More Barcelona

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Saturday in Barcelona. Wow. I can't believe it is only our third day here. I went for a quick run down La Rambla to the beach. The buildings on the coast were beautiful and very ornate. I finally feel like I know my way around the city a little bit. One of our goals with our whole time here in Europe was to teach the kids that they can get around any city if they can read a map and that if they are calm and logical they can get their way into or out of most situations. I think this trip has really highlighted their acquisition of some of these skills. Again, Emma astounds me with her ability to recognize places. We were about to walk right by our street one day when she pointed out the pastry shop and told us to turn. But I digress...

I had picked up eggs and chorizo at the grocery store so Jonathan was quite busy making breakfast when I returned from my run with coffee and bread. After a lovely meal we hit the city. We were able to walk to the Picasso Museum which again highlights our fantastic location within the city. The beginning of the museum was not that exciting to the girls but once we got to the exhibit which had a film that showed the deconstruction of his works they were impressed. The rest of the museum was a huge hit, particularly his cubist works. At one point we parked ourselves on a bench and I took out crayons and paper and they made Picasso inspired masterpieces of their own. They were terrific and it was a great way to tie everything together for them. We acquired some post cards and a Picasso memory game in the gift shop and then went off in search of lunch.

We were really craving some simple Spanish food and in particular some tortilla (a Spanish dish that is similar in consistency to a quiche but is just eggs and potatoes mostly). We found this complete dive off the main drag filled with locals and went in. After settling in with our two Estrellas (local Spanish brew) we got tortilla, empanadas (a calzone type dough stuffed with meat, onions and raisins), grilled ham bocadillos (sandwiches) and a sizzling bowl of sausages. There was nothing leftover and we all left stuffed. After lunch Jonathan suggested we go to the aquarium for the kiddies. It was so beautiful I hated to go inside but it was supposed to be great and we haven't been to an aquarium in a long time. Luckily it was a little walk to get there so we were able to savor more of the weather en route. The only problem with the visit to the aquarium was that they wouldn't take a credit card without a passport for ID and it was seriously pricey and used up a good chunk of our cash. That being said, the aquarium was AMAZING! It is considerably bigger than the Boston Aquarium which we frequent fairly often and the exhibits were really spread out. So, even though it was a Saturday in December we weren't crowded at all. The highlight was definitely the moving walkway that took you through a tunnel of glass where you were surrounded on all sides by sea creatures. It was so cool we did it three times! After all of the traditional exhibits we went upstairs where we found more fun playing on plastic creatures and a submarine. The way that they presented the sea life from all angles was very exciting and refreshing. I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Barcelona with kids in tow.

We walked the shore back to La Rambla and back home. Along the way we passed a pretty decent Michael Jackson impersonator dancing to Billie Jean. The kids got a big kick out of this. We went home to rest and the kids begged to stay in but we brought out our trump card from the previous night when they agreed to go out for dinner. We let them play for awhile while we had a beer and rested ourselves. Spanish life is great. We finally went out with the names and addresses of a few local places but none seemed to be what we were looking for. Eventually we settled upon a restaurant at Placa Reial a square near La Rambla but not on the main drag. We had a terrific dinner of a variety of paellas, which all tasted quite different, and another nice tempranillo wine. After dinner, despite the late hour, we walked the chaos of La Rambla and soaked it all in. The kids had gelato and we wandered around under the twinkling Christmas lights. We found the big market again and bought chorizo to take home to Belgium and then returned to our apartment. It was a late night for the kids, not getting to bed until almost 10pm, but they were fantastic. It was also a late night for Mom and Dad playing more cards and drinking wine until the wee hours.

We woke Sunday morning and had our usual routine in place. Originally Jonathan and I thought we might leave Sunday morning and head to Girona for the day since we were flying out of there anyways. However, the shuttle bus situation was not in our favor. By the time we would get there we would have about an hour to explore the city, get lunch and head back to catch our flight. We opted to just stay local and enjoy the sunshine in Barcelona. We put our bags in a locker at the bus station and hit a playground nearby, of course. Then we walked to the Arc du Triomf. It is not a memorial to a war won but was commissioned as an entrance to the parks. Though not as large in scale as the one in Paris it was more striking to me because of the colors and detail. The park leading from it was a great pedestrian walkway and the girls loved watching the boys skateboarding. We also found a group of men playing the Spanish version of bocce and we had a good time watching them as well. We continued our Sunday afternoon ramble down towards the Parc de la Ciutadella where the kids ran for about a half hour under some trees gathering branches for "stick souffle". After noon at this point we found a local doner shop and devoured falafels and doners all around. Emma and Abigail have been non stop eaters on this trip; it has been fantastic.

The rest of our day passed by, thankfully, uneventfully. We had a quiet hour long shuttle ride back to the airport where we splayed out on the floor to play our new memory game. The plane ride home was also quiet until we tried to land in Belgium. The winds were so fierce that the plane was all over the place (particularly hard on me with my fear of flying in general). But we made it and caught another shuttle to Brussels Zuid and a train home from there. As luck would have it the rain began as we loaded our gear (and kids) onto the bikes for the ride home. But the city was all lit up with holiday lights so that was a nice distraction. Kids were in bed at 10pm and Jonathan and I spent the next two hours relaxing and looking at all of the amazing pictures that he and the girls took this weekend. What a fantastic trip. We love Spain!

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Photos

Tree Huggers
The palm trees everywhere made Barcelona feel so tropical. Here Emma and Abigail are tree huggers sporting their Picasso scarves as skirts over their pants.

Tunnel at the Aquarium
It was so neat being surrounded by sharks and fish.

On the walkway
(Emma's photo)

Sea Explorer Emma
At the Barcelona Aquarium

Sea Monsters
While at the aquarium we saw cool leafy sea dragons and then found this one outside to play on.

Port Vell
Near the aquarium

Arc du Triomf
The girls and I enjoying our last hours of sunshine.

Comments

[Mom]

No rain??
It rained EVERYsingle day we were in Belgium. Obviously I should have gone to Spain!!