Sunny Barcelona

We arrived in sunny Barcelona on Palm Sunday.  After meeting our apartment hosts and enjoying some drinks on the rooftop, we headed down to the beach.

Barceloneta Beach is the beginning of a three mile man-made stretch of sand along the city and the sea.  It was packed, our first indication of how busy this city was going to be.  

Our first dinner was in a Basque pintxo bar, the kids liked it, parents not so much.  

The apartment we rented through Air B&B was on the rooftop, 107 steps, and left a lot to be desired.  In many uneven levels, painted red with psychedelic posters, it served its purpose but will consider the price of location next time.  It was in an amazing place, right in the Born, walking distance to the Gothic Quarter and the beach.

On our first full day we walked to the Christopher Columbus Statue at the base of Las Ramblas.  Then we proceeded to walk up the grand boulevard to La Boqueria Market.  The market is crowded and bright.  We bought cut fresh fruit and fresh juice and explored the stalls of meat, candy and spices.  

We walked back to the apartment through the Gothic Quarter, stopping in the Barcelona Cathedral.  

We picked up a little souvenir for Lauren on our walk.  She immediately put it on and started dancing.

Every afternoon ended at the beach.  Perfect weather for 6 straight days.  A perfect vacation.

On Tuesday I took the kids to the Barcelona Zoo.  It was full of animals, which is surprising when you're used to visiting the The National Zoo in Washington.  The kids don't particularly love zoos in general but this one had an exotic bird exhibit with Blue Macaws (like Blue in Rio) and a dolphin show to rival Sea World, which was the main attraction for us.

Back to the beach!

Jesse arrived on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning we all headed to Park Guell to check out Gaudi's work.  It was huge and different with great views of the city.  Best of all we were all together again.

In the afternoon my parents toured the Sagrada Familia while we took the kids to rest, but beforehand, we all enjoyed the view from the playground across the street.

Thursday we climbed the tower to ride the cable car or Aeri del Port.  What a thrill!  We could see all sides of the port, beaches and views to the hills of the city.  From the other side we walked around Montjuic and back to the apartment by subway.  

That afternoon Jesse & I had our turn to tour the Sagrada Familia.  It was such a different visit from the typical European cathedral and really spectacular to witness a cathedral focused on the story of Jesus, versus a monument to the saints and Catholicism.  We went up the Passion Tower and walked down again with great views of the city.

Meanwhile my parents took the kids to the Catalunya History Museum, which they loved and met us down at the beach afterwards.

That night we went out in El Born and at midnight, the brightly lit streets are full of revelers, including children.  I love Barcelona!

Dad left early on Good Friday for the States and we walked over to Port Olympic which basically includes a lot of upscale restaurants, two large office towers and an enormous marina.  We spent the last day on the beach watching the kids play in the sand.

Friday night we tried to see the Magic Fountains at the base of Montjuic but were duped along with about 3000 other people when they didn't begin at 7, or even by 8pm.  So we tried Tapa Tapa for dinner and grabbed a cab back to the apartment on our last night in town.

Spring Break Week 1

Jesse and Cole took off for the US midday Saturday so Mom & I took the girls to Floralia Brussels - a flower show on the grounds of an estate in northern Brussels.  The sun shone brightly on the tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and bluebells.

Sunday morning we set off for the UK via Eurotunnel.  Our first destination was Pear Tree Cottage - home of school friends James and Alice, little brother Matthew and their parents Victoria and Robert Tinline.  They live in Burwash, East Sussex, on a windy country road without street signs.

The children played in the garden and got soaked with mud and water.  The adults enjoyed several cups of tea and a cozy warm house.  We had dinner, chatted by the fire and woke to torrential rains.  We said our thanks and took off towards London to pick up Dad.  

After we finally connected at Gatwick Airport we drove south to Brighton.  It was still raining but we walked on the rocky beach and up on the pier before having lunch and continuing on our way.

Our final UK destination was Rye, a restored English village by the sea.  Filled with Tudor-style houses and flower gardens, it was quaint and pretty and I'm very sure Jesse wasn't disappointed to miss this trip.

We visited the imposing Bodium Castle.

Our last day we spent the morning at the beach called Camber Sands with the Tinlines.  A chilly mid-50 degrees, the kids dug in the sand and we tried to keep them collected before heading back to Rye for lunch and off to catch the Eurotunnel back to France.

Our next few days in Brussels were filled with laundry and errands as we welcomed Cole & Jesse back "home".  Saturday we even made it up to Antwerp for the day.

The pilot turns 6

Cole turned six on March 28.  Again we had pizza and cake with the Hannestads and this time the Guinsbourgs joined us as well.  Then we had his class birthday party Saturday at David Lloyd with 13 friends in the pool.  The teachers did a great job keeping them entertained and the brownie cake was yummy if rather strange for a birthday.  At least I made him an awesome runway cake and star cupcakes for school.  Most of his friends stayed close to his aeronautical obsession and he got some great new gliders and airplane toys.  He said it was the best birthday ever!

Paris in Spring

We spent the Carnaval holiday weekend in Paris with the kids.  On the way down we stopped at the Air & Space Museum just outside the city. We boarded a deconstructed 747 and both a prototype and real Concorde.  Then a few miles later we spotted the Eiffel Tower and pulled into our hotel in Montparnasse.  We spent twilight walking around Notre Dame and the Ile St. Louis.  We acknowledged that we cannot enjoy sunset from a sidewalk cafe with Caroline in tow at this age so we had a savory dinner at a casual creperie.

Saturday, after a stop at one of many patisseries, we took the metro to the Place Trocadero.  With the sun rising through the Eiffel Tower we introduced the kids to Paris in its glory.  The kids rode one of the antique merry-go-rounds and then we finally walked to the base of the tower.  

We sat ourselves in the little playground by the tower and spent a few hours enjoying the view.  After our picnic lunch we rode a horse-drawn carriage around a few of the sights and finally metroed back to the hotel.

I took Caroline with me shopping at Monoprix while Lauren napped and later we walked down to the Luxembourg Gardens to check it out for the next day.  We managed dinner in a large, noisy cafe and early to bed.

Sunday morning the skies shown bright blue and we grabbed Starbucks, pastries and enjoyed feeling the sun warm the day in the Jardin du Luxembourg.  When the man arrived with sailboats to rent Cole and Lauren chose US and Belgian flagged vessels and Jesse had fun circling the pond to guide the boats with the kids.  We stopped in the manical park playground which the kids loved as well.  Cole told us he wanted to move to Paris immediately and we could understand clearly why after this trip.

After a final creperie lunch and a fresh, warm baguette from the boulangerie, we packed up the van, squeezed out of the garage and returned to Brussels.