Hi Charlie - I also meant to contact you to tell you how it went but you know..work, routine, family... and where does the time go?

We had a great week, I can't remember any problems so that is a good sign, there can't have been any big ones - oh apart from the dog that ate one of Megan's new shoes and we sorted that out with the owners. However a word of warning for future occupants would be not to leave anything of value around the barbecue area. We were very careful with our rubbish after the first night as they tore it apart and it took ages to recollect it all!

(Charlie adds: there is a fence now to keep the owner's dog out!)

We spent the whole week at the house with escapes only for shopping purposes. One group did go as far as Pedraforca and would recommend the "refugi" for lunch after a brief climb - easy with kids. We had our big lunch at Els Casals as everyone kept telling us to go there. I notice the cook was featured in El Periodico last week and helped write the collection of recipes in the first volume of Cuina Catalana - in fact the very salad I had was in a full colour photo!

The house was clean, cool and well worth the money! - We are thinking of going back next year with friends to celebrate my 50th birthay!

Best wishes,

Rosie

Hi Charlie,

I never got a chance to email you to tell you how wonderful the trip to Spain was.Barbats was a wonderful place, almost too good to be true!

Pilar and Ramon were so very kind and the accomodations were so clean, comfortable and refined, yet rustic.The natural working farm setting was so relaxing and the kids loved the pool and the dogs!

We are planning to return!

Thanks again for all you assistance.The driving directions were great!

Dennis Fell

Hello,

I would be glad to comment on the house and the area although it now seems a distant memory.

Our first thoughts on arrival at the house were WOW, sunshine, nice surroundings, peace and quiet, good pool and outside area and great house.

The family that own the house were lovely even though our Catalan/Spanish is non existent and they do not speak English. They were very helpful when we had to take a visit to the hospital and had a flat tyre on the hire car.

The house itself was very comfortable especially the beds. We enjoyed using the outside facilities to cook.

Myself and my husband really enjoyed this area as it is rural and quiet and not your typical Costa, the children would have liked to have been nearer the coast. The other family we went with were perhaps not so impressed as they did seem a little bored and would have been better suited to a more lively area.

A good place to have a quiet, relaxing holiday, local people were friendly but not many English speaking so you would need to brush up on your Catalan.

A pleasant looking place, but not outstanding and lots of driving if you want to get anywhere, so it you are not very confident driving abroad possibly not a good place to go.

I think if the house is used to its full capacity with mainly adults the price per week is ok, but it you have lots of children or not at full capacity then it is quite expensive.

Dear Charlie,

A short note to thank you for your help and advice renting the house at Cal Masover de Barbats.

We had a terrific holiday.The house was above expectations and the owners were extremely kind to us.The house was very well equipped and comfortable for us to live in.The locale is quite beautiful and

relaxing.Not one out of the eighteen of us had any complaints.

The people in the town of Gironella were very hospitable to us, and we became well known as we took carloads of food and drink back to the house each day.

The bus service from Barcelona was easy to use, and the instructions were good (except that we were not sure in the beginning that Gironella was the nearest town and where we should get off.)

We stopped in at the information booth just south of Berga and bought a

1:50000 scale topographic map.This was a big help finding our way around.

Highlights of the trip for us, besides just hanging out at Barbats, were the Gaudi garden at la Pobra de Lillet, the mining museum at Saint Cornelli, and the restaurant "Estacion de Carillet" in Avia, where we

landed up the first Sunday night and found the menu was in Catalan.It

took about half an hour to translate from Catalan to Spanish, and thence to English but the food was good and the atmosphere very friendly.We went back again!

Many thanks

Regards

Peter and Liz

Hi Charlie,

I'm contacting you to register our great satisfaction after another thoroughly enjoyable Catalonian sojourn. Barbats was a little corner of heaven and the far flung Windrims were all equally sad to leave after a very pleasant couple of weeks. Pilar and family lived up to what we have come to expect; the surroundings, weather, cuisine etc were all what the doctor ordered.

I hope the season has been good to you and thanks again for your assistance,

Eugene Windrim,

Dear Charlie

Many thanks for all your help and travel guidances etc over the last few months. We have returned to UK and enjoyed a wonderful 2 weeks at the Canudas Farm. What a great place, they were most kind and even though we couldn't communicate in words of more than the basic variety we all got along very well. Your directions were spot on and we enjoyed the surrounding towns and countryside, lots of fiestas were taking place in the villages there, we even joined in the Sardane on a saints day in Berga. We were instructed by the town expert..All the locals were very friendly and made us feel welcome. Catalunya has so much to offer, we must go back again, I never got the chance to see Barcelona, although, we did go to Sitges to swim in the Med.

Thanks so much and I'm sure I'll be in touch again

best regards

Catherine Rodgers

Dear Charles,so very sorry we did not write you sooner,we are still enjoy the holiday since we are back on the 5th of august.

First of all we would thank you for your help and instructions,it was for us the first time to do it like this,by way of internet,going by train,and to go to a farmhouse.You made it very easy and pleasant for us.

Last saterday we have seen the videotapes and a lot of photographs.

And to see all of that we want to go back to Barbats.

About Barbats just one word "perfect",the house is very beautiful and the owners are very,very kind. They are very helpful so they took and bring us to Gironnella because we were by train and bus for them it was not a problem at all.We have done a lot of walking surrounds the house and we went to Casserres and Gironnella.We visit the small town market and the beautiful church in Gironnella.

You told us that a car is nessery,well you are so right about that without a car you miss a lot.Some day we will return to Barbats with the car!!

Beside the missing of a car we had a wonderfull time over there.And have meet some great people from Brussels.

Our last day we have spend in Barcelona what a great City,we don't have seen everything so we have at least one good reason to come back to Barca,and if we do we will mail you so you can make the entry for us and you certainly know a great hotel over there.

Thanks again for everything and maybe we mail you in the future about a trip to Barcelona!!

Hello Charles,

I am sorry for not writting sooner, we fully intended to write to you again, but things have been hectic since we got back (three days ago).

first of all I would like to thank you in name of our group for your help and instructions, it was our first time renting property through the net and you made it a very easy and pleasant experience. I would also like to compliment you on your site, which is helpfull and instructive and easy to move through.

As for Barbats: We have only good things to say about it. The house is beautiful and well furnished and equiped. All the rooms are differnt from each other and very nicely decorated with care and a feel of authenticity (4 Doubles 3 twins and one single- as well as a double unit in the ground floor). The house is very well located (about an hour and a quarter from Barcelona and an hour and a half to Andora) and very easy to find. The grounds are beautiful and we spent a whole day walking around the forest that surrounds the house and the short drive to the river next by. The owners were very nice and helpful, in fact the owner accompanied some of our groups to Berga and asisted them and waited with them while they got their fishing permit.

The only set back is that the beach is quite far, and when planning a relaxing vacation it is better to limit your visits to nearer places (and there is pleanty to see- especially the places that are not in all the tour gides). In Berga (10 minuts away) there is a big supermarket and a very nice and cheap shoe store. Gironella (3.5 minuts) is a lovely and friendly little town. Berga sits right next to the Sierra Nevada natural park and there are pleanty of hicking and skiing sights even some walking routs recomended in guides (such as the Lonley Planet). We went horse back riding in the Sierra Nevada just below the Peranees, the green montains and gushing rivers are a beautiful and impressive sight and you feel in touch with nature (as oposed to horse back rides that are given in farms around lawns that look like golf courses).

Last but not least there are four dogs on the property (three german shepards and a peranees dog) which act more like friendly sheep than any thing else, but they are friendly and playfull and accompnay you any where you go on the grounds begging to be petted, and welcome you whenever you drive in- a real treat for dog lovers and children. there are also all sorts of birds and a ping pong table and a basketball hoop as well as a pool which was still closed because of the weather- but I recomend the time of year any way - late April- because the weather was just right (around 20 deg. celsius) and you meet very few tourists (out of Barcelona and Monsarat).

Thank you again, and hopefully we will be intouch again in the future.

Yonit, Amir and all the gang,

Israel.