Barcelona - day four

These loaded all out of order and there are too many of them for me to want to go through and re-order them with blogger's janky works.  So . . . here in a very random order, Barcelona day four!  

At the end of a long, full day we went to the 

Font Màgica de Montjuïc. 

It was really great and reminded me of the many times my parents took us to the Dancing Waters Show at the Disneyland Hotel growing up.  

This one was built in just one year by 3000 workers for the world exhibition in 1929!

View coming up out of the subway

Stunning!!!

So pretty and very fun to experience with the kids!  

Gorgeous!!  Can you see the little girl on the left with her arms raised in enjoyment??  So fun!! 

Me and my girlie enjoying the show!  Seems crazy now a month and a half later sitting in Colorado in long sleeves and a down vest to see us both in summer clothes!  

• Breakfast was truly a highlight today!! Traditional xoxolata & xurros!!! The proprietor was awesome with the kids' allergies and we ALL had churros and chocolate together thanks to the dairy free cocoa mix I brought from home and his generosity with hot water cooled down a touch for the kids! Really fun, especially yummy and so special!!

The stache is even popular in Barcelona! 

We had an enjoyable rest in this plaza.  The kids really enjoyed running around.  Do you see those crazy hot pink get ups in the background?  They were advertising some food service and it was appalling to me how only the girls were wearing the hot pink body suits that were extremely unflattering but someone probably thought would sell more of their service by exploiting women's bodies.  Don't get me started . . . 

Anyway, back to the kids and the relaxing time we had . . . 

Adrian snapped this photo of me . . . 

running, running, running

does he have my walk or what?

Spanish birthday party in the park!  So fun!

this girl learned early on how to get a ride when she wanted 

again with touching all the surfaces!  

boy with his stick 

churros for all!

I like the juxtaposition of old and new

sweet kids who let my kids play too!

and taking a break from all that running!

keeping snacks handy was always a good move when we were out and about

cutie!  

and there was also some of this . . . 

before heading up into Parc Guell we stopped at a green grocer and picked up plums

gorgeous view!

they both loved riding the escalators so much!

Barcelona - day three

yummy pastries - will you look at all of that cream???!!!

walking along the city streets - he loved to leave the apartment and "go exploring in the big city" as he called it which was just a more "downtown" type area of Barcelona than where we were staying

AMAZING cream pastry shared by a fountain in one of the city squares - a delicious sponge cake wrapped around yummy lightly sweetened cream with a creme brulee type sugar coating.

patatas bravas

Chorizo and a happy boy!

 and a happy girl!

 Mama and Daddy's lunch

one of the wonderful, ever present playgrounds

this one learned a lot of "catch phrases" quickly

"I'm  having a little trouble walking."

"My foot hurts."

"I need to shake out my shoes."  

ahh traveling with a two year old!  

But I would rather travel with a two year old than not!

 climbing a BIG anchor

Barcelona - day two

I had to include this photo not because it is super interesting but because I want to remember.  David is a five year old boy.  He likes to RUN and be pretty rambunctious outside.  Great and normal!  Just the day before though I had talked with him about being particularly careful when older people were around and really taking his time and giving them plenty of space because we didn't want to cause them to stumble over him (or him run headlong into them!)  On this morning as we set out I had to capture this moment of him just waiting on the elderly person in the wheelchair in front of us.  I was so very proud of him!  

Pretty sign and door

these two!  We hadn't made it far from the apartment AT ALL on a day where we had quite a bit of ground to cover before they wanted to stop and play.  For about 45 seconds at a time Adrian and I got to relax on a bench and talk and then there would be the loud silly play, a fight, reminders not to whack things that were not ours to destroy with sticks we picked up, etc.  Never a dull moment!!  

let's throw things on the ground and see what happens . . . let's pick up this cardboard we found on the ground and try to do something with it . . . parent:  "Don't pick up that cardboard, it's dirty."  child:  "It's not dirty."  Parent looks at child holding up aforementioned cardboard and unfortunately/fortunately it does look fairly pristine . . . what to do, what to do???

Having made it a bit farther along our route . . . 

a beautiful blue sky framed by an ancient window

Lovely rainbow of color atop these posts on a quiet street in what turned out to be one of our favorite sections of the city

And finally, by the time we were all hot and tired and cranky . . . we made it to our destination, the beach!!!  

Beautiful girl!!!  

Afterward we took the kids to a vegan restaurant so that we had the safety of knowing that they could eat anything in the place with their egg/milk allergies and choose anything they wanted instead of being given just a couple of choices.  The place advertised a free mini tapa with an instagram pic but despite taking this one of their fun and funky decor and showing them, we didn't get one for whatever reason . . . what are you going to do?

One other fun thing about their decor that I didn't take a photo of was that in the bathroom the sinks had those flat glass "fish bowl" marbles in them over the drains and it made a fun presentation.  If you come to my house and find this duplicated, play along.  

The food was really good!  This girl enjoyed her hummus!  

This boy enjoyed what he got but did ask if we could go to a different restaurant and get some meat!  

I took this photo in the moment that I was re-remembering what it is like to travel with a two year old.  Basically you have to be prepared for every inch of their bodies to come in contact with every square inch of every city surface.  

Pretty storefront at dusk

Yay for ending the day with gelato and dairy free hippo and teddy bear pops!!!  

Barcelona - day one

After leaving the airport we took a train into Barcelona, stopping at one of the main train stations where we planned to call the man who was in charge of checking us into the apartment we were renting.  The phones apparently cost 29 Euros a minute for the first minute!!!!  That is OVER $29!  Crazy town!  

So we got onto the metro and took the train to our stop Sagrada Familia.  It was really fun to have such a famous landmark right around the corner from where we were staying.  The bells grew to be a familiar and welcome sound marking the hours as well as each quarter hours.  I even began to recognize what time it was by some of the songs.  The kids would say "Sagrada Familia!!!" when they saw it because they knew it meant we were almost "home".

That first day I actually didn't think a whole lot of the famous cathedral.  There was a lot of scaffolding and I just didn't get what the big deal was all about.  

But . . . I'll also admit that could have had to do with the fact that I was tired and hungry.

We were shown around our small little Spanish apartment that reminded me of those displays in Ikea that show you living in so many square feet.  It was not horribly small at all but it did make me appreciate all the space we have at home!

There were two bedrooms, an eensy bathroom that you had to maneuver your way in and out of and carry your soap, shampoo, etc. back and forth to each time and a laundry/kitchen as well as a living/dining area and a clothesline out the window.  

As soon as we were able we headed out to find some food.  After quite a bit of walking (because we are both picky and cheap . . . oh and dealing with food allergies for the kids) we ended up at a wonderful tapas place with our first taste of Spanish chorizo and the best tapas bravas we had on the whole trip!  

Right before we found the restaurant we saw this beautiful hospital with a fountain in front of it that the kids enjoyed playing in.  

After we ate we hit up a grocery to get some provisions for the apt. as we were staying in Barcelona for 9 days.  These two were a mess!  

Chocolate cereal is a Europe treat!  (I know you can get it here but it is not really something we normally have at home and it is a fun, dairy free option that they end up eating in Europe.) 

On the way "home" we spotted this fantastic brick structure that I had actually seen a picture of online before we went.  It is just a neighborhood park but the kids (locals and our kids) have definitely capitalized on this fun wall!  

Can you spot David climbing up?  

and sliding down!

back up!

and sister is going for it too!  

almost at the top

hanging out at the top together

inevitably rolling things down came next 

after kind of stubbing her toes landing too hard from sliding down fast, Mama became her "bumper"

Brother getting to carry the cereal home

(you have to pay for grocery sacks so we didn't ever get them and this day we had our other shopping bag full)