Holy cow…did we do some eating! Any calories burned off in the saddle were consumed twice over when we were finished!! Several nights, dinner was served by David, the local gourmet chef! So tasty!

All the gazpachos: potato, traditional, melon & mint

After our beach ride we received a tour of the Yeguada Senillosa stud farm. It was interesting to learn about and see a completely different methodology to breeding and rearing horses. We’re not in Kentucky any more, Todo!

Stallion

Mom & the yearlings

Foals!!

After riding into the town of Peralada, we took a tour of the Convent del Carme and Castle Museum, which had a library, glass museum, and cava museum.

Convent del Carme

Huge, old, wine barrels.

Library with extensive Don Quixote collection.

However, the majority of our après-ride time was spent drinking. I’m not gonna lie! I am going to blame David, our personal gourmet chef, for starting the “wine cork tower”, which only encouraged us further. We decided to continue the building of the tower after our time with David was over, just to see how tall we could make it by the end of the week.

The start of the cork tower.

Vanessa and Sarah gave us a good lesson on how to “pre-lash”! This is the British version of pre-partying. As if the wine & cava at lunch, and wine & Moscato at dinner weren’t enough, we worked our way through some boxed-wine between lunch and dinner!

Our first “pre-lash”!

During our last evening together, we toasted to a successful and happy week!

Then, we built a final cork tower. Or at least tried to!

There are a lot of things that this cork tower is NOT. It is NOT structurally sound. It is also NOT an accurate representation of the volume of wine consumed. There was all the wine that we drank prior to starting the tower, there was all the wine that was delivered in carafes instead of bottles, there was all the wine that came from a box, and then there was all the wine that we were too sloshed to find the cork for…you get the point!!

Unfortunately, then, it was time for good-byes…

Mom & Nacho

We had a great adventure in Catalonia! I am so happy that Mom, Patti, and I made it through in one piece…and still smiling! I never would have seen the small villages and beautiful countryside of Costa Brava, if I were to visit here as a “normal tourist”. I am so thankful for Mom and Patti, who stretched beyond their comfort zones to make this journey a reality. They have been great riding-partners for my entire life! I would ride anywhere in the world with them!

So, in the words of Nacho: “YEEEEEE-HAAAAW!!!!”

Love it or hate it, we are in era of the “selfie”. Let’s face it, it’s also pretty hard to pass a camera from horse to horse and ask someone to take your picture! So, here is our journey…in selfies!

Day 1 Selfie – Tensions are running high, everyone is a little nervous aboard, it’s raining, and I have a bad mount.

Day 2 Selfie – New day, new horse, sunshine, first day jitters are over. Things are looking up!

Beach Ride Selfie (at a canter, if I may add).

Attempt to make the selfie less selfish. There are now three.

Attempt to include my favorite people in the selfie – Mom & Patti riding through the rice fields!

Attempt to get all five of us in the selfie! Nacho is missing, but we actually had no idea where he was.

He didn’t love me doing this, but I didn’t care.

Mom and I at the top of the mountain.

Me, Picasso, Mom, Ben, Patti, and Tesoro climbing down the mountain.

Patti actually took her first selfies on this trip! Here she is refining her skills.

Well done! Photo credit: Patti’s Selfie Service

There you have it! I feel like I should contact my helmet cover company and ask for a product placement endorsement!

Wow! I have never had such wonderful picnics in my entire life! In addition to “Nacho”, or guide, we were blessed with Danny, our support team. Danny moved our luggage from hotel to hotel, checked everyone’s girth before leaving, mixed up the horse feed for us to distribute, and most importantly…made our picnics!!

We would arrive somewhere after a few hours of riding and there would be a beautifully set table, complete with table cloth, ceramic dishes, and even flower arrangements! Each picnic included four courses (gazpacho, salad, main, and dessert), cava (local sparkling wine), AND red wine. This is living folks!

Despite rain, our first woodsy picnic!

Lunch for everyone!

Nacho and a cava toast.

One day we had lunch at a winery, which included tasting six (or seven?) different wines. I can’t remember! This was a lot of “firsts” for me: first time riding a horse to a winery, first time tying up said horse amongst the vineyards, first time having a wine tasting in my riding pants, paddock boots, and half chaps, first time trying to ride a few hours after a wine tasting. Needless to say…the post-winery ride was mostly walking!!

Look at all those paddock boots under the table!

Our last day we had our picnic on the beach. We celebrated our journey with TWO bottles of cava!

Nacho & Danny

True to Spanish style, each lunch stop also included a siesta! I only took advantage of the siesta time once, but this provided plenty of time to catch everyone else mid-zzzzzz’s!

Sarah & Vanessa

Patti

Nacho

One of the bays in a red halter is napping.

Picasso’s siesta – complete with saggy lower lip.

Sarah & Vanessa

Mom used a saddle pad to solve the “I’m napping on a stone wall” problem!

Why can’t regular life be filled with picnics and siestas?!