Trips 2013: Spring Break Part II - Barcelona!

Can I repeat again how fantastic this trip was? If any of you would like to travel with the Hayes Family Five, we will welcome your buffer and your help with the apartment costs - because we scored a FANTASTIC apartment in Barcelona. I went through airbnb.com for the first time and it was a great experience. Our owner was SO helpful. Stuart had given up coffee for Lent, so we needed a kettle to make tea. But sadly, no kettle. I mentioned it to her and the next day she had purchased a kettle and delivered it! Not to mention, she had a cool apartment in a great location. Barcelona is a beautiful city, and the Catalan people are so friendly. From the shopkeepers, to the restauranteurs, to the average Joe on the street, we really only experienced a wonderful friendly and open vibe. Sadly, we did not get to practice much of our Spanish here (because they speak Catalan - which sounded a bit like a mix between Portugese, French and Spanish), but the language barrier was not an issue. Smiles, nods, pointing and more smiling was the universal language. But because words just cannot do this trip justice alone, I will let the photos do the talking.

A table for 8 - yes, please! (One of my favorite parts of the day - where we all sat down together.)

Beautiful tile - everywhere. Original and just stunning.

Silas agrees - this apartment is the BEST! (yes, of course we had wireless)

Someone's room - I can't remember who - mine and Stuart? (not Luke's, for sure) - should have taken a picture of our windows and little balcony!!

Our first day involved a bike tour with Fat Tire Bike Tours again. I have to say, thus far, our least favorite of the Fat Tire tours. It all hinges on the guide, and I thought she was good, but not great. Our Paris was the best, and later that month we did the London tour - he was second. However, I would still repeat the experience. One of the best ways to get a flavor for the city. Poor Suzanne had caught the illness the night before (the one we ended up sharing so nicely), and had a rough go of it on the hills of Barcelona - but she persevered! I would have been out of there - well, I probably wouldn't have even started the tour!!!

Zee & Stuart get their tandem bike.

Clearly Zee thinks you are all something special!

Really Mom - another picture??

Group picture in front of the Arc de Triomf

The Cascada, in the Parc de la Ciutadella

Always with the Tiger rag. (Gina, Monica, Suzanne)

Some good eats at Barcelonetta Beach  - our lunch stop on the bike tour

That night, we ate in and then decided to head out to the Magic Fountain light show. We were pretty sure we could walk the entire route from our apartment. It turned into a decent 25 minute walk (remember, we have little ones with us), but was well worth it. A fun night at the Magic Fountain music and light show!

Those probably speak for themselves. The next day, because you ALWAYS need a beach day, we did just that and headed for Barceloneta beach. This beach was built just for the 1992 Olympics that Barcelona hosted and is actually a really nice beach. It is also a European beach. Know what I mean? And it was a good weather Sunday - which meant it was packed with people. Some of them not fully clothed. Well...when in Barcelona! KIDDING KIDDING. We maintained our American sensibilities and kept ourselves fully clothed (I didn't really think it was warm enough to be topless or bottomless at any point in the day - and trust me, we saw both!)***

 What do we see here?

 For Stuart's pleasure reading, he re-reads books we had to read in middle school/high school. HUH?

 Gina and Stuart were obviously discussing something really interesting!

 Luke is buried.

 Zee has to join in the fun, too.

 Football on the beach (not the American kind)

 Playing on the beach!

Silas and Zee made this awesome double chair for themselves.

This post is already so long, I will need to make a part III - we saw SO MUCH in Barcelona. I haven't even touched on Gaudi!!! 

***A note on how we handled the nudity - so, there were several topless women, including one very pregnant bouncing up and down, splashing her stomach with water. (We were wondering if there were specific health benefits to the Meditteranean cold water for the baby?) We handled it by not making a big deal out of it. This is typical here - in Germany, you can be nude on any beach you would like - the whole family, playing beach volleyball, in the nude. So we just did our best to not make a thing out of it. We also employed distraction techniques to keep them occupied. And we didn't get hung up on it. We had a great day at the beach! 

Trips 2013: The "Ladies" Visit/Spring Break 2013 Part I

I have been looking forward to this post for a long time - reliving such a wonderful visit. Truly, last year in March, 3 of our favorite ladies connected to our DCF/Church on Riggs past came to visit. They stayed with us in Germany a week, then we all traveled to Barcelona for a week. It was a WONDERFUL trip. We wish we could take buffers like that on all our family vacations. They really did smooth out the rough edges in our younger travelers and even me and Stuart. Ladies, I cannot thank you enough and I hope you enjoy this two part saga of reliving our good times. (And if you are wondering why ladies is in quotes in the title, well, let's just say that Stuart had a strangely hilarious way of pronouncing ladies that sounded a little, well, ummm....)

I THINK I picked everyone up from the airport - at their respective times. Is that right? And we chilled at the house - but not for long. We ventured out the next day to discover Kaiserswerth, the little town (a part of Düsseldorf) that the Hayes' family life is centered around. 

Gina, me, and Suz at the Rhine - just a 10 minute walk from our house!

Schloss Kalkum - also a short bike ride or 15 minute walk from our house.

Monica with "Elvis' Caddy" - rumor (and the sign) says this was the car Elvis drove while stationed here in Germany.

Kaiserpfalz castle ruins - along the Rhine and right in Kaiserswerth

Interior of St. Suidbertus church - Catholic church in Kaiserswerth

Love these ladies!

Downtown Düsseldorf along the Rhine walk

Rub the nose of the lion (symbol for Düsseldorf) for good luck.

We headed to Cologne (or Köln) for a little day trip some time that week and an English tour of the Kölner Dom (read really large Catholic cathedral). This cathedral was the final destination of many ancient pilgramages because it is said to hold the relics of the 3 Magis bones. We saw the ark where they are kept, but were not there on the day of the big reveal (they display the bones once a year for any to see.) Great English tour daily around 2:30 if you are ever interested in visiting (and you should be!)

Group shot in Köln - see the disciples above the entrance?

Cannot get a normal smile out of Zee.

Walking the square at the Dom

Cool little drain - watched a leaf all the way down

Street performers outside the Kolner Dom

The boys joined us!

Chocolate consumption at the Lindt Chocolate museum in Cologne/Koln

Lucky us! They only unveil this altar piece during the Lenten season in the cathedral. Amazing.

Later that week, we left the boys for a day to their own devices and headed on a Rhine trip. We drove to Koblenz, took the Milk Run Train (MRT) to Bacharach and observed all the castles along the Rhine. We toured Bacharach and got some of the BEST döners I've ever had (think similar to a gyro). We then braved a very strange and scary drive to see Burg Eltz - all in a rental car because my car did something funny the day befoe and I didn't trust it. (Plus, there may have been an incident in the car the day before as well...when we were trying to go to Brussels for the day. Ask one of the ladies! :-) )

So quaint, right? Gina by the little river.

Guess we know what grapes we have here!

Suz capturing the moment

Bacharach along the Rhine

Ummm...were we excited it was an old wine house??

More Bacharach

Picture time in Bacharach

Bacharach along the Rhine river - really beautiful, even in the fog and cold

The Bacharach vineyards beside the town wall (that we are standing on!)

 A fairy tale castle - Burg Eltz (and it was snowing!)

If you ask more details of the drive to Burg Eltz (thanking God we all made it safely back - I was the driver - people should not walk on mountain roads when I am driving, that is all I am saying), or perhaps the spicy currywurst served in Kaiserswerth (spicy...like the first kiss of your life!), you can hear more of our adventures. Seriously, a great first week to the vacation, minus a little illness here and there.

Next post - BARCELONA!