June 15, 2012
Its Friday morning and we are packed and ready to fly to Barcelona Spain!
Luckily we had friends (Lindsay & Eric) heading to the airport the same day so we asked if they wouldn't mind if we car pooled with them. We met them at their place just a train rides away from Kaiserslautern where we decided to park our car. Making the trip on the way back to our place just a little easier not having to wait around for the train switch at some ungodly hour in the morning. We arrived at the Frankfurt airport early and I have to say its not a bad airport to be trapped at for a few hours. There's a variety of food, places to shop or just sit and read a book waiting for your flight. (As we did, we are both reading the "Hunger Game" series)
Time to board and with just an hour and half flight we landed in Barcelona! You have to love Germany being so central to all travel destinations in the E.U. Barcelona airport is very chic with windows streaming light in from every direction and the space is spotless and shiny. Eager to explore and set our bags down we found our Aerobus shuttle which puts us just a couple of blocks from the place we were staying. We often use Airbnb.com for places to stay while we take our trips and this was no different, except this time instead of renting a whole house or apartment we were renting a room that was in an apartment with current tenants. We were a little apprehensive but decided to go for it this trip and we were very glad we DID! Not only were Mike and Fernando very helpful they literally went above and beyond. Everyday they asked us what our plans were and if we needed directions or maps. Which they printed off for us! We took many of their recommendations for food and we couldn't have been happier. All the places they suggested were awesome and not as touristy with authentic food and prices that were fair. Spain is probably one of the least expensive cities that we have traveled to thus far in the E.U.
After we put our bags down in our room we went out for dinner at a neighborhood place around the corner called Lolitas. We both ordered tapas and sat at an outside table. Really this is my favorite type of meal because I really hate deciding on just one meal sometimes and this way you get to taste a little of everything.We had calamari, rabbit shoulder, tomato bread, cava, sangria (of course), spanish beer, and for dessert a soft cheese served with locally made rosemary honey. Everything was delicious! We had dinner relatively early that night at 6:30pm and we were happy we did because towards the end of our meal the place was packed!
The next morning I had one agenda on mind and that was the beach! All weekend called for wonderful weather in the upper 70's to low 80's and it could not have been more perfect. We took the metro to the beach and walked a few blocks to the beach on the way picking up a new beach bag and towels. What a relaxing day! (Side note: yes the beaches are tops optional and no I did not go topless this trip however David did) There were people everywhere, in the water, playing games on the beach, eating at the beach cafe... young, old, families, singles...it was great. The sand was nice and I did stick a foot in the water because I was to report back to friends in Germany if the water was warm. Warm no, but swimmable yes. There were tons of people in the water.
After a few hours on the beach our stomachs were telling us to eat so we grabbed a seat at one of the restaurants on the walk back and had the most delicious seafood paella, calamari and mussels. It was so much food we couldn't finish it all. We made our way back to our place and like every other person in Europe took ourselves a siesta. It was much needed.
Once we woke up and cleaned up for dinner we decided to go into the city center. Where all the long alleyways are and pedestrian shopping places were. Whatever city we are in these areas are always my favorite. There is so much to see! I love the long alley ways with shop after shop. Little tapas places here or a coffee crepes place there. The little local shops with hand made chocolates or the boutiques with the unique window displays always make me happy. I had to stop in this one place, it was not small by any means but it had the cutest clothes, hammocks and home decor. I did get a few things here and happened to ask if they had an online store. Which thankfully they do! ("Natura Borne" was the name of the store) David also got lucky that day and we found him a nice pair of summer casual shoes at a place just around the corner from the metro. The spanish love their shoes! There were shoe stores everywhere! You should see some of the shoes these women wear - old and young. I hope to be able to be as stylish as them when I reach that age.
Still stuffed from a late lunch we walked around the city and stumbled upon a chain dessert slash gelateria place on the corner and treated ourselves to a strawberry sorbet smoothie and David had chocolate, coconut, pistachio gelato. From there we took another stroll along the shops where we happened upon a sweet chocolate shop. We can't help ourselves pretty much every place we go we buy the chocolate just to compare country to country. It was getting pretty late around 11pm and our bellies were talking or at least mine was or maybe it was too early to retire for the night with so many cafes and restaurants still buzzing. We were on our way back to the metro and we stopped in a place on the corner (of course another tapas place) and we had some sangria and a plate of mixed mediterranean plate with olives, artichokes, sun dried tomatos, mushrooms, stuffed peppers and banana peppers.
Tired and eager to start an early day we found our way back and passed out.
Its Sunday morning and we have a busy agenda! We slept in longer than expected and after talking with Fernando about beaches we set out to start our day. Every morning we stopped in the cafe just below where we were staying and got a cappuccino. Well let me rephrase this. David always ordered the cappuccino however being adventurous with my selection in coffee...I remembered this cuban place we used to go to in Richmond all the time and they had the best coffee cuban style served with sweetened condensed milk - which makes it so much more smooth tasting. So, to my surprise they had "Cafe Cuba" on their coffee selection so I ordered it. Now, disclosure I do NOT speak Spanish, only taking 2 years in high school. Although that hardly says anything because my class was right before lunch and by then I had slipped into a low blood sugar coma....only absorbing the Spanish through osmosis with my head on my book. The nice lady behind the counter smiled and said something to me in Spanish that was like "Are you sure you want the Cafe Cuba" ? and I replied, "yes, or si that sounds bueno" and she proceeded to tell me it had rum in it and I asked, "Is it good"? and she said, "yes" so I ordered it. Well, lets just say that I did not get her hint...so when David and I watched her pour 3/4 of the glass with rum topped with a dollop of coffee and a mound of whip cream...I looked at David and said, "I think I should have ordered a cappuccino". This was the first time I had food envy. Now I know why everyone was looking at me when I was served. They were all like - who is this crazy white girl ordering booze this early in the morning? She must be a raging alcoholic...
I was a good sport however and managed to take a swig or two while the lady behind the counter was watching me. When David paid she asked, "How was it"? and he told her that it was a little strong for the morning. Which she chuckled and said yes or si. She was so sweet she put the rest of my drink in a to go cup so we could take it with us. (Side Note: I did not know I was pregnant on this trip, and luckily the baby doesn't share blood or the many toxins I put in my body that week at least that early in pregnancy anyway...thank God)
Today was a busy day. We had lots to see and decided the most fun and economical way of getting around to all the sights was on a hop on hop off bus tour that was a two day pass. We saw the main attractions that appealed to us however, there is so much to see we would definitely go back to see the places up close that we opted not to see this trip. We did see: The grounds of the 1992 Summer Olympics, Old Roman Quarter, Jewish Quarter, Sagrada Familia, Plaza Catalunya, Camp Nou (The FC Barcelona), Palau Nacional, Christopher Columbus Statue and a couple of others that we optede not to hop off for. The bus pretty much took up all of this day and the next.
The biggest stop for us or not to miss was the Sagrada Familia, the iconic church created by Gaudi. His works were inspired by his childhood and love for nature. The church was incredible and very different from any other church we have ever visited. It is still a work of art, estimated to be completed in 2014. Although, most of it is complete.
We did squeeze in the beach one more time and an amazing late lunch that was four courses of deliciousness overlooking a beautiful harbor filled with sailboats and is the reason I could not take my shirt off at the beach that day! That night we did the magic fountains and that was really cool with the music and lights in front of the old palace that was turned into an art museum. Not to mention are the first country we had visited with an escalator option to go to the top of the stairs of the palace instead of walking I don't know maybe close 200 stairs!
We loved Spain, the people, the weather, the sights and all the shopping! We will definitely will return to this wonderful country again!
Talk to you soon,
Tiffany, David and Oliver
Beautiful, just beautiful
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