Posted on

Madrid – Puerta del Sol et alia

Spencer by statue at Puerta del Sol

Since we had all gone to bed quite late on Tuesday, we slept in and took it easy Wednesday morning. Eventually we decided to get out of the house to explore a bit, and decided to split up. The girls went to get their nails done, as a special treat to Meg, since Spencer had a treat by going to the soccer game. Spencer and I decided to head to Puerta del Sol, which Clare described as a sort of Times Square, and was only a short walk. To be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed by Puerta del Sol, though we went back a different day at night, and it was much more lively. We did see a couple street performers – a Mario and Luigi. They were very impressed with my moustache and wanted a picture with me. Well, rather, they wanted me to give them some money to take a picture with them, which I did. I usually give something to the street performers, especially the musicians, because I find live music pleasing. I keep thinking that Spencer and I should start busking in Olde Town Arvada – he can play saxophone and I can play pandeiro. We could specialize in jazz bossa novas and sambas. We’ll see if that ever happens. I had promised Spencer that Puerta del Sol might have some kiosks which sold Champions League trading cards, and sure enough they did. So we got some trading cards, and some post cards. Some of the post card images were also not that far, so we decided to continue walking on a bit to find them. We walked by the National Bank of Spain, the Palacio de Cibales, and the Puerta de Alcala. We failed to find a restaurant to both of our likings, so we ended up just going back to the apartment for lunch. There was an interesting part where a circuit tripped and we couldn’t find the circuit breaker, but eventually I called the AirBnB host and figured it out. After lunch we played some cards, and Spencer learned how to do the bridge! (shuffling cards)

While we were seeing big buildings, Clare and Meg were getting their nails done, browsing souvenir shops and getting churros. They had some good finds at the souvenir shops. Meg mostly bought souvenirs to give to others, some for Christmas. She is very generous.

Posted on

Real Madrid

Rob and Spencer at the Real Madrid game
Rob and Spencer at the Real Madrid game

On Tuesday we woke up relatively early again so that we could make it to Madrid by 1 p.m. in order to return the car. Clare wasn’t feeling that well so I drove. We ended up getting into Madrid right around 12:30, and were lucky to find a parking spot a couple blocks away from the AirBnB, which was in a pedestrian zone, right on the main square, the Plaza Mayor. It was very convenient to be right in the heart of the city with many famous landmarks within walking distance, along with street performers, souvenir shops, and restaurants. The only downside is that it was a bit loud at night while we trying to sleep.

Tunnel underneath the pedestrian zone (our AirBnB was just before the arch on the left)
Tunnel underneath the pedestrian zone (our AirBnB was just before the arch on the left)

Once again, we had some minor panic about getting into our apartment. The AirBnB host had said that the cleaning lady should be there to let us in and get the keys, but apparently she hadn’t been notified someone was coming, so she wasn’t there. After lots of climbing up and down stairs, ringing doorbells and such, we were finally able to get a hold of Jose by phone and the cleaning lady said she could be there in an hour. We left our suitcases inside the building right outside the apartment and went to return the car. Driving in the city center was very stressful, with lots of very narrow one-way streets that crossed pedestrian zones, but we made it eventually. After dropping off the car we got Spencer some McDonald’s and the rest of us ended up having Taco Bell. Generally I try to avoid fast-food restaurants like the plague, but sometimes they are handy. It is interesting to see the differences between the chains in Europe and the U.S. This Taco Bell had a Taco Tuesday deal of a crunch taco and a beer for €1.50, which seemed like a good deal. Clare had a Chicken 2.0 – which was basically a chicken schnitzel wrapped up like a taco shell with taco fillings inside it.

Plaza Mayor - view from our balcony
Plaza Mayor – view from our balcony

When we got back to the AirBnB the cleaning lady was there and we got the keys. We relaxed for a bit and enjoyed the view from the balcony, and relaxed for a bit. Clare and I then went to a nearby Lidl to get groceries. We had a quick dinner and then Spencer and I headed out to the Real Madrid vs. Viktoria Plze? Champions League game. Consistent with the late-night culture in Spain, the game didn’t start until 9 p.m., so we left around 8 p.m. to take the Metro. Google Maps had told us there would be 3 stops before we needed to transfer, but one of them was closed for construction. We almost didn’t get off at the right spot, but Spencer was paying attention and we saw the name of the station and got off. Both kids are really getting to be good travelers! We got to the stadium around 8:40, and I was shocked at how short the line to get in was. Same goes for the line for bathrooms and refreshments. I think that they have designed it well to have many different small entry points – we entered at Gate 35. Real Madrid dominated most of the game, and won 2-1. It was quite exciting. Getting back was even more exciting – the Metro was packed, but everyone was quite calm and orderly, and we eventually got back to the apartment a little before midnight.

Posted on

Zaragoza

Zaragosa-032
On Monday we woke up in Andorra, had a quick breakfast and packed up, then headed for Zaragoza, a Spanish city about halfway between Andorra and Madrid. I had found us a nice and inexpensive place to stay there. The drive was quite beautiful, especially the part through the mountains, though a bit stressful because of the curves and frequent speed limit changes. Driving in Europe is definitely more tiring than in the United States. Once again, it was nice to have the horsepower of the Audi A4 to pass some slow trucks.

The hotel in Zaragosa was the only one in the trip to actually have a reception which was nice. Once we figured out where the parking garage was, we settled in a bit, then headed out to check out the scenery for a bit. We found a beautiful square with a little park and fountain, then continued on to the main square to see the famous Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar. Unfortunately you were not allowed to take photos inside. It had stunning paintings on the ceiling, along with many small domes with windows. Then we had a nice dinner on the square. Spencer had a hamburger, and the rest of us had the menu. Clare had some seafood paella. After dinner we stopped at a fabric store and Meg got some fabric for making clothes – one of the highlights of this trip was watching Project Runway Jr. The kids have gotten very excited about designing and making clothes. We might give it a shot.

Posted on

Naturlandia

Rob and Meg on the tobotronc roller coaster

One of the things I had read about in Andorra was Naturlandia – a kind of amusement park, which boasts the longest nature slide in the world, go-karts, zipline, and archery, among other things. The kids were very excited to do archery. Clare was not too excited about most of this, so we decided to split up on Sunday – the kids and I drove for 45 minutes (with approximately 6 wrong turns) to Naturlandia, while Clare relaxed and did some hiking near our apartment in Soldeu. We arrived at the park around 10:30, and it was nearly empty, because it was shoulder season. It turns out that the archery was closed, but the kids wanted to stay anyways. We ended up being one of the last people to leave at 6 p.m. The kids were really great about taking turns, since I had to go 1-1 with them on many of the attractions. Spencer really enjoyed these mini jeep go karts they had, which they called buggys. He must have ridden those about a dozen times. Meg wanted to do the Airtrekk and Zipline, which we did early in the day. I was terrified at first, but was brave, mostly because Meg was braver than I. After I got used to it, I was okay, and had a good time. Spencer didn’t want to do it at first, but after I told him my story about skydiving, he decided to give it a try. He did great, and we ended up doing it 4 or 5 times total.

continue reading for more exciting times and pictures

Posted on

Andorra!!

Welcome to Andorra!
Welcome to Andorra!

Friday morning we awoke, with the plan of leaving Barcelona and heading to Valencia. We were just about packed and ready to go when Clare got a message from the AirBnB host that there was a big storm in Valencia, and that the restaurant where we were supposed to pick up the keys was probably going to close, but that we could still get the keys some other way. We decided to do a bit more investigation. I contacted one of my work colleagues in Valencia, and he said that they had closed schools and it was pretty bad. The weather forecast was calling for rain all weekend. We decided to look into other options. But first we had to leave the hotel. We took the Metro to the main train station, and used the WiFi there to do a bit more investigating. We ultimately decided to travel away from the storm – to Andorra, for three nights, then one night in Zaragosa, and then on to Madrid. Luckily we had rented a car to travel to Valencia, because we had been unable to find any train connections. Since we had booked directly with Hertz, we were able to change the destination from Valencia to Madrid, and we also paid an extra 8 Euro per day for an upgrade to an Audi A4, which was really nice driving in the mountains.

In case you don’t know, Andorra is a tiny principat in the mountains between France and Spain, and is actually ruled jointly by Spain and France. The only official language is Catalan, though most signs also have Spanish, French, and many English. It relies heavily on tourism, particularly skiing. October is definitely an off season, so we were able to get a 2 bedroom apartment with a beautiful view for three nights for only €280. It took quite awhile to figure out exactly where we were going to stay and get the car, so by the time we arrived in Andorra it was starting to get dark. When we found the apartment, which had seemed like a regular hotel when we booked it, I found that the reception had already closed – it was only open from 2-6 p.m. I tried calling the number by the door to no avail, and we started to get worried about whether we were going to be able to find a place to sleep. We all got back in the car and started to drive towards France, where we could use our cell phones (our cell phone plans here don’t charge extra for pretty much any country in the EU except for Andorra). I decided to turn around and check at a different hotel which we had passed, where I could see that the reception was open. I inquired about a room there, which was going to be over €500. I then asked if the person could help me contact the hotel we had booked, and he was very nice to help me, and we were able to get in.

I actually knew very little about Andorra before we decided to go there, other than having read a play titled Andorra by Max Frisch, which I had always enjoyed. It turns out it is a bit more populated than I had expected – about 70,000 people – though who knows how many people are there on a ski weekend – it has a lot of hotels. On the drive through Spain to Andorra I mixed my time between helping Clare with directions, taking pictures, and reading up on Andorra. I learned that there is a gigantic thermal bath there, and also a nature / amusement park. On Saturday we ended up going to the thermal bath, and it was indeed very cool. They had many different pools of various sizes and temperatures – mostly inside, and some outside. They also had several cold pools. Meg was impressively good at staying in the cold pools. I don’t know how she did it. There was one section built like a Roman bath, and the instructions were to stay in the 36°C pool for 3 minutes, then the 14°C degree pool for 3 minutes, then relax on the stone benches for 10 minutes. I didn’t last more than 30 seconds in the cold pool, but Meg probably lasted more than 5 minutes.

After the thermal baths we went into town to find some lunch. We ended up at a place called Big Ben, which was quite tasty. Spencer had a hamburger, as usual, and the rest of us had the menu with various different dishes. Clare had snails for her first course, which she said were really tasty, and the rest of us tried to not look while she was eating them. By the time we got back to our apartment it was after 7 p.m. We had some snacks and watched some Modern Family, then went to bed.

Posted on

Magic fountain and Museo Nacional

Magic Fountain

Thursday we took the Metro to Plaza de España, with the goal of seeing the cool light show at the Magic Fountain. After getting there, Clare discovered that they only do the light show at night. Oh well. The fountain was still very beautiful even without lights and music.

At this point Meg really needed to go the bathroom. Fortunately, the magic fountain is right next to the Museo Nacional D’Art de Catalunya. We decided to pay the entrance just to use bathroom, but it turned out to be a great decision. The building is very impressive from the outside, and even more so from the inside. In my opinion, just seeing the building itself would have been nice, but it is also filled with great art from a number of different periods, including a couple Dali and Gaudi pieces. Much to my surprise, the museum was nearly empty, so it was really nice to have it mostly to ourselves. There is also a roof with a great view. By the time we got to the roof it had just started raining (which meant that they turned off the magic fountain, so we got lucky to see it). After an hour or two in the museum we decided to head back to our hotel. By this point it had mostly stopped raining, which was great timing.

We heated up some leftovers for the kids, and Clare and I walked around the corner for a lunch date while the kids relaxed. After lunch Clare toured around the Art Nuevo Hospital Sant Pau while the kids and I played Uno. A great way to spend a slightly rainy day in Barcelona.

Posted on

Arc de Triomf, Parc de la Ciutadella, Mercat de la Boqueria

Fedibbletys riding the metro

On Wednesday in Barcelona the weather was fantastic – about 70 and sunny. We decided to take the Metro to the Arc de Triomf (since we had just seen the one in Paris recently). The one in Paris is more impressive, but the Barcelona one is very nice too. Then we walked over to the park with the zoo. We didn’t go into the zoo, but enjoyed the beautiful park some. Then we headed towards the Gothic Quarter and La Rambla, with the goal of going to the large open-air market of Mercat de la Boqueria. We got hungry before we got to the market, so we decided to stop for lunch. I saw a place that advertised having a rooftop terrace, so we decided to go there. We got up to the roof, and after waiting for a waiter for about 15 minutes we finally gave up. We did get to enjoy the terrace for free for a few minutes, which was nice. Eventually we ended up eating at an Udon place, which was quite good. Then we headed over to the market. They had all sorts of great fresh and preserved food, mostly for reasonable prices. I got some chanterelles, which I hadn’t had for years, and turned those into a sauce for dinner. Spencer was excited because we found a kiosk where he was able to buy some soccer trading cards.

On the way back home Meg had to use the bathroom so we stopped in a department store, and I found a new hat – see next post 🙂

Posted on

Park Guell

Pillars in Park Guell

On Tuesday we went to Park Guell. It was supposedly only about a 30 minute walk from our hotel, but it took us well over an hour – partly because we kept stopping frequently, including a much needed haircut for Rob and buying some fruit to eat once we got there. Also, it was uphill the entire way, which slowed us down some. The Park was designed by the famous Antoni Gaudi around 1900. Much of the park is free, but there is a small section where you have to pay. We ended up just wandering around the free part, which was not that crowded, and very beautiful in its own right, with great views of the city, beautiful plants, and interesting architecture, like the columns resembling stalagtites. We found a nice place to eat our fruit (Spencer, the picky eater, had several apples!!). We eventually made it the top, where we were greeted with beautiful views and lovely guitar music.

One of the souvenirs we picked up were some bird whistles (the kind that you have to add water to). I have had one of these for many years, and actually used it in percussion ensemble. My old one is plastic. These ones are clay. We’ll see which one lasts longer.

Posted on

Sagrada Familia

Model of Sagrada Familia
Model of Sagrada Familia

Monday we visited the Sagrada Familia basilica. Construction started around 1880, and is scheduled to be completed in 2026. Clare visited it in 1999 and it was much different then; it didn’t even have a roof – only 2 walls and the crypt. We were all very impressed by the beauty of the church and how different it is from many other churches – the style of Antoni Gaudi is very unique. He incorporates lots of elements of nature. He didn’t like being in public, and in fact died by getting hit by a streetcar, and was presumed to be a beggar. They left him for several hours before bringing him to the hospital, and he died several days later.

Clare booked a tour for us ahead of time, which was really great. We learned quite a bit. When finished, it will have 18 towers, and the center tower will be the tallest in the world (sorry Ulm, only a few more years left with that title). Of course, one big difference is that the Ulm cathedral was not built with cranes. They are really putting it together quickly now.

We all agreed that Sagrada Familia is one of our favorite churches we have ever seen, maybe even our favorite.

 

Posted on

Barcelona here we come

Boarding the plane

 

Saturday we left for two weeks in Spain. It was the first time the kids (and maybe the adults) had boarded a plane from the ground before. We flew Ryan Air from the Charleoroi airport in Belgium to Barcelona. My co-worker Jesus was nice enough to pick us up from the airport and take us to our hotel. The first night we stayed in a tiny place in the Gothic quarter. We had a tasty dinner on the Plaza Real.

On Sunday, Jesus picked us up and took us to Monjuic, one of the hills on the outside of Barcelona. There is a castle there with great views of the city. Then we went back to his apartment for lunch and played with their kids. It was a great start to our adventure.