The Osterhouse: Burr-celona

With a week off of school, we took advantage and planned a trip to Spain and Venice. We were urged to do this by a great flight sale on Ryan Air combined with no sales tax which in Europe is often more than the actual ticket price.

Prior to this trip, Devin came down with the worst sickness I've ever seen him get...complete with fever, chills, congestion, headache, exhaustion, cough and culminating with a ruptured ear drum. After 10 days of this not getting any better, he got some antibiotics (thanks mostly to the ear problem) but this was only 2 days before the trip. Thankfully he was feeling a bit better by the time we left but we were both curious how his ear would feel on the flight. A few minutes into the flight, I look across the aisle at him to see blood pooling up in his ear. It was disgusting! He spent the entire flight holding a tissue to his ear and he told me it sounded like popcorn was popping right in his ear. Pleasant. In fact, this is how he spent most of his free time on the trip...cleaning out his ear.

First we flew to Barcelona for a few days. Now would be a good time to mention that Jonas was very concerned with where we were going and who was flying the plane. He asked these questions repeatedly so we were very happy when the pilot came on and announced his name was Captain Dave. There. We now had an answer for Jonas. This trend continued the whole trip and so each flight we would learn the name and Jonas would talk about that for days. In fact he is still asking where Dave is now. Lucky guy, he has no idea how popular he is!

Dave landed the plane as it was beginning to get dark so after finding our rental apartment, we set out in search of food. It was now that I realized our trip to sunny Spain was going to be much colder than we planned. After making it through a large crowd surrounding a vibrant parade complete with fireworks and drums we found an open restaurant. This is where I learned that finely diced nuts are common in Spanish cuisine...an important lesson for the rest of the trip.

This first apartment did not have a bed for Nell - so we had to be creative. She didn't seem to mind (until 2:00 in the morning).

The next morning we set out for Sagrada Familia, the unique cathedral designed by Antonio Gaudi. His work is unlike anything I've ever seen. So whimsical and fantastical. It made me think of Disney - but the real deal. The outside of the church is still being worked on.

We then went inside and I was so surprised. It was so white with the most beautiful and colorful stained glass done in very geometric designs.

Figuring out the bus system was fairly easy so we took it to the top of the city to visit Park Guel. Another of Gaudi's creations. We enjoyed strolling around and touring Gaudi's home.

Here we are at the top of Gaudi's home overlooking Barcelona.

This is a home in the park that is privately owned by 3 Spanish brothers apparently.

Here's the entrance to the park.

By now the sun was setting and it was getting late. We grabbed food on our way home and stopped by a confectionary shop with the most delicious caramels. Once the kids were in bed the plan was to do some research online about what to do the next day while enjoying the caramels. But first I wanted to take a shower. Why am I telling you this? Weird, I know...but it involves a slightly crazy story. I got out of the shower just as Devin finished getting the kids in bed. Right after he got in the shower, there was a knock on our door. Nobody knows us in Barcelona. I figured they would go away. They didn't. They kept pounding away and speaking in Spanish. I was not about to answer it in my pajamas with Devin in the shower. I just kept thinking they'd stop. Finally once Devin was almost done I yelled to them that it would be a minute. This is when in English I heard someone yelling that water was spilling straight down onto the stairwell and had cut out the electricity. OOPS. I felt so stupid for not answering it now. Once Devin was presentable we opened the door and apologized. We got a hold of the owners who said they would get it fixed the next day. I felt especially embarrassed when the woman told us that all of our "shower water" (said with disgust) was right outside their front door. In the end we smoothed things out and nobody seemed upset anymore but it sure was an awkward situation!

Strolling around the little neighborhoods and shops was on the list for the next morning.

We then made our way out to Las Rambla which is a large pedestrian section lined with artists, street performers, food vendors, and pets (yes, makeshift pet shops).

We enjoyed the walk and especially liked stopping in the market.

It sells fruits and vegetables that look like artwork as well as freshly pressed juices in all variety of flavors (yummy).

Then if you wander a little farther back you'll find things like this...

After regaining my appetite, we found lunch before heading to the Palau de la Musica Catalanya.

This is a music hall that we had read was beautiful inside. We got there and realized you could only see it with an organized tour and all English speaking tours were full for the day. Instead of missing out, we jumped in with a Spanish speaking tour that was starting right away. We thought we'd be okay since Clara used to tell us she knew Spanish (compliments of Dora), but apparently Clara's tune has changed and she no longer claims to know Spanish.

Next was a visit to an apartment complex designed by Gaudi, La Pedrera. While not wheelchair accessible, we managed quite well and really enjoyed the architecture as well as the view from the rooftop.

By now it was dark and although we had tried paella and tapas, we wanted to search out a specific restaurant I had found online that supposedly had delicious paella. Here is where I need to say that Clara is an incredibly patient girl. She walked all over Barcelona with us as we searched out this place. We never did find it but at least we had walked up an appetite. :)

By now everyone was cold and hungry so we stopped in at McDonalds and got dinner for the kids and then Devin and I enjoyed churros and hot chocolate (a local delicious creation) while the kids ate their dinner. The hot chocolate in Spain is so thick and rich - I loved it. Then add yummy churros to dip it in??? It doesn't get much better.

Now that we were feeling much happier, with one more stop for a few more caramels and grabbing some noodle dishes to take home, we were hoping for a much calmer night. And it was - except that Nell didn't want to go to sleep so she stayed up, ate dinner (she'll eat anything but baby food) with us and partied until she was exhausted.

The next morning we got up and I quickly snapped some pictures of our apartment since I really liked the feel of it. The tile floors and exposed walls were unlike any place I've stayed before.