Vacarisses, More Gerard and Gimlets!

As October made it's silent way in with slightly cooler days and work finally winding down, I headed inland to the lower mountains of Catalunya, near Montserrat and was hosted by some very friendly people, treated to the smell of firewood burning and fresh lamb on the grill. After a nice long lunch, Oriol, his delightful nephew Biel, jolly Mollie and I made our way up to the small mountain that overlooks Vacarisses, a small country town. On our way up, we came across a small lovely wooden altar of La Morena, the sacred saint of the Mountain Montserrat. There was absolutely no one on the trail and the mountain was all ours and it was amazing. There was a slight bite in the air and you could begin seeing traces of the seasons taking place and change.


Watching little Biel hike up the mountain, with Mollie at his heels, was in itself memorable. Biel was the leader and he showed me what the trail was all about. The sun was shining just right and once at the top, hanging over the world, I breathed in deeply and absorbed the beauty. I love that the first two years in Barcelona I dedicated to the city, to getting to know its streets and all the nooks and cranies and now I'm getting a taste of its backyard and all the enchantment these small towns have and the peace that nature has to offer me.

Speaking of nature and its beauty, a few days later I stopped by to see how my buddy Gerard was doing and I was shocked at how much he had grown in just a few weeks.


Suddenly, he has formed a face with personality, eyes that open wide and observe. He looks and then falls asleep in my arms, only to wake up again and study me. He is quiet and still, with mature expressions and almost serious, until Sergi walks into the room or Susanna cooes at him.

That weekend, Gisela, Mary Katherine and I decided to take the night out in the town and have a lovely dinner at a small but yummy Bodega with cold cuts, finger licking cheeses and full bodied red wine. Afterwards, we made our way to a classic bar known as Gimlet where they specialized in Gimlets, Manhattans and all those classic American cocktails that are so hard to find here. The dark cherry wood bar with sultry jazz in the background was just what we needed.


I made the girls pose for me and I took in the moment, the perfect bar with the right company.

And to make the moment even more perfect, after a few sips of our drinks, the bartender served us homemade truffles...chocolate! What more could 3 girls ask for?? How better to start the month of October?