I'll be back. I promise.

January 30, 2010: Barcelona

The title is al that needs to be said.
Next time, I won't be by myself.

Oh Spain, why did we ever leave?

January 30, 2010
Day 2 in Barcelona. I left for the day with Beth & Sean and Jamie & Brian on a hop-on/hop-off sight-seeing bus. First stop: Gaudi's Casa Batllo.
Intended as a tribute to St. George, the patron saint of Catalonia, and his slaying of the mythical dragon, it displays skulls, bones, and scales.

You can see Gaudi's work is anything but "normal". He said, "Color in architecture must be intense, logical, and fertile."

He enlivened the facade with scalelike roof tiles (the dragon's back), multicolored mosaics, and stain-glassed windows.

The crew on the bus: (L-R) Sean, Brian, Jamie, and Beth

Apartment building in Barcelona--just thought it was good picture.

Trees, grass, parks, flowers...in the middle of the city streets.

A random park that reminded me of Salamanca where Evan and I studied. We had random parks around our neighborhoods and we spent lots of afternoons in them.

At the train station, there were probably 100 cabs lined up and this was the end of the line. Obviously these fellows know each other since they have a friendly card game going out of their trunk.

In the middle of a roundabout.

An art museum.

At the top of all those stairs with the girls.

The Olympic Village.

You cannot really see it but at the far end of this picture is the Mediterranean Sea. It was a perfect day!

Part of the Olympic Village--the swimming complex I believe.

The Olympic torch for the 1992 Olympics. Fun fact: The flame was lit by the last torch runner who shot an arrow to light it, but it was overshot on purpose and lit by other means but to the naked eye it looked like the arrow was the cause.

See? We walked around the entire village.

Track and Field arena. The United States sent 578 participants and ranked second in medal count with 37 gold, 34 silver, and 37 bronze.

Christopher Columbus statue.

Port of Barcelona.

Gaudi's most well-known accomplishment. The unfinished Sagrada Familia.

It has been funded by private donations and the entrance funds since Guadi died in 1926.

Evan and I went together in 2002 and spent hours walking around the twisting and turning untraditional church so I chose to stay outside this time.

Gaudi was hit by a trolley in July of 1926 after failing to look both ways before crossing the street. He died a few days later and is buried in the crypt of the Sagrada Familia. One day when it is all finished, we will return again.

That night we met up with the rest of the group and went to a Cuban restaurant. Yummo! Sunday morning I went to the aquarium with Shannon, Jesse, and Mikayla. Here is Mikayla on a sea turtle! She had a lot of fun!

Let the love affair begin...again.

January 29, 2010

I was asked by some new friends to take a wives' trip to Spain, more specifically Barcelona. Their husbands were in Zaragoza flying for 3 weeks and were going to meet up with them over the weekend. So I jumped at the chance to have a girl's weekend and return to my favorite place on earth second to Texas...Spain. After Evan and I studied there in 2002, I truly feel at home in this country and it's nice that I could actually communicate/understand the language better too.

We arrived by mid-day in Barcelona and got settled in our hotel. We then had to get something to eat so why not start off right with some paella--traditional Spanish dish with chicken or fish, veggies, and rice.
After lunch we hit up a local daily market in the Ramblas area very close to our hotel. Well like a child in a candy store literally, I had to take a picture of the fun display of sugar at my disposal.

(L-R) Shannon with Mikayla, Beth, Jessica, and Jaime. Unfortunately you cannot see Kate in Jess's stroller.

An array of peppers at the market. Everything was just so fresh for the taking.

Just a bit of the seafood for sale. You can see the huge lobster claws in the forefront.

Evan's favorite--lengua. His host mom made this when we lived in Spain and he was totally disgusted, and Evan eats anything, but he ate it to be nice. This was for him.

And our favorite booth overall. Fresh fruit juices that were sort of icey. SO yummy. The lady is eating a piece of her own watermelon. I chose a strawberry juice--delicious.

On the plaza walkway down Ramblas street, the vendors sold souvenirs, flowers, etc. Sweet Mikayla enjoyed walking and smelling all the flowers.

On our afternoon walk around the area, we just happened upon this massive church.

There was something going on inside but I can just imagine what it looked like. Beautiful.

And on the opposite side of the church were these apartment-type buildings with decorated facades.

Next door.

Since we enjoyed a late lunch, and walked around for sight-seeing and mostly shopping, a few of us chose for a tapas style dinner and sangria. Me, Beth, Catherine, and Jaime were entertained by our waiter.

This was the end of our first day in Barcelona. Home for an early to bed since we knew we had a full day tomorrow and the girls were looking forward to seeing their husbands the next morning.

Seriously.

Time for another Italian tradition. Something we have noticed over the past few months is what the Italians love. They love, adore, fuss over, make a big deal over, and pay close attention to babies.

While we were looking for houses back in August we noticed either pink or blue ribbons/bows on fences, balconies, over doorways, or on the electric gates. It means the family is celebrating the birth of a new baby girl or boy or maybe both.

Here is one that has been up about a month now on our way to base. A little boy joined their family.
And here is a celebration of a baby girl. (I failed to mention some Italians set up their Christmas tree fully decorated on their porches/balconies.)

The sum up this tradition, we will be a part of it in July. We'll see what colors will hang on our balcony--pink, blue, or maybe one of both. We are expecting twins in July and are so excited to see what adventures are in store for us!

This post makes the "seriously" category because it was the first thing I said after the doctor said, "Well guys, there are two here." My response, "Seriously? Are you joking?" Evan had no response as his mouth had hit the floor and his eyes were glued to the monitor. I hope I never forget the look on his face.