This winter we finally managed to escape the usually dull weather in Germany during winter again. We packed our car to the top and road to Spain right after vacation started for our kids. The first time we did this was when my mother in law wished to spend her 60th birthday in the sun. Her birthday is on the 23rd of December 😄

Spain actually has really good conditions at that time of the year. It tends to be between 15 and 25 °C and there are more or less no clouds to be found in the sky. It feels like a very nice and warm autumn day. Germany’s winter is more in January or February than in December. Therefore you usually just have a combination of cold and wet for the holidays. Not really inviting.

This is the third time now, that we spent our winter vacation in Spain. Right from before Christmas into the new year. The camping is in a town called Vilanova i la Geltrú which is not far south of Barcelona. And we have fallen in love with it. The Coronavirus has interrupted the tradition for the past 2 years. This year we managed to restart. For me (and my father in law) this also means we can enjoy cycling at a time of the year you wouldn’t be able to in Germany. And my kids (and wife) loved the fact to enjoy sun, the spanish food and most importantly the ocean finally again after such a long time.

During this vacation I did a lot of bike riding. I’d usually get up early before the kids to get a tour in every day before lunch. That way we had the afternoon together as family. Worked quite well and I finished the Rapha Festive 500 for the first time this year. The challenge on Strava is to ride 500km from the 24th of December to the 31st. Our vacation was over after 12 days since on returning back to Germany the kids (not fully vaccinated at that time) had to quarantine for 5 days before going back to school. I still managed to get 1 hike, 2 gravel tours and 7 road tours in. Totaling 640km and 8.693 vertical meters. I’d call that a good winter vacation 😄

If you happen to be in the area and love biking you might enjoy some of my tours as inspiration: https://www.komoot.de/collection/1386112/-vilanova-park

I also made two videos from my biking there:

Stay safe, stay happy : )

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