Weekly Stories

Day 8: A family travels Spain: Seville

How can I not fall madly in love with a city that smells like orange blossoms? Oh Seville, you have stolen my heart. You are gorgeous. We flew into Seville because it was faster and more economical than the train. We stayed in a residential part of Triana, across the canal: quiet and non-touristy. We’re in a series of apartment buildings that were erected on the site of an old ceramics factory. Right across from our flat is a large sprawling patio restaurant and garden behind an odd industrial looking wall: part of the abandoned factory I suppose. A big…

Day Seven of a Family travels to Spain: Parc Güell, Sagrada Familia and a friend heads into the Beyond

Today was my favourite day in Barcelona. We spent the day with Gaudi and I see why he was so loved and given such free reign to create all over the city. His many architectural works embody Catalan modernisme, a movement that started in the 1880s. The Catalan region had an industrial and cultural boom and embraced an artistic movement (in not only architecture but in iterature and fine art, etc), as the new bold identity of the Catalan people heading into the twentieth century. Modernist movements were happening all over Europe at this time: in Scotland, Italy, Germany. Later,…

Day Six of A Family travels Spain: a fail turns gorgeous in Montserrat

Our most exciting pre-booked adventure was a horseback ride in Montserrat through AirBnB experiences, with a guided tour of the abbey, lunch, and a gondola ride. It was pricey, but worth it. We were to meet Juan and the rest of the party downtown Barcelona by 8:30am. We drove into Barcelona, there was rush hour traffic, no problem, accounted for. We’d just drop off the rental car and walk to the meeting point five minutes away. Easy. In an hour of driving we didn’t see even one gas station. But that was okay, Budget rental gal said there was one…

A family travels Spain Day five: Dali

I’m not sure what would have tested our loving bond of matrimony more: having me drive with the husband navigating, or having the husband drive with me navigating. I was the one who renewed my international driver’s license so I was the one behind the wheel much to Fellow’s chagrin. He always drives. I love to drive, absolutely love it, and I’m good at it, but I hate a back seat driver so…that’s the way it ends up between us. The driver’s seat and the left side of the bed, my life long sacrifice for the peace and tranquility of…

Built to last: day four in Barcelona

We saw a more complex side to Spain today. We went to a huge flea market (the Mercat dels Encants) the boy’s idea. He and his Dad poked around old tin boxes full of vintage keys, coins, religious medallions and military badges. Flea markets aren’t really my thing. Perhaps it’s the fleas. But I was happy to visit a neighbourhood in Barcelona that didn’t feel as touristy. Poking around garage sale items in a different country is so revealing. I see why an ancient civilization’s dump site is where archeologists often gets their best stuff. It’s like being a maid…

A family travels Spain day three: Glorious day in the Gothic

A huddle of physical labourers get on the metro with us, all older, between their forties and sixties. Maybe they work with stone. I don’t see paint but I see white dust on their overalls. They work as a team, there is a clear relationship between them all and their history is evident in their shorthand and ease. The oldest one is stoic and quite beautiful with his grey hair wavy across his dark skin. He gets the first seat, the youngest hangs onto the rail, two who seem like brothers sit together. The joker of the bunch sits across…

A family travels Spain day Two: Holiday luck

I wake to the sound of a hundred children laughing. The sun beams through my curtain and I realize the church with the bells also has a daycare. It’s a glorious good morning and I roll over with my pillow and laugh along with them as the bells toll for playtime. Playtime indeed. It hits me: I’m on holiday. I’m on holiday for the longest period of time in my life. My first feeling is panic. How am I going to pay for this? I bolt up in bed. How is Forbes doing house sitting all our animals? How is…

A family travels Spain day one: getting there and so not bragging how

The first host to greet us in Badalona is a curiously light orange cockroach wriggling on his back with glee on the bathroom step. “Hola, welcome to Spain!” I look over at my bedraggled daughter whose face is looking alarmingly like her 95 year old grandfather, Mille, except he was very handsome and usually smiling. We have been traveling for twenty four hours at this point. “Honey, it’s just best if you don’t look.” “Oh God, Mom, is it a bug, is it big?” ”Likely bigger than you may anticipate…” This is so not an Instagram moment and this is…

Airbnb etiquette: how not to be a horrible guest

Having hosted an Airbnb for a couple of years now, I have had the pleasure of meeting wonderful and rather immaculate guests from all across the world. I really love providing a clean and restful beautiful space for people to have a quiet getaway or a writer’s retreat, a family gathering or a romantic outing. Our two bedroom suite is newly renovated with white carpets and wood floors, high count cotton sheets, fluffy towels, a garden BBQ area, an ocean view, a tub big enough for two and a dry sauna for those cold wintery nights. Sometimes I walk down…

Saskatoon: punctured ears and flying fathers

Walking down 20th in Saskatoon, well beyond the hipster hangouts, I pass a rumply dark green and brown clump of chums clustered around an old crusty bicycle by the dollar store. They’re planning something for later. Sounds vague. Sounds noncommittal. Sounds like more of the same. One of them is to the side of the circle, shaking out his hair like he’s applied dry shampoo. The bright pink of my coat catches his eye. He makes a pivot on his heel and decides to walk beside me. “Hello there.” He smiles at me. I do the usual woman once over…

Lucia Frangione