In the almost four years that we've spent abroad, we feel lucky to have had the opportunity to travel to places we never dreamed of visiting.
The only down side to our travels is that instead of our bucket list getting shorter with each flight, it mysteriously keeps getting longer and longer. It's a revolving door I tell you.
Thankfully, the opportunity for traveling doesn't end with our time in Germany and for that I am very happy.
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Anyways, with the weeks quickly passing this pregnancy and our chances for air travel coming to a close, we knew that we wanted to make one last trip somewhere before baby.
It was a really hard choice between Scotland and Spain but ultimately, we felt like we needed a little warmth and sunshine so Spain won out.
I had to make a pinky promise with Chad that ONE day we will make it to Scotland...and Ireland.
(See what I mean with the list?)
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Our flight to Spain was good and Rhett did great for his first time in his own seat.
His face during take-off was priceless and maybe if I didn't suffer from extreme flying anxiety I would have taken a picture.
We landed in Spain before noon so we took advantage of that time by visiting the port and aquarium after dropping our luggage off at the hotel.
We also had our first Spanish meal of tapas and wandered around our neighborhood checking everything out.
We may have gone back to the hotel for a little siesta which resulted in us waking up at 7 pm and heading next door to the little Indian restaurant for dinner.
That was day one.
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We were hungry at 1130 in the morning since we had been up since 5 am so I was happy when our hotel recommended this little bistro up the street for an early lunch (Europeans eat late, the Spanish eat VERY late). We ordered a basic tapas spread that included banderillos- pickled vegetables and olives, calamares- calamari, croquetas, patatas bravas- potatoes topped with a spicy sauce, tortilla de patatas- Spanish omelette, small sausages, and a cod meatball type of thing. Whatever it was, we ate it and loved it. It fueled us for all the walking we would be doing later on in the afternoon.
Columbus, pointing to the sea...
We had planned on visiting the aquarium, not necessarily our first day, but when we conveniently wandered to it and the line was short, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity. I think Rhett really enjoyed it but for being the largest aquarium in Europe, it didn't hold a candle to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. I guess we're just spoiled that way.
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Since I was 30 weeks pregnant, we knew we wanted to get a two day 'hop on, hop off' bus so we could see some of the sights outside of the city. We definitely got our monies worth. I know some people don't like the 'hop on, hop off' buses but with kids (er, a toddler) it's great.
We rode the bus all morning but hopped off at La Pedrera and walked to Placa Catalunya for lunch. We also visited the Cathedral that day before walking down Las Ramblas (to find some churros and hot chocolate) and heading back to the hotel for a little nap (again). The weather also took a turn for the worse sun wise but while Rhett napped in the stroller I took my hot, pregnant and swollen self for a little swim.
It was great.
La Pedrera above
Placa Catalunya
Placa Catalunya
Apparently you can pay a flat fee for the year and access these bikes all over the city. Parking is very limited in Barcelona and can be expensive so this was the city's suggestion to the problem. People can drop them off or pick them up and they were quite popular. I think it's a great idea.
Rhett was so tired having been up most of the day he didn't even want to participate in the churros eating. He finally fell asleep on the walk back to the hotel but these late naps resulted in him staying up (with his dad) late into the night.
And finally, this was the view from the pool...
lovely.
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Accommodations:
(The neighborhood is really quiet but in a good location... 2 blocks over from Las Ramblas. There are a lot of wild parrots in the trees surrounding the hotel which is fun plus there are restaurants, small stores, a park and the hop on bus picks up about 5 minutes away)
Transportation:
(We personally love these buses because if your hotel is centrally located, you can take the bus to/from the airport and walk to your hotel... these are great if you plan on not bringing a car seat for your travels)
Tourist Attractions:
(you can find coupons for entry on this website... love saving a couple euro!)
Part two later...
1 comment:
Hope you would have a great trip in Spain =)
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