Day 101: or The Day We Saw The Sagrada Familia

Woke up a little later than we wanted and made our way to Sagrada Familia. For those of you who’ve been to Barcelona, you know this already, but there are no words for this place. I’ve known what the outside looked like and the pictures don’t do it justice. It’s impressive, totally cool, and I could spend a whole day there. But the inside is what I think heaven looks like. To me, churches are very moving, and the building is just as important in faith building. The stain glass and stone work is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The pictures are nowhere near good enough. It was just plain unbelievable. I really hope they finish it in my life time, I’d really like to see that.

We went to the Mercat de la Boqueria after the cathedral and bought cheese, bread, jam, peppers and some chocolates. We went back to the apartment and had a little afternoon snack while listening to music. We haven’t quite figured out siestas yet though. We end up back in the apartment, but after a little food and too much talking, it was already time to go back out. Hopefully tomorrow will be better scheduled. We also busted out the cards I brought from France. Gabbie brought some great travel books and we went to Restaurant 7 Portes on their suggestion. We had a great meal of paella, spiny lobster soup, meatballs and cannelloni. Gabbie also had us try a liqueur called Fernet Branca. It was a little on the strong side for my taste, not sure how she does it. After dinner we walked around the harbor and after stopping to have a beer, we headed home.

We played card games and listened to music when we got back. Living in France, my music knowledge has diminished greatly. I always like switching out iPods and listening to different people’s choices. Good way to tell what’s going on in a person’s life.

Day 100: or The Day We Went To Barcelona

The day started a little rough with the girls recovering from jet lag. We all managed to get out the door by 9:45 and got to the train station in plenty of time. We got our tickets and grabbed some food while we waited for the 11:30 train to Barcelona. It’s a short 2h45m train ride to Barcelona and we spent the time looking at travel books and rehashing all the things we wanted to accomplish. The scenery was beautiful and the weather matched it. We reached Barcelona a little before 3:00pm and had an ordeal working a pay phone. We got a hold of the lady we were renting from and grabbed the metro.

When we reached the apartment, we waited for her to let us in. Another moment of confusion as to whether we should ring the buzzer or stand on the street. When we did manage to get in, we were welcomed with 115 steps. That’s right, we’re staying in a 7^th floor walk up. When we finally reached the apartment, we were happy to find a bright an airy apartment. We have a great terrace and I can see that this place was an excellent find, by yours truly. We got a good deal and the owner seemed really great, which is always a relief after booking on line. We unpacked and set out towards the beach. We walked along the boardwalk and stopped for tapas and sangria for a late lunch.  On the way home we grabbed some stuff for the apartment and headed back up the stairs of death.

Trying to stick on Spanish time, we headed out for dinner at 10:00pm and found a little place in the Placa Rejal. After more tapas and a walk down La Rambla, we made it home and had a bottle of wine on the terrace. I think we would fit well into this Spanish life.

I Have No Clue What Day It Is

To say the least, internet access is a little scarce on my end of the island. I have written the posts for the last week and a half, but can't manage to get MY laptop connected. Hopefully soon though. We are having a great time in Greece, and we had a great time in Spain. Hope Everyone is well!

Day 99: or The Day I Woke Up In Spain

I woke up on the train and prepared for my first day in Madrid. It was nice to get ready looking out the train window and watching the mountains When we stopped in the station, I started the trek to the airport to pick up Linden. After navigating an easy Metro combined with a not so easy airport terminal, I met Linden at the arrivals gate and we headed off into the city. We had a couple  of hours before we needed to meet Gabbie so we walked around the neighborhood near the hotel. It was a was a very warm day which Linden was used, but I still enjoy like it's something rare. we met Gabbie at the airport without incident and showed her through the city I felt I knew already.


The trip was truly beginning at this point.We had all arrived, all unpacked, and were ready for our first Spanish night. We had booked a wine and tapas tour and met the guide at Plaza de la Villa. We spent a little over 3 hours walking around the oldest part of Madrid, sampling his favorite wines and some particularly amazing food. The first stop had maybe the best olives I've ever eaten. The girls agreed, so I feel like I wasn't wrong, they were amazing. At the last stop we had maybe the best pork loin I've ever eaten. It looked like beef with a red center and was seared to perfection.  It was served with  truffle oil mashed potatoes and grilled strawberries. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. We were with a nice group of people and we all parted ways a little after 11:00pm. The girls and I stopped for gelato on the way back as we took the long way around. The city is still so busy late that you feel boring going to sleep. Also, because of Europe's odd time zone situation, Spain has a very late sunset. It is in the same time zone as Paris, but the sun sets at least an hour later. The girls were slightly jet lagged and we wanted to be ready to go tomorrow. We made it back to the hotel and planned more for the upcoming week.

Day 98: or The Day I Caught The Night Train

Friday, how I love thee, let me count the ways. Especially this Friday. I dropped the Kid off at school and headed home to finalize all that needed to be done. I packed almost everything last night but needed to run into town and grab some last minute things. The travel day stress was mostly replaced with excitement until the train police came and checked everyone’s tickets. I had a ticket of course, but had never seen the police. When I went to get it out of my bag, I couldn't find it. Uh-oh. I started to get frantic as they got closer. How was I going to explain inf broken French that I somehow lost the ticket somewhere between the gate and the train, a whole 50 ft. When he got there I showed him my return journey ticket and tried to explain. I also showed him a spare ticket I had and hoped he would just take it in place of the one I’d lost. They took the ticket, and wrote the date, told me not to stress, and left me alone. That was close. As I took a closer look at the ticket they had handed back to me, I noticed an indentation on the back. It was the “lost” ticket. The machine must have been out of ink, because it imprinted the validation, but with no ink. It was a mix of relief, and then frustration because had the police not been as nice, they would have fined me a boat load. It ended well, so I’m not complaining, but it could have been a bad start to my fabulous vacation.


I made it home and finished packing. I ran to get the Kid and then handed him off to his sister. Said goodbye and headed for the train. I made it to the station in Paris and boarded the night train to Madrid. After going to the wrong car I managed to find my correct berth. I was very glad to have been wrong however because the first car was boiling hot. I was pondering how to jimmy open the window because it was stifling. When I went to the right one, I was greeted with the cool breeze of A.C. Glorious. My bunkmate was a women from Hanover. I swear every German I meet is from Hanover. Very odd. It ended up only being the 2 of us, and I was glad for that because I’m not sure how you would fit 4 people in one of those compartments, even if it was family. Maybe without luggage, but who would take the night train without luggage? Passed on dinner due to the extraordinary prices and settled in for a ling night. I’m happy the sun is setting so late though because I’ll be able to see a bit of French countryside before bed. It’s amazing how soon out of Paris it becomes picturesque. Not that Paris isn’t picturesque, just different.  I handed the ticket checker my passport and became anxious about that whole ordeal. The train is 14 hours and I’m going to try and get to sleep early. Not having internet means reading which would normally be fine except I’ve finished my little stack already. I brought HP7 just in case. It’ll be my 4th time to read it but I always reread the books for the movies and the movie is only 3 months away. The German woman is getting off the train at 4am so I’m assuming she’ll be turning in early, which bodes well for me. Also it means I’ll have the room to myself in the morning. In a few short hours I’ll be with my first visitors from home. Not sure I’ll get much sleep tonight.

Day 97: or The Day It Felt Like The Friday Before Spring Break

Granted, it was Thursday, but the feeling was there none the less. I had class this morning and after it was over, a beautiful day awaited. It was the last thing to do before my two week break, so when I was leaving the school, I had that feeling you get when your a kid and it's Friday afternoon and you have the whole weekend ahead of you. I absolutely love that feeling.


I spent the afternoon outside in the sun and trying to make sure I knew everything I had to do before I leave. Packing light for a two week trip is a difficult thing, but I think I will be able to pull it off. After I got the Kid from school, he played outside and I made pizza. The mom had made the dough with organic flour and it didn't turn out so well. The dough I mean, the pizza was fine. I didn't realize organic vs. non-organic would change the dough so much but it  made it near impossible to roll it out. I made a huge mess of the kitchen and was thankful the cleaner is coming tomorrow.


When I was done working, I started the actual packing instead of planning packing. I feel like I've been waiting for this vacation since I arrived in France. I didn't know who was going to visit me, but I knew someone from home would be here and I'm very excited for out trip. Now let's just hope I don't forget anything.

Day 96: or The Day It Felt Like Summer

Seeing that I hang out around a lot of moms, I've gotten to know some of them. When ever there is nice weather, they always comment on how happy I must be. It's as if everyone knows how much I love the heat. Today was the warmest yet and everyone was talking about it. The third floor of the house was actually hot and I needed to open the windows. Everyone also comments on how it's never this warm and nice. Apparently, I picked the right year to live in France, because if this was mild, I can't handle real cold.


The kids all came home at different times, which meant each of them was in the kitchen getting snacks at different times. When this happens,  I usually end up in a conversation with them for varying lengths of time. The 13 year old boy is known to be very quiet. He gives one word answers and sometimes doesn't feel the need to respond verbally at all. But when it's just the two of us in the kitchen, he usually talks freely. The mom also told me he's quiet talkative outside the house, which is the opposite of most shy people I would think. At dinner the girls started in on him again for this and that and made a comment about the silence. He sat there not saying a word when I finally said "he talks plenty, but the way you two argue, I wouldn't say anything either". I wasn't sure how we'd take it, but he gave a nod of agreement. Apparently I know a thing or two about shy younger brothers.