• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Julie Shipman Photography in Baja, Cabo, Los Barriles, Mexico and Park City, Utah – Park City Photographer

Julie Shipman Photography in Baja, Cabo, Los Barriles, Mexico and Park City, Utah - Park City Photographer

Action Sports Photographer, Portrait Photography, Travel Photography, Senior Portraits, Family Portraits, Salt Lake City & Park City, Utah

  • Portfolio
    • active lifestyle & sport
    • commercial & editorial
    • travel & culture
    • Portraits
      • Baja
      • Utah
  • art
    • Shop
  • Stock
    • Search Stock
  • About
    • Meet Julie
    • Testimonials
  • Contact / Pricing

travel

Calella 2!

September 20, 2013 by Julie Shipman

Two nights in one place gave us the opportunity to rest a bit…  a few options:  a long ride with Marty, a short scenic ride with Jill or a rest day.  Since I went on the Jill ride (duh!), I only have photos from that.  But, wow.  Such an incredibly beautiful place.CostaBrava-0283

The girls (except CONNIE!) went to the botanic gardens, Jardí Botanic de Cap Roig.  They are spectacular.  The grounds are enormous. The home and gardens were built by a Russian aristocrat for his love, over 100 years ago.  Since their affair was somewhat taboo at the time (they each divorced to be together), they escaped to this reclusive estate by the sea.  But, they did entertain and throw lavish parties now and then.  While the villa looks Spanish in style, his Russian heritage (he was an architect/builder) is evident in several features throughout the property.  Upon their death, they left their estate to the city of Calella where they enjoyed so many years together.  The money derived from the gardens goes back into tending them for future generations, education for local school children and several music festivals for locals and tourists to enjoy at a great amphitheater overlooking the sea. What a legacy!

CostaBrava-0319

This is actually an iron window (with glass) built into the wall for a view!CostaBrava-0288

Local artists are represented among the grounds.  Highly unique (mostly modern)  sculptures — of all varieties — are scattered throughout.  Jill helped us to translate this piece.

CostaBrava-0332

Ended our little excursion with lunch by the sea.  Grilled vegetables, goat cheese salad and the local favorite, Mojitos!

CostaBrava-0341

Back to the beach for an afternoon siesta/fiesta!

CostaBrava-1324

CostaBrava-1284

Does this local gentleman perhaps think we are a bit of the “obnoxious American”?

CostaBrava-1371

Gorgeous night with full moon reflecting on the sea.  Off to dinner and then goodnight.  Last ride is tomorrow.

CostaBrava-1413

CostaBrava-0342

CostaBrava-1426

Filed Under: adventures, Beach, Bike Tours, Costa Brava, Cycling, Girona, Road Biking, Spain, travel, Vacation

Calella

September 19, 2013 by Julie Shipman

Today we rode North along the coast to Calella.     (“We” may be a bit of a stretch as my rear end was mostly sitting on a large comfy Renault van seat…  when it wasn’t in that seat, I was leaning my entire body out of the car window with the seat belt wrapped around my feet.  It felt something like being strapped onto a sailboat that was up on its edge to balance against the wind — hiking. FUN!)

Keith..

CostaBrava-0930

Marty, with a smile!

CostaBrava-1057

Katherine and boys…

CostaBrava-0980

Cliff

CostaBrava-1050

Penny and Stanna leading the men up the hill!

CostaBrava-0996

The scenery was PERFECTION.  Costa Brava was listed as one of National Geographic’s top ten places to visit in 2012.  No doubt!

CostaBrava-1079

CostaBrava-1104

Riding along the boardwalk and stopping for coffee.  Don’t think it gets much better.

Brigitte…

CostaBrava-1034

Bo and Katherine

CostaBrava-1057-2

Cliff and Marty

CostaBrava-1116

AAHHHHH, puppy alert.  SSOO cute.  Stylin’ collar.  And, he even spoke Spanish!  His owner said, “Aqui!” and he went running.  How cool is that???

CostaBrava-1073

Connie and Marty posing for a travel ad.  I think it’s going on the cover of Outside Magazine.

CostaBrava-0987

Scott being Scott and Marty worrying if he took out enough insurance for this group…CostaBrava-1004

CostaBrava-1010

CostaBrava-1000

A really cute guy flirted with me on the boardwalk!!  XO

CostaBrava-1083

Back on the bike to an ancient medieval castle built in the 12th Century.  It is now adorned with a few places to stay, eat and shop.  Extremely interesting and well-preserved.  I am immensely impressed by the beautiful masonry.  The roman heritage is evident in many of the flooring designs.

CostaBrava-1088

CostaBrava-1192

If you need a basket for your bike, you can get one here!  Handmade no less… 69 Euros.

CostaBrava-1187

Here comes the crew!  Marty followed by Keith, Pav and Bo.

CostaBrava-1217

CostaBrava-1227

CostaBrava-1238

CostaBrava-1249

Below you can see the ruts in the road made by carriage wheels over the centuries.

CostaBrava-1255

CostaBrava-1116-2

Connie (a fitness instructor and nutritionist) took this opportunity to get a healthy “refueling” for the last part of the ride. Yum!

CostaBrava-1109

Our tireless leaders/staff express their pure joy at being given the chance to take care of us on our journey!  Below is Jill J. with assistant Kelly.

CostaBrava-1024

…and, JP!

CostaBrava-1123

We arrive at our Hotel in Calella…  time for a nap, swim, and drink!

CostaBrava-1146

CostaBrava-1153

Rick enjoys the view and the wildlife!

IMG_1146

Heading out for dinner. Connie is READY!  After Fanta and Doritos, I think the Orange Dye went to her head a bit…

CostaBrava-1161

Yes, it’s me.  After this crew, I decided I needed a double.

CostaBrava-1178

Our handsome men at sunset.  Bo, Cliff, Scott, Keith, Pav, Paul, and JP.

CostaBrava-1195

The dinner crew!  I was actually IN the ocean to take this shot!

CostaBrava-1222

Goodnight Callela!

CostaBrava-1247

Filed Under: adventures, Beach, Bike Tours, Costa Brava, Cycling, Spain, travel, Vacation

Costa Brava!

September 17, 2013 by Julie Shipman

Time to move on!

Loading Luggage

Loaded our luggage on the van this morning and got on our bikes.

Riding Catalonia

Through lots of sunflower fields (now they are sunflower SEED fields…) and corn… and orchards, especially pear.  We also saw many cattle and sheep farms (ranches?).

We stopped for a morning café con leche in Llagostera.

Llangostera

The Group on top of Llangostera

Marty J...

After our coffee break,  we climbed 9 km to the crest of the hills to gaze down upon the Mediterranean Sea.  Happy to say I made it up the entire climb although the SAG wagon was supposed to come get me so I could shoot photos.  Apparently Marty thought it was necessary for Julie to finish a climb by herself.  I came in DEAD last; in fact I am sure I was at least 10 minutes behind the group in front of me and maybe 30 behind the leaders.  I let them have a nice break at the top!  I actually thought they had all gone on and so I stopped several times to take photos.  Whoops!

CostaBrava-0233

CostaBrava-0249

 

Ok, now for the downhill.  I LOVE downhill.  SO much fun.  AMAZING.  The highlight of the riding so far for me.  Going so fast I got bugs in my teeth!!  🙂

CostaBrava-0389

CostaBrava-0397

CostaBrava-0410

CostaBrava-0421

CostaBrava-0428

CostaBrava-0455

CostaBrava-0470

CostaBrava-0480

CostaBrava-0496

CostaBrava-0526

CostaBrava-0543

 

We reached the bottom of the hill at the Costa Brava…  now we head south to Tossa de Mar.

Costa Brava

CostaBrava-0604

CostaBrava-0613

CostaBrava-0629

CostaBrava-0632

CostaBrava-0641

CostaBrava-0745

CostaBrava-0772

CostaBrava-0792

CostaBrava-0807

We see the end of the ride!  Tossa de Mar on the Costa Brava is a beautiful costal town with a sandy beach.

CostaBrava-0091

CostaBrava-0847

Our Hotel!  Gran Hotel Reymar… and a gorgeous room!

CostaBrava-0861

CostaBrava-0907

BEACH time!  The leader boys above are enjoying several beers…….  I LOVED my mojito!

CostaBrava-0912

CostaBrava-0923

And, then nighttime.  Beautiful full moon.  This town is an ancient fortified city built originally by the Iberians, then the Moors inhabited it and in the 1400s built a protective wall against the Saracens who were invading as pirates, kidnapping fishermen and looking for ransoms. There are also old Roman villas where the lucky few wealthy soldiers could retire with acreage and build a homestead…CG5A0888

Well, we just walked along the beachfront and had a midnight pizza.  Time to rest for tomorrow’s ride, north along the Costa Brava…

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: adventures, Beach, Bike Tours, Costa Brava, Cycling, Road Biking, Spain, travel, Vacation

Ride to Osor

September 16, 2013 by Julie Shipman

Today we rode to Osor, a very small ancient town in the hills outside of Girona, with only one place to eat; our restaurant was the home of the local Boar Hunting Club.  We did have a random assortment of “meat” for lunch.  Did not occur to me until this minute that perhaps it was boar?

No, we weren’t mountain biking…  although Bo looks like he might be.

 

And there’s Osor…

Oros

Osor

gir2-0120

One blue eye… a very interesting mix!  I’m guessing Catahoula and Dalmation.  What do you think?

 

Sundial in Osor

Can you tell the time above?

 

gir2-0059

The girls walking to lunch…  Brigitta (Portland) , Stanna (SLC)  and Penny (Oakley/Nantucket).

 

After our break, another great ride up and down back to Girona.  Funny how talented I am to get these shots while riding my bike…  hhhmmmm.

Marty J leads the pack.

Marty J leads the pack!  with Pav close behind…

Thumbs Up Cliff

Thumbs Up, Cliff!

 

JP

JP, bike mechanic extraordinaire…  and a great guide.

 

gir2-0328

Always a smile on Rick, followed by Paul (the X man) and Keith…

Keith

Ever supportive and smiling…  Keith B!

 

Stanna

Stanna.

Jill and Penny

Jill and Penny.

 

And, time to call it a day.  All that picture-taking really wore me out!

JP

JP

Connie and Jill

Connie and Jill J

Bo

Bo.

Rick

Rick.

Scott

Scott.

gir2-0147

The boys coming in from the “hard way…”

Connie and JP

Connie and JP sharing the subtle joys found with a tube of dznuts.

Connie

Guess Who?  It could only be Connie B…

Marty

And it’s our fearless leader!  Marty J!

 

As we round the Round-a-Bout back into Girona… a smiling Haystack welcomes us Home!

gir2-0379

 

gir2-0128

 

And, before the day is done, dinner out again in Girona…  an absolutely beautiful city on the river.

Girona

Girona

…crossing the bridge back to the hotel.  Night.  (Bridge seen above is same as below.)

Red Bridge

 

Filed Under: adventures, Bike Tours, Cycling, Girona, Road Biking, Spain, travel

Girona

September 15, 2013 by Julie Shipman

Took a train northeast to Girona this morning to begin our bike trip.  Apparently, Girona is a home base to many pro cyclists as the riding is so varied and accessible here.  It’s beautiful!

We checked into the hotel and wandered a bit.  Lunch, beer, wine…  of course; we were meeting at 5 pm for our “intro” ride.  I decided after the intro ride, that I would be quite content if that were the extent of the climbs for the entire journey.  However, after dinner this evening, I was informed that tomorrow’s ride is somewhere around 3-4 times the climb and it will be “great.”  In all truthfulness, my butt was the VERY first one a car would see as it passed our peloton.  Being FIRST in this case, is not something to be excited about.  Even our support guy in the rear, JP, was well ahead of me, turning around every now and then to make sure I was not on the side of the road…

Uphill

Break

While I was rather pathetic on the uphill, I LOVE the downhill.  I was right on Marty’s butt!  How fun is that?  I kept thinking to myself that this guy has been in the Tour de France and I am riding on his rear tire.  Kinda fun, for a minute…  I watched the way he moved his legs as he turned, or stood, and tried to figure out if there was anything I could do better.  However, for Marty this was an afternoon “stroll” during which he probably wasn’t even thinking about form or style, just getting these 14 ducklings back to their hotel.

Yellow Bike

Note: read, please, this piece of content about bikes.

 

After the ride, We celebrated for a bit in the bar and then walked through Girona to a wonderful little restaurant and dined well on the Spanish version of crepes.  Delicious!!

Girona

girona

Katherine

 

Time for bed.  Tomorrow’s ride…

Filed Under: adventures, Bike Tours, Cycling, Girona, Road Biking, Spain, travel

Barcelona!

September 14, 2013 by Julie Shipman

Arrived very tired into Barcelona and found our way to the Hotel Praktik via public transportation — bus and foot — which worked well.  It is here I discovered the World’s Smallest Hotel Room:

Hotel Room

This room is awesome.  It gives new meaning to the word “cozy” and I quite like it!   After all, what kind of space do we really need in a hotel room?  Would you stay in this room? This hotel has an incredible history.  It was a family home for over 150 years and was just converted to a hotel 4 years ago.  The hallways echo of lives spent there.  We are told it is still haunted by the architect who was never finished with its design…

We then wandered the streets and had a truly phenomenal meal — I LOVE the Tapas dining and and we toasted on the rooftop with Cava to our upcoming trip…  biking through Girona, which begins tomorrow!

Salut!

Tapas

 

Barcelona Biker

 

Filed Under: adventures, Bike Tours, Cycling, Spain, travel, Vacation

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Page 4
  • Page 5
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

801.913.1624 All images © Julie Shipman Photography
Park City Photographer - Baja Photographer

logo
  • Portfolio
    • active lifestyle & sport
    • commercial & editorial
    • travel & culture
    • Portraits
      • Baja
      • Utah
  • art
    • Shop
  • Stock
    • Search Stock
  • About
    • Meet Julie
    • Testimonials
  • Contact / Pricing