So, this is what I am up to these days. I have been in Spain for about a month now and, just as expected, it has captivated me. I have said for a long time that I have a short list of countries that I think I could settle down in — though my definition of settling down might be slightly less permanent than yours.
Croatia, New Zealand, Italy, and now Spain (Portugal likely joining this list in a few months).
Map of Italy that, of course, I found in Spain.
The world is large. My list is small.
I am currently in Barcelona in a wonderful apartment provided by Go with Oh. I became acquainted with them when my good blogging friend, Sherry Ott of Ottsworld, stayed with them in Rome, Venice, Vienna and Berlin a few months ago. In fact, Sherry was nice enough to let me crash at her place for about a week in Berlin. If you click through that last link, you can actually see the couch I crashed on.
Exciting life, heh?
After hearing and reading Sherry go on about how wonderful it was to work with Go with Oh, I decided to contact them and see if they could provide me a good base to get some work done in Barcelona before and after my blog trip to Costa Brava. If the apartment I stayed in with Sherry in Berlin and this one in Barcelona are any indication, they’ve got some lovely rental properties available.
Short term apartment rentals are one of those lodging options that I don’t believe enough people consider. I’ve been dabbling around with some over the last couple months and they quickly converted me. The cost is quite similar (and oft-times cheaper) than getting a hotel room. You have access to a kitchen and usually a washer and dryer right there in the apartment and you get to spread out and relax, without having to worry about locking your stuff up in case the cleaning people at the hotel are quick fingered.
It is an option that should be in more traveler’s toolboxes.
Monday, I embark on a tour with the Costa Brava Tourism Board. They have been one of the most active tourism boards in terms of working with bloggers and I’ve yet to been able to schedule up a trip to join them on their now-famous-blogger trips. Fortunately, they were planning three different trips with different sets of bloggers in May and June, “Nature,” “Culture” and “Gastronomy.”
Girona is the center of the Costa Brava area
They emailed me a few months ago to invite me. I don’t have the email anymore, but I think I can accurately paraphrase the gist of it:
Michael, we have three blogger trips coming up in a few months. You are free to choose which one you’d like to do. They center on Nature, Culture or Gastronomy. Since the Gastronomy one is going to mostly be about eating good food and drinking lots of wine, we thought it would be perfect for you.
I love it when people know me well.
There is a good chance I rename this particular tour the Gluttony Tour. After all, gluttony is one of my seven favorite deadly sins.
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You can follow my Costa Brava eating and drinking (and drinking) adventures on Twitter from the hashtag #inCostaBrava all this week. I will also be posting lots of Instagram photos to my Facebook Fan Page.
The chances of me writing a coherent blog post this week are…. not as good, so you might want to follow along via those other methods.
When you are in the area you can compare the best hotels in Barcelona to find out where you want to stay. There are plenty of great options out there for you to choose from. The variety of places to stay in this part of the world is just one of the many reasons I love it so much. I have stayed at budget options (e.g. hostels), great apartments, and luxury hotels. There is something for everyone’s taste and budget, to be sure.
The couch in Berlin actually looks pretty comfy. Love the photo of Girona. Hoping to get there in September. I don’t know very much about the area yet so I’ll be following you.
I plan on making it to Costa Brava for my first TBU in Sept. I hope to discover Girona as you have. Thanks for sharing!
Yum! Have fun eating your way through Costa Brava!
I love the idea of apartment rentals. I know someone else who will be traveling through Barcelona and other parts of Europe with Go with Oh!
Costa Brava really is reaching out to bloggers and I hope to make it there this year (fingers crossed as the odds aren’t great). Of the three tours, I think the gluttony…I mean, gastonomy..one would be third. I would love to check out the nature and culture one.
Hope you have an awesome time in Costa Brava!
Oh yeah, I love Barcelona – one of my favorite cities in Spain! Now to make it to Costa Brava…
I think short term rentals are actually a great idea! I tried it properly first time last year in Chiang Mai, and it worked great. I’ll definitely be using more of them. Oh and Barcelona is a great base to explore Spain, I really like Barcelona! 🙂
My stomach is jealous. Long live gluttony!
Okay, I know this comment has very little to do with the subject of your post, but….you have GOT to trademark the term “Gluttony Tour”. I envision a worldwide network of these tours throughout the world. Can you imagine? “The Gluttony Tour of New Orleans,” “The Gluttony Tour of Paris,” “The Gluttony Tour of Hong Kong.” Trust me, they’ll be a big hit–at least with Americans. Who wants to just go on a “Foodie Tour” or a “Tasting Tour” when you can go on a “Gluttony Tour”? You’ll make a fortune. 🙂
Spain is one of my favorite countries in Europe. After I traveled all over Europe, I then went to Africa to do some volunteer abroad work. I had a good time and a great learning experience doing volunteer travel in my gap year. 🙂
I love Spain also. The people, the wine, the scenery. Such a warm place.
I’m off to Spain this Friday for 2 and a half weeks. I’d never considered rental apartments, in fact I wasn’t even really aware they were an option! Too late though as hotel is booked already, but maybe for next time…
Chris
Hi there,
I started out reading your blogs and really enjoying them but then I realised – especially with the Barcelona one – that they are becoming more and more an advertising site. And so I am disappointed. Sorry, but thought i should let you know.