Barcelona, Sept 29 - Oct 7, 2016
Thursday / Friday : Lucky for Greta and I to have the opportunity to go with Matt on his business trip. Greta's daycare is closed this week, so I would have had to stay home anyway....why not spend it in Barcelona? We departed from Stoughton 6pm and made our way to Matt's frequently visited airport, O'hare. Our flight departed at 10:30pm. We attempted sleeping some in our 7 hour flight to Frankfort, Germany...hard to do with a 4 year old half in your lap. We had a chicken & rice dinner at midnight and a mini breakfast at 5am. I wasn't hungry but I ate it anyway. Flying to Europe we lost 7 hours. Greta did really well...only one spill of OJ on our laps. Once to Frankfurt we hung out in Matt's frequent flier lounge. My highlight was the German soft pretzel and people watching. I find it so interesting how so many professionals can pack into a small lounge and not one of them talks to his neighbor. Everyone is dressed in suits and ties with headphones on and laptops open. Matt immediately joined the group while Greta and were amused sending funny faces on snap chat with James & Noelle back home. Our flight from Frankfurt to Barcelona was a quick one. Once there our VBRO owner, Lucy was waiting. She quit her day job of house remodeling to be owner of 6 rental properties. She drove us the long way through the city to avoid Friday rush hour traffic and to practice her English. Mostly Americans and Canadians rent our her properties. Once to our place Greta was in awe with our chandeliers and old fashioned elevator, I on the other hand loved the gray, purple, and silver themed bathrooms and Matt fell in love with the multiple shower heads. After she dropped us off we headed to the grocery store to pick up the staples. Matt was about ready to eat his arm. No label reading for me this trip....a little hard to do anyway in Spanish. Made ourselves some comfort food and hit the sack.
Saturday:
We slept in this morning until 8:45. I hit the run trail paralleling the ocean. At the point where I decided to go out on the beach, I wished I hadn't. I took one look at the 2 buck naked 75 year old men and quickly turned around. I guess I discovered the gay beach. Let's just say my run pace picked up after that. After my 5 mile run we decided to navigate the bus system. We made our way to La Rambla....like an European state street....only nicer. We also hit La Boqueria....a farmers market on steroids! I was in heaven. We ended at a courtyard where we had lunch consisting of seafood and greens for me and margarita pizza and peach juice for Greta and Matt. Next we strolled along the port amazed by the 1/2 million dollar yachts. Greta on the other hand was more interested in the seagulls. We hoped on a bus right after I almost got run over by a Segway. You have to keep eyes open and pockets closed at all times here!! We weren't back in the VBRO 5 minutes and Matt was snoring logs. Greta and I wouldn't let him sleep we had places to go! We grabbed out swimsuits, sand toys, and run shoes and headed for the beach. This time Matt ran the path along the ocean while Greta and I tasted the salty seawater while jumping waves. Once Matt returned Margaritas & peach juice at the Oceanside bar were calling our names. Our tummy began to grumble so we went back to the VBRO to shower up and head to dinner. Our should I say....bedtime snack. Dinner here starts at 8:30pm. Good thing we chose the restaurant we did...had we gone 1/2 mile further west we may have first hand witnessed a gang fight. We saw crowds of young adults running around screaming near the many smoke lounges. Once the cops cars started rolling in I became that not so fun mom who demanded we get outta there and head to the park......sorry Matt! After zip lining in the park and playing restaurant with Greta we headed back to our VBRO. I was tired, however not anymore. Matt and Greta have been sleeping for over an hour....I better catch some zzzzz too. We have a long day planned ahead.
Sunday:
This morning I woke up early and got to see the sun rise over the Mediterranean Sea durning my morning run. We headed out early today to catch the metro to catch the the train to Montserrat mountain. It is a beautiful "serrated mountain" with a monastery 1/2 way up. Once there, we took a 5 minute cable car ride 1/2 of the way up. We got to see a church service in the monastery. We then decided to work our legs a little and began climbing. We could see the cross way out in he distance. Greta was a trooper. She made it to the top! Once there we had our picnic lunch consisting of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a Salad for myself. We made our way back down and awed at the mountains beauty. Greta was entertained by the wild cat who was waiting for mice or friendly tourists to feed it. Once we were at the base of the mountain we reminisced of the exercise vacations we used to take as we witnessed several cyclists biking the mountain. We boarded our train back to Barcelona and took cat naps to be ready for our next adventure. Next we walked a good 1.5 miles through several gardens to get the the cable car station that brought us to the Castell de Montejuic (an old castle built in the 1600's). Matt loved the futbol game we happened to pass by. He took a video to send to James. Before boarding the cable car we stopped for a Coke Zero & cerveza at a cafe in the park. Greta chased sea gulls & played in the park. We boarded our cable car and went to the top the castle. Greta looked back at the city and as we were going up announces, "I see cousin Vivian's house!" Afterwards we were beat so we took a bus ride back down to the Playa de Espanya to find dinner. We found cute outdoor tapas restaurant. Tapas are awesome....just the right size so you don't overeat. I enjoyed my salted shrimp and goat cheese salad. We stayed out late tonight with the intentions on seeing the lighted water show at 9pm. Unfortunately after thousands of people camped out waiting we all realized no shows happen on Sundays. Oops!! We took a bus back to our VBRO and crashed.
Monday:
This morning's run was my final one on the shoreline. We packed up our stuff and headed to the metro to take to our hotel, Hotel Balmes. After checking in we headed to lunch. We found a cute restaurant with amazing sandwiches and salads. Dad and Greta topped off lunch with chocolate donuts. We headed East for Sagrada.....a famous Gaudi building....unfinished. It is predicted to be done in 2026. We weren't aware tickets had to be bought ahead of time so we bought gelato and played in the park across the street while admiring the work. Next we headed to Park Guell via taxi. Greta hauled her first taxi! Again....Modernist work by Gaudi in English style gardens. We didn't want to wait the several hours to get in so we just explored the outer gardens. Unfortunately the way back was long....rush hour in Barcelona. We met up with Matt's coworker Matt and grabbed a bite to eat. Thank goodness for the colored Gaudi pencils and blank Barcelona book we bought Greta.....serves in handy when waiting for our meals. After back to the hotel Matt had beers with his buddies and Greta and I tested out the pool. Boy was it cold! Afterwards we warmed up in a hot tub and hit the sack.
Tuesday:
This morning's run was along La Rambla. It wasn't as picturesque as those along the shoreline. The smell of stale alcohol wasn't any better. I made it back to the room just in time to kiss Matt good-bye for the day. Greta and I had ourselves breakfast in the room and headed to the nearby Playa to board our double decked bus tour. We got there early enough to sit first row on top!! We opted to only jump off once...at Park Guell. We purchased our tickets for the inner portion of the park and waited 2 hours to enter. Greta played on the playgrounds, we ate ham and cheese sandwiches, and watched the street venders gather their homemade jewelry and run away from the cops each time they circled around the park entrance. Once our park session opened we toured the inner portions. Lines were out the park to take pictures in front of the amazing modernistic architecture. I've never seen so many selfie sticks. Yes....we are guilty and have one. After our photo shoot, Greta had herself an ice cream snack and we boarded the bus again to return to the start. I hit a clothing store on the way back...no luck. We went back to our hotel to charge our batteries (personally and electronically). Matt was supposed to go to dinner with a coworker but it was cancelled. Instead the three of us hit a local outdoor cafe. Matt & Greta had pizza....third one of the trip. I had a salad...again. Now we are back at the hotel. Greta is drawing cats in her journal because that reminds her of Spain, I am journaling and Matt is answering emails. Hopefully we all sleep longer tonight!!
Wednesday
I woke up this morning at 3:30AM, wide awake. I decided to check in with my family back home. Sue has surgery today to remove both ovaries, hopefully it isn't metastatic cancer from her esophagus! I did finally fall back asleep but only until 6:15. I ran to the port and back again. Matt has a full day today, so Greta and I are on our own again. We headed north today via metro to Parc de Labyrinth. It is a neoclassical park in the city of Barcelona with gardens, statues, and a labyrinth (maze) made out of tall rectangle shaped bushes. It reminded me of Alice and Wonderland. She kept closely following footsteps in the maze hoping to find Alice's. I told Greta I'd read her the book, but only if she made it through the maze. As we were struggling through a drone was flying overhead to capture the wedding in the center of the labyrinth. We made it through and visited the other areas of the park. We then had our packed picnic lunch (Starbucks). I thought I bought Greta a grape juice....I think it was beet and pea juice...gross! My Calamata and oregano flat bread sandwich with chicken, spinach, tomato, and cheese was to die for. After our picnic lunch and some playground time for Greta was hoped on our metro back near our hotel. We stumbled across an organic grocery store. I was in heaven. I was trying to understand nutrition content with the breads, granola bars, and crackers, but am stumped. My back up plan...the more seeds & nuts the better. After returning to the hotel we chilled some to recharge our batteries and then dipped into our outdoor 65 degree outdoor hotel pool...brrrr!!! Our swim only lasted 15 minutes followed by hot showers. Once we heard Sue made it through her surgery back in Rochester, we had dinner in our room and then went on an evening stroll to the gothic neighborhood leading to the Cathedral. I felt like we were walking in Harry Potter grounds. We bought popsicles and water and came back to the hotel to crash. Dad didn't get in until 11pm tonight....Greta and I were out by then!!
Thursday:
Once again my morning run went out and back towards the port on La Rambla. I made it back just before the thunderstorm struck. I had some breakfast in the room. Once Greta awoke she had her breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Orange juice in a champagne glass, watermelon, turkey lunchmeat, and the highlight....croissants with jam on top! We packed up our gear for the day and headed south via metro for Europe's largest Aquarium. We were probably an interesting site to see....Greta holding her umbrella over her stroller... and me being the only one with running shoes on. EverONE wears stylish shoes, not Brooks Glycerine running shoes. I'm getting the metro system down....and actually enjoy the logistical piece of it. The highlight of our aquarium trip was the shark tank with a tunnel and moving sidewalk through it. Greta loved her solvineer (sand filled lizard). We had lunch at a near by healthy buffet with amazing salad bar and did some discount shopping. I bought running tights and a running top. This evening we got dressed up and headed to the gothic district. We found a cute tapas restaurant right across the street from a beautiful music hall---Palau de la Musica. We took a taxi home as it was raining. Once back to our hotel we packed up our bags and hit the sack.
Friday:
I enjoyed my final run in Barcelona this morning....I needed it today with all the hours we will be sitting on the plane. Matt and I took different flights home. My layover was in Frankfort and Matt's in Newark. I had a scary episode occur while in the Barcelona airport. After Matt went on his way Greta and I got locked in a handicap bathroom...the lock became disabled. I was so scared. Here I don't speak the language and never figured out how to call anyone. We tried the alarm bottom however it was broken. We began pounding on the door and yelling "ayudame! (Help me). An English speaking lady heard us and told us to stay put while she got a police to fix the lock. Those 20 minutes were the longest 20 minutes of my life!! After 10 hrs sitting on planes, 4 hrs in airports, and 2 hrs driving home from Ohare I was ready to be home. Thank goodness for coloring and baby TV for Greta and 4 2-hr movies for me. We didn't want to sleep because we wanted to sleep once home to Stoughton. I did catch a head cold...hopefully it will be short lived.
Our trip definitely was a memorable one. Greta will tell you her favorite parts were the bed she made up in our VBRO with a thousand pillows, her new stuffed lizard, the hotel pool, and her new coloring pencils and journal...which she again calls her facebook. My highlight was the day hiking up the mountain and Matt said the views on top of the castle were his favorite. I'm not sure when our next international trip will be...maybe Vancouver BC in July with the whole family????
Until next time.
Sent from my iPad
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