Carcassonne - Day 9/10

Carcassonne - Castle to beat all others
After a 45 mins train ride from Toulouse we made it safely to Carcassonne. A fantastic castle (cite) was the main thing about this stop. Jen and I both love castles and this is rated as one of the best in the world. This medival castle has over 2500 years of history and you can walk right through it! A walled city still has 120 people living there full time and the day just made the trip all the better. What a finish to our 10 day trip around France. The city centre of Carcassonne is a fortified city that has been growing, mainly due to the tourism, but also because of the cloth trade that is very popular there. Ok, back to Barcelona tomorrow.

Toulouse Day 8/9

Toulouse - A little bit of a downer
We came here with limited fresh clothes and tired legs, but made the best of our situation. Again we were lucky with our accomodation and found a good place close to the station and city center. We walked a long way the first day as we got there about 11am. After some local food (kebabs!) we made it to the internet place to play around. The next day we left for Carcassonne with a whole lot of excitement. I think we will love our next and fnal stop.

Montpellier Day 6/7

Nice little town: Montpellier
The 3 hour trip to Montpellier was pretty easy. Nice new trains make it a simple trip. Montpellier was suggested by a friend on mine and so we placed it on the agenda. We didn't struggle to find a place again and we have had really good luck getting cheap (under 40 euros/double/night) accomodation in the towns we have visited. We got some pizza, which wasn't very good but was food, and some beers (better than the pizza cos it was from Spain :-) ) and found the closest park to see the night bypass day. The 2nd day we were there we managed to walk the whole city a few times, finding the university, local hangout and a protest through the city centre by local youngsters (one of them had to stop at McD's for a bite to eat - must be tiring stuff all that protesting & Jen and I had a good laugh about it). Jen is just about right and I think the sunshine in Nice really paid dividends....or was it the spainish beers? 

Nice - Day 4/5

Nice - Southern France
After a 5 hours TGV train trip we made it to Nice, a nice town in a beautiful part of the world. Again we had no place to sleep as we stepped off the train, but had a place find us pretty quickly. We loved the old city and enjoyed getting some nice food in a little relax resaurant near the water. The 2nd day we were there we headed to Monte Carlo for the 'open car show' as I like to put it. These cars are sleek and expensive....and I got as close as I am probably ever going to be to them! Some nice photos at least. Jen is feeling alot better now that she sees the sun, so that is a big plus. We did however nearly call it quits on our holiday because she had her worst night since we have left Barcelona, but all is better now and we are off to Montpellier.

France Trip - Day 3

Day 3 - Paris Museums
Today Jen was not the best. She had more stops and was looking pretty bad before we even stepped out the door. But we did managed to get into the long line for the Musée d'Orsay (we only waited 50 mins before we were in the enjoying the museum which was surprising because the line was LOOOONG). This Museum, an old train station, is fantastic! and well worth the wait in outside with all the other eager tourists (for us there were alot of Italian students getting their 'history points'. Such a mix of things to see I had to leave Jen a few times while she rested to see the sculptures and paintings of the likes of Monet, Van Gogh and Degas. From here we had a rest and got some lunch. Then it was off to The Louvre . We got there earlier in the day, but found out that if we came back after 6:30pm Jen could get in for free and I for 6 euros. So, as we have no money, we decided to come back to get in 'on the cheap'. What a massive musuem! this place was huge, but we got to see all the main paintings and art works. A great day to finish off our Paris holiday. Now tomorrow we train it down to the south of France to Nice. 

Here in Paris

Paris and the Eiffel Tower
So as some people may know Jen and I are in Paris. We arrived yesterday and have found a cheap little hotel (31euros/night) near the Pantheon so we were pretty happy living in the Latin Quarter. Jen was a little sick with a cough and tiredness before she came on the trip, but she tried hard to forget about it and see the 'bigger than life' city of Paris. We hit up some sights today which included the Notre Dame, Champs-Elysées, the Arc de Triomphe and of course the Eiffel Tower (at dusk - into night). So a long day, but we got through it with some rest stops, easy walking and lots of crepes & Coke.

Last training for Barcelona Fit

Today was the last Saturday morning training session for Barcelona Fit. We had a solid turnout of 13 members on the coldish morning. The time of running was only 75 minutes and so everyone was back in a good mood and feeling fit for next sundays marathon. Di is injured and so will not be able to run the marathon, which is a huge dissapointment to him but I am sure he will be right for another one in about 5 weeks. I hope so because he has worked hard for this one. Congrats to all who finished the Barcelona Fit training. Stay strong for next week! 

Cadeques & Dali

We (Jen, Sarah, & Matt) travelled up north from Barcelona for the night. We went via Figueres and the home of the Dali Museum. A great side trip to rest the legs and see some strange Dali works. After a snack of bocadillos (con jamon y queso) & coke we travelled the windy road towards the fishing village of Cadeques. We found a place to lay our head for the night, after trying to drive up small, narrow and steep streets. Then we got some beer, cheese, wine and found a seat by the water. After some interesting discussions about God, religion, the universe, and 'if we are really here' we got some real food. On the way home to Barcelona I only went down 1 one-way street because, of course, Barcelona signage is shite! A fantastic 2 days.

Friends In Barcelona

This past few days we have had Matt & Sarah (on the left side of the picture) visiting Barcleona. We worked together in Ludus Torino and they are on a 'tour' of their own around Europe. We have been to some great eating places in town + Parc Guell, where this picture was taken.
We are heading north of Barcelona tomorrow for a few days in the Costa Brava....should be fun! 

Barcelona Fit 32km training

This morning was the last big training run for the Barcelona Fit crew. I ran for the longest I have ever run before, at 2:20hr, and my legs are pretty much SHOT! I am going to work on getting my legs stronger to cover more miles, but after only running twice in the preceeding 2 weeks, I suppose I better get back on the horse and do my midweek runs. The team went well with the biggest turnout of runners in the whole 5 months of the program. We ran at "Carretera de las Aiguas", which overlooks the city of Barcelona and in english means "Road of the Waters". It is basically a flat 8km length of road that is prefect for those long runs. A good surface and marked kilometers (up to 5km) helps is keeping your pace. This week we have meetings about the future of the program.

More Barcelona Fit Videos

Heading home to Barcelona

Jen and I are on our last day here in Torino. We had a great day yesterday at the OrangeFestival in Ivrea (just north of Torino) and are all a little sore today....actually our legs are the sorest part of the body, not sure why but maybe because we were getting low to launch those oranges at the other people. I guess training will get back to normal once we hit Barcelona soil again. We have had a blast in Torino with the Ludus crew and also checking out sports which we might not get to see again for a long time.

Ivrea

Orange Festival in Ivrea
The Ludus crew enjoyed a fun and busy day dodging and throwing our fair share of oranges. The little town of Ivrea is about 1 hour north of Torino in the northern part of Italy. The idea of the orange festival is that there are about 9 teams (about 3500 people) in about 6 squares (piazze) around the town all throwing oranges at the guys in horse-drawn carts. The guys in the carts pay 400euros to be in there, and the guys in the teams pay 150 odd euros. The festival takes place over 4 days. It was a fantastic day and I was happy not to dislocate my shoulder while throwing so many oranges.

Torino winding down

The Torino 2006 Winter Games is officially in 'winddown' mode. You can feel it in the streets, in the number of people around town and the general atmosphere of Torino. Ludus has one more full day of their tours and then they shut everything down with a big Ludus Party ready to go off on the 28th. I hope to post some pictures on here. Running has been put on the backburner since Gava 1/2 marathon as I have not run a step since the race. My left ankle has been too sore in the morning (when I usually get my run 'out the way') and I decided to soak up some of the Olympic spirit while still in town.

Gava 1/2 marathon 2nd 1:06.23
So I flew back to Barcelona, from Torino, for this important Barcelona Fit race. A good team turnout added to 2000 odd runners. A few personal bests were recorded, but with the wind and rain that pretty much covered the course along the waters-edge, the times were not really relavent. The effort, race and team environment was the name of the game today. For full results of other Barcelona Fit runners please go to the official results page.