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So our most recent travels have brought us from Barcelona to the Pyrenees mountains and then finally to Toledo.

We finished our stay in Barcelona on Monday. I forgot to mention in our last email the wonderful concerts that they held just around the corner from our hotel. It was an outdoor concert in the plaza that you had to buy tickets for. Fortunately for us by opening the windows to the balcony of our room we could hear everything. I have no idea what she was singing but it was truly beautiful and after 5 nights in a row we had the program memorized and had favorite pieces picked out. The concerts were at 10pm so it was the perfect time to relax, read, play cards or whatever after our day.

After a fairly complicated trip that involved a subway ride, two trains and a cog train up the mountain we arrived in Queralbs. It was a tiny little mountain village (500 people) with beautiful stone houses with all wood interiors. We stayed in a Pension for two nights (it included dinner, Erika tried lamb chops and steak!). We spent the days hiking and once again Erika was a champ. Queralbs is the last point where cars are allowed and so we hiked the path to Nuria which is a family resort type thing that is the final destination of the cog train.

The hike took about 3.5 hours going up and 2.5 coming down. And I do mean going up. In total it was a 750 meter ascent and it was climbing the whole way. It was an incredibly beautiful hike past waterfalls and beautiful mountain peaks. At the end of the hike we were within about 3 miles of France.

Thursday was a travel day that involved 4 trains and 13 hours of traveling. We made our way from the mountains to Toledo (about 1 1/2 hours south of Madrid). We´re spending the day sightseeing before heading to Madrid tomorrow. With only five days left to our trip we´re having a great time and looking forward to seeing Madrid.

Michael-John and Erika

Toledo, Spain

PS Congratulations to Sarah and Colin Van Huie who were married 7/28!