Lost in Barcelona

March 27th--Today started off a little crazy with our first experience with the Barcelona metro system. We left our apartment heading for the Metro station, but once we arrived there, we couldn't located the route we were looking for. So, we took a train heading to Placa de Catalunya thinking that it was a large metro stop and we would be able to find our route from there. Once arriving there, I felt like we just turned circles trying to figure out where to go from there. We finally figured out that Barcelona has more than just a Metro line. It also has a separate FGC line. So, what we got on originally was the FGC line that basically just runs north through the city from Placa de Catalunya. We should have walked further down the street and actually entered into the Metro station. I just kept thinking "wow, it was a lot easier to move around the Madrid subway than here". However, once we found the actual metro line station at Plaza de Catalunya, we easily mapped out our route to the Barceloneta stop which is the stop closest to the beach. We had to walk about 1/2 mile to get to the beach. There were a lot of people on the beach, but most everyone had their clothes on versus bathing suits. The sun was shining, but it was very windy which made it a little chilly. We sat in the sand for a little while doing some people watching while the kids played. There were a lot of American kids here on Spring Break. After a little while, we decided to walk the boardwalk area. It's a nice walk along the coast line. We saw a lot of sand sculptures, bicycle riders, and dogs. At the end was the Olympic Village which, in 1992, housed the Olympic athletes. It is now apartments. Once reaching the end, we enjoyed a snack as we turned around and walked back. We were going to head to the tower to ride the cable cars to Montjuic but once arriving there, the tower was closed. So, we got on a bus that dropped us off at the bottom of the Ramblas. We then walked for what felt like miles and miles up Parallel (walking right into the sun). We were heading to Placa d'Espanya in order to get there by 7:00 to see the Magic Fountains. What an unbelievable view we saw from both directions of the steps by the Magic Fountains. Above the fountains (which was behind us on the steps) was the Catalan Art Museum. It is a massive National Palace. In front of us were the fountains, then Placa d'Espanya and in the distance, the church at the top of Barcelona's highest peak. The Magic Fountains (Font Magica) was a 20 minute show of music, colored lights, and huge amounts of water. There was a huge crowd for this as the fountains only come on on Friday and Saturday nights during the winter months. When the fountains were over we headed back to the apartment via the subway. We are pretty confident that we figured out the subway system now. The thing I'm not confident about is finding my way back to the apartment, with just Abby, in the dark. On our walk back to the apartment, we stopped at a deli nearby to pick up some food for dinner. Abby and I decided to go back to the apartment while Mike and Austin picked out our food. Well, somehow, we went the wrong way and got lost even though we were only a block away from the apartment. Instead of the intersection corners being squared off, they are rounded. At one point, Abby and I were just circling an intersection trying to figure out which direction the apartment was. I finally figured out which direction the apartment was and had my own "Jimmy Jones" laugh. Mike and Austin had obviously beat us back to the apartment. By then, I was laughing so hard, I was crying and no one else could join in. I told Mike that I never panicked and Abby said "yes you did because you said "Oh No!" a couple of times and that means you were panicked." So today started off with us being "lost" on the metro and ended with Abby and I being "lost" on the streets. Hopefully, we have it all figured out now!

Adios Costa del Sol, Hola Barcelona

March 26th--We successfully survived another travel day yesterday. We left the apartment and took a bus to Malaga where we caught the train for Barcelona. We actually decided to break up the trip so we took a 2.5 hour "fast" train to Madrid and then had a 50 minute layover before the 3 hour "fast" train to Barcelona. We probably could have done without the stop, but there is only one direct train from Malaga and it doesn't leave until late in the day. We've decided that we don't like arriving in new cities after dark if we can avoid it. We all made the train ride fine. The kids have totally adjusted to travel and are really good at this point. It helps that they can move around a little on the trains as well. We arrived in Barcelona around 5:30 and took a taxi to the apartment. The sister of the lady who owns the apartment met us and let us in. It is a very nice, quaint apartment in the Eixample district of downtown Barcelona. It is small but very "homey" feeling. We made our normal run to the local grocery store for the basics after we got settled in. We got up this morning and decided to walk to the Placa de Catalunya, the very central square that divides old and new Barcelona. The square is only a few block away from the apartment and has a information office where we were able to pick up some maps and local guides. We then began walking down the Ramblas. This grand boulevard is full of various pedestrian activities including an outdoor bird market, flower market and various street mimes and artists. Its non-stop people watching. Along the way, we stopped off for lunch at La Fonda, a local restaurant with a great Spanish and Mediterranean cuisine. It was recommended to us by the guys we met on the trip to Morocco. The Ramblas leads to the port where a wooden pedestrian bridge extends into the harbor and leads to the Maremagnum (a big mall). On Abby's suggestion, we sat down for a while on the dock overlooking the water to "sunbathe". After relaxing at the port, we turned around and walked back up the Ramblas towards the apartment. Along the way, one of the favorite street mimes of the kids was a guy sitting on a toilet (imagine that for Austin). It sounds weird to spend a day walking a street, but believe me the 1 mile stretch is filled with tons of activity. Plus it was a beautiful, sunny day. After our long day of walking, we came back to the apartment and fed the kids dinner as they were tired and hungry. I went downstairs to an Italian restaurant next to the apartment and got takeaway for Amy and I to enjoy once the kids fell asleep. It was awesome food and the lady that owns the restaurant, Sam, was super nice. She spoke great English and was very helpful and full of local suggestions. Something tells me we will be back there again.

Sevilla Happens! – Day 2

March 22nd – Well, as much as we would like to center this blog around the great sights on our 2nd day in Sevilla, there is one event that left an indelible mark in our memories. We have commented before that while we are traveling and having lots of great travel experiences, we are also “living” and having real life experiences. One of those real life experiences is potty training Austin. Before I get to the “story” of the day, let’s start back at the beginning. Today, Austin woke the rest of us up since he fell asleep early last night and the rest of us enjoyed a late night in Sevilla. I left the hotel with Austin on a journey for a large Starbucks coffee while Amy took a shower and Abby played on Disney.com. It was my first Starbucks since we left and I didn’t really need the Starbucks as much as a large cup of coffee. The small café con leche just wasn’t going to do it this morning. As you’ll understand later, it’s a good thing I had my caffeine. Anyway, we got the coffee and went back to pick up the girls at the hotel. We walked a mile or so into Bario Santa Cruz, Sevilla’s once-thriving Jewish quarter, to enjoy breakfast at a small café in Plaza Santa Maria la Blanca. We had a great breakfast outside on the square; enjoying the sunny weather and the various Cathedral bells ringing for Sunday mass. The kids were playing in the plaza while we were waiting on our check. All of a sudden Austin shouts, “uh-oh, poopy”. Amy jumped up with him and thought she had caught him quick enough to get him to the potty; or worse case, contain the damage. No such luck. Apparently, Austin is the first one to get the “traveler’s trots”. He had pooped (read “diarrhea”) everywhere. I will spare you the entire gory details, but suffice it to say that after about 15 minutes, Amy and Austin finally appeared from the tiny bathroom in the cafe with his underwear and socks having been lost as casualties. His shoes and jeans would have gone in the trash too if they weren’t his only pair of shoes we had and we weren’t halfway across town from the hotel. To make matters worse, the light in the bathroom was on a timer (with the switch outside) so every minute or two, Amy had to open the door to turn the light back on. We took off for a quick journey back to the hotel and had many “Jimmy Jones” laughs. Along the way, we passed some horse drawn carriages and honestly couldn’t tell if the smell was the horses or Austin. We got back to the hotel and threw Austin in the shower. I will say this, I’m not sure about the normal use of a bidet, but it makes a great impromptu jeans washer. After we finally got everyone cleaned up, we headed back out to restart our day. We headed back the direction we had just come from to see the Alcazar. The Alcazar was originally a 10th century Moorish palace. However the palace was destroyed during the Reconquista period so what exists today is a 14th century rebuild done by Moorish workman for the Christian king Pedro I. As a side note, it’s been interesting learning the history of Spain. We are now beginning to be able to spot architectural influences from the various periods. For example, the horseshoe arches in buildings, green doors, ceramic tiles, etc. that are Moorish legacy. After leaving the Alcazar, we stopped by a deli to pick up items to make sandwiches. We then headed up the pedestrian street Avenida de la Constitucion to Plaza Nueva. We sat on the steps of a statue in the Plaza and enjoyed our picnic. We left the plaza and went back to the hotel to pick up our bags and head to the train station. We left Sevilla at 3:40 and arrived in Malaga at 5:30. The Malaga train station is connected to a mall so we went to the food court for a light dinner and ice cream before heading back to Marbella on the 7:00pm bus. It was a great trip to Sevilla and a day our minds (and noses) won’t soon forget!

Sevilla, Day One

March 21st--Today was our first overnight outing. We just packed a small bag and left the apartment in Puerto Banus at 7:15 a.m. We caught the 7:45 a.m. bus from Marbella to Malaga. Once arriving in Malaga (about 8:30), we walked to the train station, purchased our tickets and boarded the train. We departed Malaga at 9:10 and arrived in Sevilla at 11:00. It was a pretty uneventful trip...we like those kind! Anyway, we took a taxi to our hotel and were able to check in early. We are staying at the Hotel Maestranza. It is your typical, small European hotel with only 18 rooms; which is exactly what we wanted to experience. We all have our own individual twin beds and the hotel is located in a busy area of Sevilla. We immediately tried to make plans for our 2 days here in Sevilla. Our original plan was to go to a bullfight tonight, but kids under 14 are not allowed...too bloody. Imagine that! So we changed our plans to go to a Flamenco show. More on that later in the day. By the time we wrapped up our plans for the evening, it was time to eat lunch. We ate a light lunch at Horno San Buenaventura located on Avenida de la Constitucion (a pedestrianized boulevard), across from the cathedral. Since we were right by the cathedral, we decided to go there next. Sevilla's cathedral is the third largest church in Europe and the largest Gothic church anywhere. Before the cathedral was built, a mosque of brick was in it's place. The only part remaining from the mosque is the bell tower. We climbed to the top of the Giralda Tower. It is 330 feet up with a spiraling ramp which was designed to accommodate riders on horseback, who galloped up five times a day to give the Muslim call to prayer. We walked through the entire cathedral seeing things like the high altar, the choir, and the tomb of Columbus. Christopher Columbus was buried first in Spain, then in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, then Cuba, and back again to Sevilla (when Cuba gained independence from Spain around 1900). After leaving the cathedral, we walked to the Bullring where we did a 25 minute guided tour of the bull arena, its museum and the chapel where the matador prays before the fight. The tour was done in Spanish and English and was a great insight into the 4 steps of a bullfight. There are 3 matadors and 6 bulls that consume an entire fight. It takes 20 minutes to kill each bull with a 4 step process that has 5 minutes each. Abby had been a little upset that we weren't going to a bullfight until she found out that the bull was actually killed and there would be "bleed". Once she found that out, she wasn't so sure she wanted to go, but then decided that you can just get up and walk out before the end. Funny child. After the tour, we walked back to the hotel to rest for about an hour before heading to our Flamenco Show. The show we saw was at tablao El Arenal de Sevilla. There was a lot of guitar playing, singing, dancing, hand-clapping (called palmas) and castanets. It was very good and cultural. Austin enjoyed the first part until he decided to go to sleep. I don't how he slept through all the noise, but I guess he was really tired. Abby really enjoyed it. In fact, as I type this, it's 11:00 p.m. and she's still up, playing her own castanets.........

Tangier, Morocco (AFRICA)

March 19th—Today we headed to Africa…we woke up at 6:00 a.m. and left the apartment at 7:00 a.m. We took a taxi to the Marbella bus station where we got on a 7:30 bus to Algeciras. It was a direct one hour bus ride. Once arriving to Algeciras, we took a taxi to the town of Tarifa to catch the ferry. Tarifa is the Southernmost point in Europe. It’s also the town to where you catch the 35 minute ferry to Tangier, Morocco. We tried our hardest to make the 9:00 ferry ride, but unfortunately were too late. The frustrating part was that the ferry was still in port, but wasn’t boarding anymore people. Oh well! Anyway, we had a couple of hours to explore Tarifa since the next ferry wasn’t until 11:00. We went to find a place to eat breakfast and stumbled upon Café Central. Café Central was a happening place. We’ve decided that when a restaurant is crowded, then it must be good. It was probably the cheapest meal we’ve eaten so far and was very good and filling. By the time we finished up there, it was time to walk back to the port. We certainly didn’t want to miss our ferry. We had to go through Tarifa customs in the station, but once on board the ferry, we then had to go through Tangier customs. The boat ride was a little longer than the 35 minutes due to high winds, but we made it fine to Tangier. Once debarking the ferry, our private tour guide, Mohammed was waiting on us. We booked our guide prior to even going to Tangier. It is recommended to have a guide before arriving to avoid the stress of being mobbed by potential guides at the port and being hit up to buy stuff all day long. Having Mohammed meet us was great because he lead us straight out of the station onto our private tour van. (This is where I have to put in a side note to the day: We have realized that we love using Rick Steves’ book…love his self guided tours, all his personal touches, and that you are at your own pace. In Tangier, we learned the good, the bad, and the ugly of having a tour guide. Mohammed was great! Very friendly, knowledgeable and loved the kids. He kept us feeling safe through the town, drove us around the town, took us to the great sites and a great restaurant for lunch. The bad is that along with all of that you also get thrown into “tourist traps”, as Rick Steves calls it because the guide makes a commission from your purchases. The ugly is that I didn’t get to go into ALL the shops. J) Anyway, back to our day…once getting into the van, we drove through Tangier seeing the Old Town, the New Town, mosques , and various sights. We then made our way out of town through the “rich area”. Here we passed the King’s palace and numerous palaces that are owned by rich international kings, princes and businessmen (including the head of Fiat). Once out of town, we headed toward the Atlantic Ocean coast. We made several stops along the way to get pictures. One stop was where the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea meet. Another stop was at Hercules Cave. We walked through this cave and got a wonderful view of the Atlantic through a cut out that is said to resemble the shape of Africa. It was at this location that we saw several tuna boats. It is big to fish for tuna in this area and most of the fish is sent to Japan. We also got our up close experience with the camels. Abby and I got on first. It was quite an experience when the camel stood up. If you’ve never gotten on one, then you definitely don’t realize how they go back and forward several times before standing straight up. It gives you the feeling like you are sure to fall off. Well, this whole event scared Austin because he did think we were going to fall off. So, he got a little upset and wasn’t sure he wanted to get on a camel anymore, but he did and quickly got over the scare of it. We left the Atlantic coast area and headed back into Tangier. Mohammad had told us to just let him know when we were hungry for lunch and he would take us to a local restaurant. We ate lunch at Mamounia Palace located right inside the Medina (Old City) wall next to Grand Socco. It had a great atmosphere with local music being placed. It was actually an awesome experience. We ordered the menu of the day which was a 3 course meal of Harira (soup), Pastella (chicken) with couscous and Patisserie (a chicken/raisin pastry). It was all very good and safe, to our stomachs that is. After leaving lunch, we were on foot at this point. We walked out of the gateway of the Medina and through the Grand Socco (the big square) and into the new town. Here we walked through the market. Mohammad took us into an area where we saw many artisans spinning thread in their shops. It was an interesting experience watching them in their small shops make blankets by hand. No electric machines here. We then headed back through the town walls of the Medina and through Petit Socco (the small square). The Medina is full of winding lanes and tiny alleys that weave through the old-town market area. If we didn’t have our guide, we sure would have gotten ourselves lost. Here we saw one of the public bakeries. Many people cannot afford private ovens so they drop off their ready-to-cook flour at the bakeries. Throughout the maze we were in, we saw ornate keyhole doors (lead to neighborhood mosques) and green doors (the color of Islam and symbolize peace). After this we were led into a local shop with many rugs and decoration items. We enjoyed a presentation on all the different types of rugs while sipping on some drinks, one being Moroccan mint tea. It was hard to explain to them that we couldn't buy a rug because we don’t even have a house to buy one for. We did purchase a unique mirror made out of camel bones. We figured that we could surely find a place for it in another house. From here we went to a Berber pharmacy where we were presented various herbal medicines and spices. We actually bought some spices that can be rubbed on chicken, fish, etc. We figured we’ve had a hard enough time finding spices to cook with because of the language barrier, so this would be a good purchase. It was now time to head back to the boat. Mohammad drove us to the port and escorted us to the customs line where we said good-bye. While waiting on the ferry, I noticed a girl with a UT cap hanging from her backpack. I walked over to talk with her. Her name is Danielle and she is a junior at UT on spring break. She was with her brother, Chris, who recently graduated from Georgetown last year and now works in Madrid and his roommate, who is also from the US and works in Madrid. We started talking with them and actually ended up all sitting together on the boat. They were great to talk with and even gave us a few tips on places in Barcelona, our next stop. They were amazingly mature for their ages. We arrived back to Tarifa a little after 9pm and caught a free bus to Algeciras. We then caught the 10pm bus from Algeciras back to Marbella. After a short taxi ride, we got back to the apartment a little after 11pm. The kids basically fell asleep on the bus from Tarifa and slept all the way to the apartment. We had a great day! While it is impossible to truly experience Morocco in a day, our side-trip gave us a legitimate taste of North Africa and the Islam culture. It was a day that was very different and unique to any previous experience.

Windy Day Out

March 18th—Today was a very windy day on the beach so we decided to escape the sand and water. We headed to the Selwo Aventura Parque in Estepona. Estepona is about 15 minutes from Puerto Banus. The Selwo Aventura is described as “a great jungle with more than 2,000 animals living semi-free”. We explored a big majority of it on 2 different safari routes. These safari trucks first took us through half of the park seeing rhinoceros, zebras, buffaloes, and antelope, to name a few. After our first ride, we walked around to see a snake exhibit ,the giraffes up closer and Bengal tigers. It was at this midway stop that we ate lunch and got a beautiful view of the parks nature and waterfall. We then got on the second safari truck that took us their “Africa”. It was on this ride that we saw bison, camels, tigers, bears, and elephants. Once reaching the top, we had to depart the truck, but could get back on after viewing the area or walk back down. We chose to go exploring. So, we walked through the nature of the area and across 3 suspension bridges. Suspension bridges are a little iffy on windy days like today! We got an up close look at the elephants, one was a baby elephant. The baby elephant’s name is Little Kanvar and is unique in Spain. We made our way back down to the halfway point and decided to take the Safari truck down to the bottom. As we were riding back down, we realized that we could have walked through the bird sanctuary. So, once we got off, we walked up through some of the bird sanctuary. At the bottom of the park, there were many kinds of monkeys which of course the kids loved. We also saw a toucan…we named him Fruit Loop. There were many peacocks just wandering the area around the red pandas we saw. We left the park and went to an indoor play area in Estepona that opened at 4:00. Abby had seen an advertisement for it in a local magazine and had been begging to go there since. We arrived a little after 4:00 at the KidszKingdom which was located inside Super Sol (grocery store). This place was awesome and FULL of kids. There was only one way in and out and the door was locked so no one could escape. As an added bonus, Wednesday nights is “kids eat free night”. The kids played for 3 hours and want to go back again.

The Rock of Gibraltar

March 14th--Today we left the apartment about 8:15, got a taxi to the bus station in San Pedro and then got on a bus at 8:40 heading for La Linea. After several stops, we arrived at La Linea a little before 10:00. We had about a 5 minute walk from the bus station to the Gibraltar border. Picture crossing into Mexico...it was a very similar experience. All they wanted to see was that we had a passport, but they didn´t look at them too closely. To get into town from the "frontier" (as the border is called), we took the #3 bus, but instead of getting off we took it all the way through town up to Europa Point. It´s here that the Gibraltar Lighthouse is located. It dates back to 1841 and stands 49 meters above sea level with a range of some 37 kilometers. From here, we had our first view of Africa across the Strait of Gibraltar. We then took the bus back into town to find some lunch. We walked down Main Street which is basically a shopping drag. We ended up at Casemates Square for lunch at All´s Well Pub. It is highly recommended by Rick Steve´s to sample some English pub grub; so we had fish and chips and jacket potatoes (baked potatoes with fillings). Mike ordered the Moroccan chicken tanjine which is also recommended since you are so close to Morocco. After lunch, it was time to head to the top of the actual ¨Rock of Gibraltar¨. The limestone rock mass is nearly a mile long, rising 1400 feet high with very sheer faces. When we first entered into Gibraltar, there were many signs posted stating that the cable cars (which take you directly up the mountain) were closed for the month due to maintenance. So, our only way up to the top of the rock was by a taxi tour which turned out to be a great way to see all the sites. Our taxi driver, Chris, was a born and bred, 3rd generation Gibraltarian. He was very nice and knowledgeable and brought his son along for the ride. He filled us in on a lot of history of the island. The taxi took us for a 90 minute loop tour with four stops: a Mediterranean viewpoint (called the Pillar of Hercules), St. Michael´s Cave, a viewpoint near the top of the Rock with a close up view of the monkeys, and the Siege Tunnels. The first stop, Mediterranean viewpoint was where we got our best view of Africa and the ferries that go back and forth. Before exiting the car at our second stop, St. Michael´s Cave, we had to get our instructions on how to handle the monkeys since there were several just running freely. The rules were to not be scared of them, don´t feed them, and don´t run towards them. St. Micahel´s Cave was about a 15 minute free walk throughout one of Europe´s most dramatic natural grottoes that is situated about 300 meters above sea level. Recently, a sound and light system have been installed that dramatically enhances the cave´s natural features. At the end of the walk, we entered an area that has been converted into an auditorium where performances are done within the cave. When we exited the cave, there was a gift shop (imagine that!). There were several apes hanging out in the area. Our taxi driver pointed out that one was sick (comparable to Parkinson´s Disease) and then there was another one that clapped his hands when he wanted more food. That was funny! Anyway, we got back into the taxi heading for the Apes´Den. It is here that we saw a lot of monkey action. There were some tourists that had them sitting on their shoulders. We decided to pass though. There was one monkey named Michael. I found that very funny! He is 26 years old (oldest in the area) and is crossed eyed. They usually live about 15-20 years, so Michael was definitely old. Once we had enough monkeying around, we headed to the Siege Tunnels. These tunnels were blasted out of the rock by the Brits during the Spanish and French siege (1779-1783). Inside the tunnel, there were tiny windows which were used for perches from where big cannons could fire. From here, we saw a great view of the airstrip and the man made land of Gibraltar. The entry road into Gibraltar crosses right through the airstrip so it is closed down about 3 or 4 times a day to allow planes to land or take off. After the tunnels, our tour was basically over except for the drive back down the Rock. On our way down, we passed the Moorish Castle. The only part of the castle left is the Tower of Homage, which dates back over a thousand years. After our tour, we decided to walk back down the Main Street and do a little shopping. The kids were determined to get monkeys (stuffed ones that is) after seeing so many on the Rock. It´s funny because this is the first time in all our traveling that they´ve insisted on getting a souvenir. After the monkeys were purchased, a snack was in order. We sat back in Casemates Square, enjoying the beautiful weather while the kids ran around playing. We left there about 5:00 to give us plenty of time to exchange our pounds back into Euros (Gibraltar´s a British Colony so it uses the British pound) and cross back over the boarder. Our bust left out of La Linea at 5:45. Gibraltar was a wonderful day trip and had so many fascinating things to see. We really enjoyed it!