Back from Barcelona

We all got back safe and sound from Barcelona yesterday after having a fun 5 days in the sun.  

It was amazing to us, that we could catch a plane 20 minutes from our house and be in Barcelona in a little over 2 hours. We had a very nice time there enjoying the sun (albeit still a bit chilly) soaking up the culture and enjoying the great food. (It was good to have some food that wasn't so bland!)

Barcelona is a great city. We ended up renting an apartment near the famous PARK GUELL and had a great time on Sunday.  We found a restaurant that was close the house and quite busy for Easter Sunday.  There we enjoyed some tapas and the environment (it was nice eating with folks that are louder than our kids are when eating...it seems eating is a full contact sport in Spain - loud voices - lots of emotions and fun)  We spent the rest of the day walking through the park, listening to the musicians that filled the park, buying some trinkets from the vendors and soaking up the sun. 

On Monday we ventured down to La Rambla - the main street in Barcelona (quite long) and strolled along the street taking in the sights and sounds.  We had a nice meal of Tapas and made our way down to the pier.  We came home in time before there was a little rain and a double rainbow appeared outside our apartment balcony.

On Tuesday we bought tickets for the double decker bus tour through the city and made our way to Sagrada Familia - a church that is constantly under construction since 1882.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia (you can read more about it).  This guy GAUDI was quite busy - designing the Park Guell, participating in the design of this church and designing most of Barcelona from the looks of it.  It was a beautiful church  - we look forward to going back sometime and going inside - the line was just too long for us this time.  We made our way back to La Rambla that afternoon for more site seeing. We walked through La Boqueria (fresh food/meat/fish market and enjoyed some fresh fruit)  We also had a street artist draw a picture of the three kids.  The kids were quite excited about it.  As we were having their picture drawn...who walks up and says hi to Dave?  Howie Mandel.    The kids were a  bit star struck and later regretted not asking for a picture.We had a another meal of Tapas and then eventually Burger King as Sadie wasn't much on the Tapas!

On our last day Dave took the kids back to Park Guell for some play time in the park area while Kel got ready for the day.  It was amazing - how much fun they had playing - something they haven't been able to do as much here in the UK due to the weather.  We found our way back down to La Rambla and to the pier where we laid by the water a bit and soaked up the sun, picked up some last minute souvenirs and a dinner of Paella at a local restaurant and back home to pack it up.

 I have to say the Spanish people certainly understand the meaning of AMOR and it was quite visible everyplace you looked - we became quite good and pointing the kids in different directions to ensure they were focused on the appropriate things. : )  (As you can see in the pic above)

We made it back safe and sound yesterday.  Sadie insisted on wearing her Spanish flamenco dancer dress on the flight home.