Barcelona - Sailing and Wandering

Sailing * Gothic Quarter

Before we left for Europe I had tried to get tickets to sail the Barcelona Harbor on a big sailing ship that's been sitting in the Harbor for years (think the ship Columbia at Disneyland) - but it was being repaired. This got us thinking about doing a private sailing trip in the Mediterranean so we found someone on trip advisor with 5 stars and went for it.

We sailed with Skipper Dave from Scotland on his 1947 sailboat he bought 8 years ago from someone who decided he wouldn't be sailing around the world in it - but it is perfect for a 3 hour sail in the Mediterranean.  We enjoyed the peaceful quiet escape from the busy city.  The ship traveled slowly on the way out and down the coast but on the way back the wind picked up and so did the waves.  We were clipping along and the boat slanted in the water so that water splashed over the bow and up the sides.  It made me a tad uncomfortable to be sailing along at a 45* angel rather than flat in the water.  I wondered how scary it must be sailing in really big waves.  Before the wind and waves picked up we took a quick swim in the Mediterranean just because.

We spent a good chunk of the afternoon getting ready for our flight tomorrow and worrying about how to package our liquids and sharp objects - we would have to pay for each bag we checked.    We decided we deserved another night of Spanish food so we did dessert first (highly recommended) of churros with chocolate and then wandered around for a couple of hours to get hungry again.  The old Gothic center is perfect for wandering - we stumbled on a few street musicians one of which we sat and listened to for a half hour.   We ate at a fancier Spanish restaurant - ordered a couple of  appetizers, a couple of salads, and meat dishes to share.  I don't know if the restaurant staff appreciates us ordering family style, but this way we get to try a wider variety and spend less.  My favorites tonight were the potatoes with a red sauce (somewhere between a BBQ sauce and spaghetti sauce on top) and small steak with a leek purée and steamed veggies. 

Barcelona - Church, Besos, Great city views

Church * Catalan Music Palace * Harbor * Castle

We knew we were headed the right way to church this morning when about 10 people in Sunday clothes jumped on our metro train.   (Nobody was on the street this morning at 8:15 - let alone in church clothes)  We pegged them for Mormons immediately.  Eric talked to them and they were from Peru.  It's a good thing the church has so many members from South America here to sustain it - the church would really be struggling in Spain if it weren't for the Latinos.  The ward today was probably 75% Latinos.  It was the biggest ward and ward building yet.  Complete with pews (not chairs) and a gym with stage.  The building was bustling with people before and after chatting and being too loud just like in SL.  There were 45 ladies in RS and 11 girls in YW.  Charlie's class had half a dozen kids.  His teacher taught the lesson in the Catalan language though.  I didn't realize what a distinct difference there is between Catalunya and Spain.  Even though we're still in Spain, you'd think we'd left he country because here they fly the Catalunya flag - not the Spanish flag.  All the signs, billboards, menus, websites, etc are in Catalan, not Spanish.  Even the outside of the church has it's name in Catalan next to Spanish.  Stewart finds it frustrating that he can't understand these Spaniards when they are speaking Catalan.  Although everyone speaks Spanish, they prefer Catalan.

I should add here that a super sweet 17 year old boy named Eduardo translated Sunday School for the girls.  After church he road the metro home with us and after Maren and he exchanged Instagram accounts asked Maren if in America they shake hands or do the beso.  She of course said shake hands, and oh well - she missed her chance.  (He then did a follow-up message asking if he could hang with her tomorrow before our family leaves Barcelona - she's flattered, but "has plans").

Later this afternoon (after a nice dinner and nice nap), we went out on a walk around some interesting parts of the city.  First we saw the Catalan Music Hall, another example of modernista architecture. We tried to get into the Picasso Museum because it was free Sunday, but so was everyone else in town, so we skipped it.  We wandered down to the harbor to watch the boats and then took a funicular tram up to the top of the Castle that overlooks the city.  The castle was built in the 1700s with canons pointed toward the Catalonians to remind them not to rebel against Spain.  There were great views of the big ships in the harbor and the planes landing at the nearby airport as well as the city.  Barcelona is a pretty city with the ocean on one side and green mountains on the other.  I'm putting it down as a city that merits another visit.  

this is NOT a statue
Fun on the Ramblas

at the top of the castle

Barcelona - Soccer stadium and the beach

Barcelona Soccer Stadium * Beach

12,041 steps

This morning we toured the Barcelona Soccer Stadium - the largest soccer stadium in Europe.  I enjoy soccer, but I don't know the players or all the cool stuff - but apparently the Barcelona soccer stadium would be like visiting Yankee stadium - big deal.  There were a ton of people there this morning and it was fun to walk through the locker rooms and press boxes and see all the awards and learn about the history of this team.  At the end of the tour there was a gift shop that would rival any gift shop in Disneyland and it was equally as hard to exit without purchasing.  We managed to only walk away with a soccer scarf and a draw string bag.

We decided to hit the beach today with the rest of Southern Europe.  We even traveled 30 minutes on a bus outside of the main tourist drag to see if we could escape the crowds.  This is our first city where we are packed body to body with tourists.  The beach was no exception.  Gratefully it was a nice sandy, clean beach.  The water was warm and there weren't too many topless ladies (a few though which is always shocking).

We enjoyed the sand, took a nap, played in the warmish Mediterranean water, but without boogie boards, a donut store, and cousins, we were done watching the man behind us do crazy yoga poses after 3 hours - and the fact that we didn't arrive at the beach until 3:00 p.m. and now it was 6:00 and dinner time.

We went out to dinner tonight and sat outside on the main plaza in the Gothic center of town.  We assigned each kid a menu topic - appetizer, salad, fish, meat, pasta, dessert, etc and ordered 7 items that we each shared - each person got a very small, tapa size portion.  The kids weren't so sure about the shrimp with it's "feet" and eyes still attached or the fish with it's scales and fins, but even with those things, the food was great.

Soccer Stadium

Barcelona - Ancient to Modern

Gothic Quarter * Modernista Architecture * Sagrada Familia *Parque Guell

19,342 steps

We've decided Barcelona gets two thumbs up.  It's a beautiful city and we haven't even made it to the ocean yet.  

We joined a city walking tour this morning of the old Gothic part of town.  Barcelona was settled by the Romans just before the birth of Christ and the old Gothic quarter still has some nice Roman elements like tight winding streets and a few columns and stones from ancient buildings.  It started to rain and thunder so bad during the tour that during one clap of thunder when the ground shook we thought something really bad had happened (like a bomb), thank heavens it was just a rain storm.  We weren't prepared for rain (not in the forecast) and our tour was cut a bit short.  The highlight of the rain though was watching the gargoyles on the Cathedral actually do what they were intended for - act as rain spouts.

We returned to our apartment very wet. After some tapas we made ourselves and after the rain stopped we decided to tour the Modernista Barcelona - this was really fun.  I don't know much about Modernista Architecture, but it is revolutionary and intriguing.  Gaudi is the biggie, but there were others.  Our first stop was the Block of Discord where we stopped at 3 large buildings - they look like the architect took everything good from several different style types and put them all on the same building and then added wavy balconies, flowery designs, tile roofs shaped like ice cream cones, and drippy sandy castles from the beach.  Intriguing!

The culminating stop was Sagrada Familia basilica which was fascinating.  It was started in 1883 and is not scheduled to be finished until 2026.  The outside looks like a drippy sand castle from the beach and the inside is beautiful.  It's busy, but it's inviting.  The stain glass windows are amazing.  The Christian statues are modern and pleasant to look out.  The columns are thick and look like tall trees where the ceiling is the canopy. We really enjoyed this; some of the kids even declared it their favorite cathedral in Europe - despite the fact that it's still under construction and part of the cathedral is blocked off and there are giant cranes still building the outside.

After the Sagrada Famila we took a pleasant walk in an upscale neighborhood towards another Modernista site enjoying the best gelato we'd had since Italy.  Our final stop for the night was Park Guell, a community planned by Gaudi that never was completed and eventually turned into a park.  We sat in his plaza along the wavy ergonomic tile benches watching another thunderstorm roll into the city.  From this hill top park we got our first view of the Barcelona sea.  If it doesn't rain tomorrow - we're going to the beach!

gargoyle rain spouts

block of discord

Sagrada Familia

Park Guell

Madrid to Barcelona

Las Ramblas
12,824 steps

We took our longest drive yet of the trip - a nearly 6 hour drive from Madrid to Barcelona.  I didn't realize central Spain would be so dry - in many ways it looks like central Utah.  We had to return our rental car by 2:00 so we left early!  My kids have been real troopers - especially Sydney and Charlie who have had to share a seat squished in the back of our tiny car since we picked up Stewart - they are hoping for a bigger in car in England (so am I).

We made a quick stop at a car wash to clean up the car before returning it - and upon returning it learned that we have travel 8473 kilometers since we picked it up in Rome (do the math) - that's something like driving from Anchorage Alaska to Mexico City in the last 50+ days.  Wow!

We took the train into Barcelona (a quick 30 minute trip) and I watched my little travelers maneuver the train station, tickets, escalators and busy streets of Barcelona with their carry-ons like pros.  I know they were tired and hungry, but no complaining - they really have been great traveling companions.

Our apartment is at the heart of Barcelona - just off Plaza Catalunya, like the Time Square of NYC.  After some time to rest and relax we took a walk down the main pedestrian drag called Las Ramblas and ended up in a market where everyone had 6 Euros to find themselves dinner.  Menu items included skewered meats, yucca with chicken, empanadas, fruit drinks, chocolate covered strawberries, crochets, and candy bars.

After dinner we decided to head to a fountain that was built in the 1920s for the World's Fair that today has an evening show with lights and music.  We watched the water dance around in a variety of combinations and sang along to our favorite top 40s songs for the "show". The kids up front got wet as they ended up in the splash zone.

Dinner at the Ramblas Market

Maxfield Modern Art 

Madrid - palaces and modern art

Madrid Royal Palace * Cookies from Nuns * Reina Sofia

22,000 steps 

Although our apartment has a small A/C unit in the living room, the air has a hard time circulating to the back bedrooms (there are 4 bedrooms down the hall).  In the middle of the night Charlie woke up with a splitting headache, I suspect from the heat.  We thought he had fallen off his bed and hit his head, so I gave him some Ibuprofen that upset his stomach and then he threw up - fun stuff!  We were up with him for a couple of hours and finally ended up sleeping on the couch with him by the A/C unit.  Eric had closed all the blinds so the apartment was pitch black and like sleeping in a cave.   So, I suspect it was no surprise that after a rough night with Charlie and a late night on the town we slept in until 10:00. In fact, I still had to wake up a couple of kids at 11:00.

Charlie seemed to be fine when he woke up - thank heavens.  Also, thank heavens some clouds had rolled in and although hot, the sun wasn't beating down on us. Although it got close, I doubt it reached 100* today.  Our apartment in only about a 10 minute drive from downtown (a 7 minute drive the other way to the temple) and it's actually cheaper to drive into town and pay for parking than to pay for 7 round trip tickets on a bus.  Eric is a masterful European driver now and downtown Madrid does not intimidate him (it's really no worse than driving in Southern CA or Washington DC).

Downtown Madrid is a nothing compared to the other Capitol cities we have visited.  After walking down the main areas for an hour we'd seen it (with the exception of it's museums).  We poked our heads into some shops, enjoyed the pedestrian streets, but after that - not much.  I was underwhelmed by Madrid.

We visited the Royal Palace - which was impressive - 3rd in size after Versailles and Vienna.  In some ways I liked this Palace better than Versailles.  Because the palace is still in use for official events, private parties, etc, etc, it is well maintained and easy to imagine fancy people doing fancy things here.  There was a dining room table that could seat 144 people - that room rivaled the room of mirrors in Versailles.  Because of the cloud cover we were able to sit under a tree and enjoy our picnic of cheese, Jamon Serano, fruit, and a cookie.

Afterwards we searched out a convent I had read about where cloistered nuns sell cookies.  Charlie kept saying, let's go find the Oyster Nuns and buy their cookies.  We had to ring their bell and wait - a long time, I guess they walk slowly in Convents (we kept thinking of the Nuns in the Sound of Music walking slowly to let the German officials inside).  They opened the door and we let ourselves inside - during the entire time we never saw a soul.  We found the exchange area and the nun put the cookies available to buy on a turn stile and we told her which ones we wanted (she talked to us through the wall).  We took our cookies, put our money on the wheel and then let ourselves out.  The cookies were good - a lemon shortbread.  Emma was worried about eating cookies from a faceless Nun.

We wandered through some more downtown streets and Emma and Maren were dying to go shopping at Zara - a Spanish H&M shop.  To keep everyone happy we let them shop for almost an hour while the rest of us sat on some steps inside and enjoyed the air conditioned store.  They both purchased a couple of shirts that I'm sure we could have found at H&M in the mall - but it was a good way to pass some time and get out of the heat.

Our final stop of the day was the Reina Sofia modern art Museum.  It was VERY different from anything we've seen before - ink splotches, white canvases, things Charlie could have drawn in church - BUT, we did get to see early 20th century Modern art from Miro, Kadinskly, Picasso, Rothko, Gris, Dali, and others.  The highlight was Picasso's Guernica which is huge!  We actually drove through the town of Guernica after we picked up Stewart.  (I won't go into details about why Picasso painted this story - but it is the ultimate anti-war art of it's time).

Dinner was involved as Stewart wanted to make a Spanish Tortilla and Maren wanted to make Spanish hot chocolate.  Both were a huge success, but we weren't eating until 10:30 which is just WAY too late for dinner.  I guess it's good we had breakfast at noon and lunch at 4:00.  We leave Madrid tomorrow and hopefully this crazy late schedule.  

Madrid Royal Palace

Reina Sofai

Madrid - Day 2 dodging the heat, The Temple & The Prado

Temple * Gurrea Family * Prado * Plaza Del Sol

13,000 Steps

I'm not sure how much longer we can continue living like Madrilenos - out late, up late, and dodging the heat.  It's tiring.  I don't know how they do it.  Even the Missionaries had a modified schedule to accommodate the Spaniards.  They work until 10:30 p.m., in bed by 11:30 p.m., up at 7:30 a.m. - basically an hour later than all the other missionaries in the world.  Tonight we were in downtown Madrid at 10:30 drinking and eating churros with chocolate (yum - think warm, chocolate pudding) and everyone was out, eating, shopping, hanging - even kids - all over the place.  We're sleeping in tomorrow.

We figured out the recipe to avoid the Madrid heat (it got over 100* today).  Spend 2 1/2 hours in the air conditioned Temple, have a 2 hour lunch with Stewart's friends, spend 2 1/2 hour in the air conditioned Prado museum, eat dinner inside an air conditioned restaurant, then walk around town at 9:30 at night.

This morning we went to the temple for baptisms.  Stewart lost his wallet this week so he stayed outside with Charlie and read, played games, drew pictures of the temple etc while the rest of us did baptisms.  I was surprised by how many people were there for the 10:00 baptismal session - probably 20 women and 3 men.  Languages spoken were Spanish, French, Portuguese & English.  Eric was one of the few priesthood leaders so he performed most of the baptisms (in Spanish).  The temple president gave a great devotional on the sacrifice we give to the Lord when we come to the temple - not only a broken heart and a contrite spirit, but our own family names.  Thanks to Catherine Frazier and Ray Springer's granddaughter we had 18 family names with us.  We were in the temple for over 2 hours and it was really nice.  We even ran into a family from the Philippines that we had met in Verona.

A family from Stewart's area in Alcala invited us over for lunch.  One of Stewart's former companions from Portugal is living with them right now while he is back in Spain working and dating a Spanish girl.  The family is from Argentina and actually lived in Utah for 8 years before moving to Spain.  They have 3 children, one of whom is Ian, the boy that Charlie met on Sunday.  Charlie and Ian ran around outside after lunch having a water gun fight while we visited.  It's humbling to meet such good people who become family to these young missionaries while they are far from home.

After lunch we went to the Prado museum in downtown Madrid.  The Prado rivals the Uffizi as far as a true art museum goes (only paintings).  In some ways I liked it better than the Uffizi.  I love looking at traditional Renaissance Art - but in addition to the typical paintings you'd expect from the Renaissance we saw many paintings from El Greco, Velasquez, and Goya.  We only walked 13,000 steps today (we walked 26,000 steps when we went to the Louvre) - but our feet were still tired (the heat I'm sure).

After the Prado and dinner at a very Americanesque diner (sometimes easy is better than traditional with 7 people) we wander the streets of Madrid to find the best churros con chocolate recommended from our guide book.  It was ridiculously hot to be having hot chocolate, but there was air conditioning and there's never a really good reason not to eat chocolate.

Lunch with the Gurrea Family