My Travel Blog
It's a hot one today, so why not hike up a giant hill? We wondered the same thing ourselves as we walked from the closest metro stop to Parc Güell - the large and strange park designed by Antoni Gaudi. My friend Mónica and her two kids joined us as we traipsed around the city looking at the two most famous of Gaudi's works; Parc Güell and Sagrada Familia. The only downside to our plan was the insanely hot weather today, but we managed to make it without anyone getting heat stroke or sunburned. (Small investment in cold bottles of water is cheaper than the hospital bill!) First stop on the way (but not Gaudi related) was the Mercat de la Boqueria , a must see off the Ramblas here in Barcelona. We all bought a super fresh (and organic) fruit smoothie made from nothing more than blended fruit - I chose a papaya-coconut one that was unbelievable. I could tell it was just chunks of fresh coconut blended with papaya and strained. So good that I think I need another one tomorrow! Everyone had different flavours and we all enjoyed them and felt a bit energized from the fruit. The rest of the market was interesting (the kids particularly loved the candy corner) and the hunks of ham hanging from the ceiling always intrigue me in terms of a food safety issue. No one complains, so who am I to cause an uproar? At the very back there was the most delicious looking take-out place and I'm hoping we get back there before we leave to have some of that food. Market fresh, what's better?
Parc Güell was very interesting - that Gaudi was one strange nut! We all enjoyed looking at the weirdly 'melted' buildings and structures which make up his vision of a neighborhood that never was. (Homebuyers in the early 1900's just didn't take to it for some reason, hmm.) The history is actually a bit complicated and I can't claim to really understand it, just check out wikipedia if you need more information! Last year in school Chloe did a unit on mosaics and watched a movie that included parts from Parc Guell. She was pretty pleased to see in real life things that she had learned about it school. We had lunch at a overpriced tourist restaurant, but we were hungry and hot and just pretended to not be offended by the inflated prices and mediocre food. Although, their sangria was super delicious!
The nice thing about walking uphill to see something is that it's all downhill afterwards. Heading back to the metro seemed very quick, and soon enough we were at the impressive Sagrada Familia. When we visited Barcelona 4 years ago we stayed at an apartment across the street from it, and it was really interesting to see how much more progress has been made on since we were there. You can distinctly see where new meets old in terms of stone colour, but the architecture holds true which is great to see. The back side of it is so different than the front, and the entire structure is so busy that you can't help but wonder what was going on in Gaudi's mind to even conjure up such a place.
By this time all of us were overheated and tired, so we came back to our apartment for a 'pool party'. Stocked up with iced tea and chips the girls frolicked while the adults sat around relaxing and trying to regain some of the energy we'd lost over the course of the day. Mónica and the girls headed for the train back to St. Feliu and the rest of us took advantage of siesta time.
We ate a homemade tapas platter (manchego cheese, olives, crackers) procured from the little store below our apartment to tide us over for an 8 pm dinner. No one goes for dinner before 8 here - even then it's like the early bird special! We were all a little tuckered so we just walked across the street to a little outdoor restaurant that has been teasing us with smells of garlic for the last two days. The food was delicious and the people watching was excellent!! Then the gelato hunt began… which we thought would be a pretty easy undertaking. Last night we walked past at least 5 different places very close to our apartment, but tonight we got all confused with the tight windy streets and strange corners and didn't pass a single one. We ended up in the corner store right under our building and picked something from the popsicle area, and they were all delicious, just not very fancy.
We are all pretty tuckered now from a day of walking so much in the sun, but it's been a great day full of interesting sights and lots of friend bonding for the kids. How often are you in a foreign city across the globe with your very best friend? Cherished times. Tomorrow is a completely free and open day for us and we'll go where the wind blows us. Those days are nice, and also rare, so we'll enjoy the need to do nothing. Buenos noches!
I am very happy to report that we have solved the wi-fi problem and now all of our various devices are connected! Well, that's true only if you are sitting at the rooftop pool. Slightly frustrating, yes, but at least I can do everything on my computer for the blog and then just take the elevator up to post it. You take wi-fi for granted nowadays, and without it I feel totally lost. Google is our best friend, and especially so when travelling. There aren't any reference guides or maps here in this apartment so we were counting on looking most things up. Thankfully I bought a great little pop-up Barcelona map in the London airport and it's been very useful.
We are in such a great area, and today we took the opportunity to explore our surroundings a little bit more. We stayed in Barcelona for a short 3 nights 4 years ago, and one of the afternoons was spent in this very area where we are staying. We are so close to the beach and marina and there is so much going on. In fact there is a world swimming championship going on right across the street and we spent part of the afternoon watching high divers while we relaxed at the rooftop pool. (Yes, we have an amazing little pool that we share with the other apartment guests. We overlook so much of the city and it's amazing!) We could also hear music for synchronized swimmers and every now and then you could hear a giant cheer from the crowd. We walked by it tonight (after the competitions were done for the day) and couldn't believe how high the diving boards are - and an unusual aspect of it is that they are diving into open water! It's just a marina with boats parked all around and they have buoys cordoning off the dive area. Cool.
One other interesting thing happened today when we went to pay the balance on our apartment rental - both Jeff and my credit cards were declined. We looked at our online banking and all looked fine, so Jeff made a very expensive cell phone call to Visa and found out that someone had stolen my credit card number and was making fraudulent transactions. It's actually pretty great that they have security measures that realize it's impossible for me to simultaneously buy something from a Walmart in Ohio and a restaurant in Barcelona. So my credit card is now in little pieces in the bottom of a garbage can, Jeff's has been re-activated, and by the time I get home there should be a new card waiting for me in our mailbox. That's the first time that has ever happened to either of us and it makes me wonder how they stole the information. Luckily they caught it quickly and no harm was done aside from a slightly uneasy feeling when we both had our cards declined!
The kids have been using their Spanish and it's been so fun to hear (and so helpful to us!). At least 3 times today we've had waiters tell the girls how great their Spanish is, or ask why their parents can't speak it. We just smile and nod at people and throw out the occasional gracias or hola. This Spanish bilingual education has been the most helpful thing and I know the girls will be extra happy to be able to speak a foreign language when they get a bit older and hit the workforce or travel solo. (As long as they don' t use it to talk to Spanish boys on foreign websites and leave us forever!)
Tomorrow we are looking forward to getting together with some friends; my friend Mónica and her daughters Danielle and Ashley are in Spain for the summer and are staying about an hour from Barcelona. They haven't been into Barcelona yet so this is a great opportunity for them to see the city and for us to have a visit! Chloë is beside herself with excitement as her and Danielle have been best friends since grade 1 and they haven't seen each other in almost a month. We're planning on hitting the tourist sights, and perhaps the adults will drink a little sangria while the kids catch up. :)
As a final note, we have figured out how to manage the mosquito situation while staying cool. Last night we were chomped on and have some nice red bumps to show for it, but the A/C is now on and the windows shut firmly against those little pests. I say this every single year, but why oh why do they not put screens on their windows in most of Europe?? Boggling. It must be some kind of law passed with funding from the company that makes OFF. Here`s to sweet (mosquito free) dreams!
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