration was incredible. See for yourself…

We did not wait in line to touch the Virgin of Montserrat, or la Moreneta, but we did sit quietly to take in the ambiance and I flipped through a hymn book while Eric snapped several series of HDR raw photos.

For our big trip outside of Barcelona we visited beautiful Montserrat. Instead of buying all the travel portions of the trip separately, we got the Trans Montserrat pass for around 21€ which included round trip transportation on subway, train, rack railway and two funiculars. It took about 95 minutes one way and the views from the abbey were spectacular.

We grabbed a ciabatta loaf and an orange Fanta and headed up the Sant Joan funicular to eat lunch on one of the highest points around. We got there pretty early, so the tour buses full of people we still another hour or two away. :)

Here’s the view we had from our lunch spot.

From here, we hiked over to an overlook point to see the abbey from above. This view made us appreciate the steep funicular ride even more!

On Sunday, after our self-guided tour of Gaudi’s buildings, walk down Passeig de Gracia, and tennis, we headed out to the waterfront to do some exploring.

The Port Vell marina was stuffed with people hanging out, eating picnics and listening to live music. The public art is just fantastic on this stretch, from a giant silly lobster to wobbly boxes (L’Estel Ferit by Rebecca Horn).

We really enjoyed people watching and the fact that there were so many different ages and types enjoying themselves on a beautiful sunny afternoon. It stays light pretty late here, so even though it was nearing 7pm, there were still a ton of folks hanging out on the beach.

All along the beach are little huts and restaurants offering food and drink. And not everyone was lounging around soaking up the sun, there were many volleyball games and even a few jungle gyms for kids.

And I got to dip my feet in the Mediterranean Sea! Brr!

Riesling is seriously ready to be back in NC.

Riesling after a car ride up to NY, five days of boarding, a week with the in-laws and our eight-year-old niece, more car time to upstate New York, over a week in two hotels, and two days of driving and hiking in the Adirondacks.

Just one more week to go pup!

Just a quick update from Utica, NY… we are heading up to the Adirondacks this weekend and may not have internet, so the Barcelona updates will resume on Sunday when we return to civilization. :)

And after that, we’ll have plenty to share from our time in upstate NY!