Of course we continued this custom here in Barcelona. I find that this constant practice of speaking Spanish at all times has been very helpful. Even though I live here, during the day I may spend many hours on my own in the house or out and about. With Carol here the quantity of time speaking Spanish has increased greatly and I find that my fluency and ease of speaking Spanish (at least with Carol) is better.
La Costa Brava
The region in Catalunya north of Barcelona is called La Costa Brava. Carol and I decided to rent a car and visit this beautiful area, focusing on the city of Figueres, where the Salvador Dali museum is. When we
went to the car rental office, we were given the opportunity to drive up there (about 150 kilometers) in a Smart Car. It is quite small and we had our doubts, but we took the leap. It turns out to be a very comfortable car (which happened to be licensed in the principality of Andorra) and it saved us a lot of gas miles.
On the way up we took the secondary roads and got to see a little of the coast and interior countryside of La Costa Brava. We visited two stunning towns, Roses and Cadaqués and later visited the ancient monastery of St. Pere de Rodes, overlooking the Port de la Selva, thanks to the suggestions of my friend Jordi. Roses is where the famous chef Ferran Andria had his restaurant, El Bulli, rated the world's best restaurant for four straight years before it closed in 2011.
Around 7:30 pm we arrived in Figueres, checked into our hotel and then took a walk around the center of the city near the museum and city hall. It was such a pleasant evening. The next
day we got to the Dali museum a few minutes before 9 am, when it would open, in order to buy our tickets and see the museum. We weren't disappointed! Dali was an artist who used many different forms of media to express himself through his art, including jewelry.
architecture through the centuries.
House Warming Party

I was so glad that Carol was here. She knew that I was going to host a house warming party, although at the time of her arrival, I still didn't know who I would be inviting for this first round and what kind of food we would serve. Carol was a real help in firming up those plans and in helping me prepare the food and the house for the event. In general, for events like these, you only invite people about a week beforehand. The smart phone app, WhatsApp, is the usual way to communicate with friends and replaces text messaging that is used in the States. What was amazing about this event is that every person that I invited accepted the invitation and everyone came.
The house was decked out with flowers and candles and lots of food and drink. People started arriving
around 9 pm and about 10 of us were still here at 1:30 am. It turned out very well. It seemed that people really enjoyed themselves, although it was a little taxing on the air conditioning system for this many people with the warm and humid weather. We had way too much food, but I'm a little more savvy for the next group (which I'm still not sure when that will happen). I envision two more groups, each of which will only have around 10-12 guests.
We ended the party by going to the gay bar XXL, about 7 blocks from my house. Carol and I didn't get home until 3:30 am!! We had a blast but Sunday was a day of recuperation!