Week one

Written on January 4th, 2026 by Pearl Ryder

Our first week!

After a month of intensive packing, cleaning, and getting rid of all the extras, it was time to go. I finished cleaning out the house a couple of days early and my last few days in Atlanta were slow and social – a weird combination of anticipating a huge change while doing very little day-to-day. We ended up bringing what felt like a mountain of stuff (2 large, 2 medium, 1 carry-on suitcases, plus two bikes, two backpacks, our large stroller / bike trailer, and a hiking backpack).

Goodbye to our Ormewood Park house! We were only there for a year, but we loved it.

Our mountain of luggage. Somehow it looked bigger in person. Thanks to our friend Jeff and Craig's mom for helping us get this all to the airport.

Thanks to Taxi Tony, we were met at the airport by a super nice driver. So much space! We could have brought more!

A long flight, short taxi ride, and we arrived to our home for the next month.

The first few days were a haze of jet lag. We arrived into a gray clouds and a cold snap, so we stayed close to home, slept a ton, and kept it simple.

Picking up groceries and overcome by jet lag.

Fruits! Veggies! Our first night's meal.

Cassie vision

Cassie’s independence and creativity are leaping. Anything in the house can be put to use as a toy.

Much to my dismay, she discovered that Paw Patrol exists in Spain too.

With jet lag and an extended winter break, Cass has spent more time watching than we would normally do. But we put on Patrulla Canina, so she and I can snuggle and “work on our Spanish.”

She also has taken to stealing my phone to take photos.

From city to nature

The best part about being here so far has been exploring the area on my bike. Girona is significantly smaller than Atlanta (~150,000) and also denser, which means it only takes 5-10 minutes to get out of the city center. We’ve been getting out to explore – so far I have 70 new miles on the bike and 10 new miles on foot. There are lots of rivers surrounding us too.

So much to say, so little to say

Daily life requires more effort in a new place – there’s more friction as you navigate how to take out the trash, how recycling works, cooking a new kitchen, etc, etc. We’ve found a lovely big cafe with a sweet kids spot full of toys where Cassie will play independently for hours and we can both tap away on our laptops. Getting outside has made figuring everything else out possible – it keeps me grounded and optimistic.