Last minute details and information

            We depart for our trip in six days! Leaving out of Dulles International airport outside of Washington D.C. at 9 PM, flying into Heathrow where we will spend a couple hours before flying to Barcelona at 11:30 arriving there at 2:30 that afternoon. Our trip guides will pick us up at the airport at 6:30 so we are hoping to have a couple hours to do a little sight seeing in Barcelona before heading out into the country side. Our trip lasts from Sunday night until the next Sunday morning when we will be delivered back to the airport just in time for our flight back to London and then on to Virginia. We will be riding everyday from Monday until Saturday, circumnavigating the region of Catalonia including a gallop along the beach. We have reserved a ‘Yotel’ room in the Heathrow airport, a miniature hotel room located in the terminal for convenience, these hotels are a new feature in some international airports so we’ll be sure to let you know how it is!

            I have been doing a little last minute research into some of the places that we will be staying along our trip, including some old farmhouses turned inns and most importantly the medieval village of Perelada and the castle of Espolla.  The village is an important historical sight, containing a perfectly intact roman bridge and an impressive castle with crenelated walls dating from the 14^th century. The castle dates back to the renaissance and has been added to over the years, most notably by the Rocaberti family in the 1800’s. Tomas de Rocaberti was the Spanish ambassador to France and started the library that today houses more than 88,000 books. The village contains many good restaurants including some built to emulate the medieval style of dinning. Other things to look for are the Albera cows allowed to roam free in the area and the forest of Lebanese cedars thought to have been planted by noblemen centuries ago. Everyday the trip gets closer and everyday I get a little more excited about all we will get to see and learn about. The week after we get back we are planning to post blog entries every day documenting our trip in chronological order as if you all were there with us. Starting with the flight out, the trip itself and then our journey home, including photos of it all, so look for that in just two weeks!

    ~ Frankie