New Years Eve and a Restful Day

After I crashed last night, I woke up as an American again. Meaning that I woke up before 7am. I don’t know that I could get used to the late night lifestyle in Europe. I’m such an early bird at heart that it’s hard to change, even when I’m on vacation. 

Since everyone else was snoozing, Todd and I walked across the “street” from the hotel to grab breakfast and coffees. We had a leisurely morning of reflecting, reminiscing, and remembering how fortunate we are. We have been blessed with each other, wonderful family, and good health. What more can we ask for?

After showering and packing up, we staggered out of the hotel and went to the bakery for empanadas, croissants, more coffee, and jugo de naranja which is freshly made from these machines that literally take the whole oranges and squeeze it fresh as you order it. Every bakery has these. And it’s delicious. 

And then, we sat. We went back to the hotel and sat in the patio and rested. And talked. We are were pretty exhausted. A quick train to the main station around 2pm left us with some time to kill before our journey to Valencia. We sat and snacked and found this great display.

The trains guys. They are just so easy. Always on time. Smooth ride. USB ports. I mean, you could technically buy a beer or take a nap. I just enjoy not driving which sounds crazy because I love road trips, but driving in another country is a different experience…one we will have in a few days when we switch to the car portion of this trip. You do have to wear masks in public transit here, so there is that.

The sunset from the train was a beautiful sight. We arrived and figured out the bus schedule since the bus was the closest transit to our hotel and Uber was just searching for drivers forever and ever. So this trip has included planes, trains, buses, Ubers, and metros! What’s amazing is smartphones. You type in the destination and it’ll give you bus directions, walking directions, Uber options, etc. I cannot imagine traveling without data on my phone. 

It was already passed sunset and we immediately stepped out of the train station and right up to this beautifully lit up former bull ring. 

Nine bus stops later we found our hotel and immediately dropped our bags and looked for dinner. It’s New Year’s Eve here sooooo not a lot of options! We’ve had Christmas dinner at McDonald’s in Orlando and we ordered McDonald’s in Pisa. Now we can add València Spain to the list. It was not intentional but sometimes it happens when on vacation during the holidays. 

And we noticed not only some additional menu items but they also have a separate area for making the all important espresso. They are serious about that stuff over here. 

Did you check out the menu? They have eggs Benedict burgers, wedge fries, and BEER! Say what? When people visit American McDonald’s they must be so disappointed to find that our don’t sell beer.  

I only clocked 4,756 steps today and I’m so happy about that. Between the three hour train ride, which showed the new Top Gun movie complete with Spanish subtitles, and a restful morning on the hotel patio, we have given our legs a chance to recuperate. 

The kids have a video game hotel room and we have a quiet rest and relax hotel room, and now we plan out the one full day we have in Valencia tomorrow!

Barcelona Day 2 - Just One More Mile

We logged 19,000 steps today, over 8 miles, and 22 flights of stairs. Ouch. We got a late start after sleeping in until 8am. Woohoo! We showered up and headed toward Ben’s Air BnB. We found a cute coffee shop and stepped in for a sit down breakfast. It’s amazing that coffee and a croissant is 2 Euros. Both. Together. So that’s 1 Euro each. How???

Afterwards, we stumbled upon a war museum and checked out some cool history of war and military progress. 

You have to have different sizes canon balls for the different sizes canons, right? It was a quick walkthrough and I’m glad it was free because I would have been disappointed if we had paid for the exhibit. Next up, we checked out some outdoor shops in the Las Ramblas district, we jumped on the Metro and headed up to Casa Batllo which is this quirky and strange type of architecture by Gaudi. 

We checked out a few more crazy architectural buildings before taking the Metro up to Park Guell. Well, we took the Metro park of the way, and had to walk UP the rest of the way. 

This was early in the day so we were up for the challenge, but midway through, we were already planning for Ubers and Taxis. It was this hill, plus escalators, plus stairs, some broken escalators, and then more stairs. We made it to the lookout and snapped a few photos. 

And then we headed to the building section all designed by modern architect Antoni Gaudi. We contemplated that perhaps his last name is where the word gaudy came from because well…

It’s a very eclectic mix of styles including lots of mosaics and colorful flair. It’s quirky! 

And what goes up must go down right? So down the hill we began to walk and right into a restaurant called Mercedes. We found a mix of foods and two pitchers of sangria later..

we thought, “Our legs can handle one more mile. Let’s go to the Sagrada Familia!” So off we trekked while talking and catching up. It’s been about a year since we’ve seen my brother who came out to California to visit just before he shipped out for Germany. And eventually, after what seemed like longer than a mile, we stumbled upon another ridiculous building. It’s gothic. It’s traditional. It’s religious oh and it has colorful stuff added on the top. Say what? 

It’s technically a Roman Catholic Church but it’s rather gaudy for my taste. See what I did there? It’s also designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi. He’s a little famous in these here parts. This project started in 1882 and they plan to be finished after 2026. 

After gelato, espresso, one mojito, and a trip to McDonalds to use the tiniest non ADA bathroom, we realized we were just one mile from the next destination - Ciutadella Park, and it was mostly downhill so okay, we can make it. THEN we’ll Uber home. 

We made it to the park just as the sun was setting and saw what can only be described as the prettiest water feature in a park I’ve ever seen. Oh, and they have cement table tennis tables which just seems like a smart investment for parks, because it’s way cool. 

So that was worth it. Super cool and very pretty. Lots of street performers were starting to come out since the sun was setting and that’s really when Spain comes alive…it’s also when the Berrys (well some Berrys) go to bed.  We contemplated an Uber, but wait the Metro is right here, oh but we have to jump lines. Hmmm…it’s only a mile. We can do it. We’ll just walk slow. And slowly we did indeed walk. We got to go see the Arco de Triunfo which is yes, Spain’s version of the Paris arch. Clever. 

I borrowed a photo from Google since my hand was too tired to pull my four inch phone out of my pocket. Every other word at this point was ouch and oh my gosh. We walked past a half a dozen pedicure shops and I began to realize why these places seemed to only open in the evening. Wow. Our feet are tired…

So Barcelona day two was filled with it all. Supposedly we actually have a few more spots tomorrow but right now all I see is sleep and dreams of a foot bath in my future. 

My last note of the day were some cool things we saw. Katie saw her initials and had to snap a photo. 

And since you won’t find tap water for free anywhere, this is how you can refill your water bottles. 

And maybe my favorite picture of the day, found after walking up that ridiculous hill to get to Guell Park✌️ 

Up Next, Barcelona!

Many of us slept poorly. Alarms were set for 6am to catch an early train to Barcelona. Many of us were already up. You hear people talk about the amazing rail system in Europe. We’ve experienced it a few times and we wholeheartedly agree with its speed and convenience. What some might not know is that the trains all cost different amounts of money depending on the time of day (much like flights I suppose). And it’s very convenient to only need to get to the station 15 minutes early instead of 2 hours like planes. 

We arrived and tried to get an Uber but those Mercedes vans aren’t as popular here and our group of 5 doesn’t fit in a normal taxi, so we opted for the metro, which took a little figuring out, but eventually we took the L3 to our hotel. And our hotel, was amazingly gracious and allowed us to check in at 11am. Say what?

We are so pleased with this hotel choice. It’s a lovely place with two bathrooms and a cute courtyard and it’s right in the Gothic Quarter of the city. Staying in the heart of a big city can be pricey so this Petit Palace Boqueria Garden was a find! Great location! 

We walked around a bit after unpacking, found a lovely square, and after reading over half a dozen menus, decided on a place that seemed like they had pasta and pizza. We were not impressed by their five cheese pizza and the pomodoro pasta sauce literally tasted like spaghetti-o sauce. We might need to stick with tapas for our meals. 

After a walk to the wharf, through the maritime museum,  we saw a statue of the famous Italian guy Christopher Columbus…you know, since he sailed for Spain and discovered America blah blah blah. And there’s a darling Ferris wheel and a whole vibe going on down there that reminded me of San Francisco’s embarcadero waterfront. 

We saw a $200 million dollar yacht in the harbor. We also saw a pirate ship and realized that this is the harbor where the Nina the Pinta and the Santa Maria sailed from. Dang! Oh, and we stopped for coffee and cookies 😉 

And then the naps. Oh the nap was good. We trekked back to the hotel and quickly got quiet for a siesta. Our bodies needed that. We have very tired legs and it’s only day two…

After the much needed rest, our 5:45pm reservation for free tickets to the Picasso Museum were up, and we needed to walk over and get our art inspiration. 

An hour or so later, we were ready to move on to a fancy church St. Mary’s Cathedral…every church here is breathtaking. 

Afterwards we got gelato. And coffee. More coffee!

Then walked to meet up with my brother Ben who is in the Navy and stationed over in Germany. They made the drive over to visit us for a few days on this trip and they are enjoying the warmer weather. We tried out a dumpling place and came up with mixed reviews. It was very fresh and handmade right under your eyes, but some of the flavors were hit and miss for people. 

The company is what made the dinner though! It’s always nice to catch up with family when you live on different continents. 

15,380 steps and 6.5 miles. 

Madrid Dia Uno

We all slept well last night, some clocking about 10 hours of sleep. We made coffee in our AirBnB and some of us had almond biscotti which was brought over from America because I like breakfast and I wake up at the crack of dawn. Yes. Even in Spain! Isn’t our tiny kitchen cute?

We found a cute bakery around the corner from our place and quickly got an appetite for chocolate and croissants. How are three bacon empanadas only $2.60? The Euro and Dollar are about equal right now and we are thankful!

We walked to the Prado Museum and quickly discovered that buy ahead tickets was the way to go. Thanks to our AT&T International data plan, we quickly bought some online for entry at 12:45pm and then had time to kill so we hit the Botanical Garden next door. There were a lot lights which probably means that this is going to be super cute at night when it’s all lit up. But we enjoyed the plants and the scenery. 

Afterwards we walked to the Palacio de Cristal which was filled with smoke for some cool photos. 

Then we trekked over to the Embarcadero de El Retiro which had cute boats that we didn’t want to row. 

Next up was the Palacio de Velazquez which was a free museum with a quick exhibit. 

And then we headed to the Prado where no water is allowed. In Europe, you don’t find free water in many places and the constant carry hydro flask thing is not as trendy. The museum had lots to look at! Goya is the most popular artist found in there but guess what, no photos allowed so we don’t have anything to share from that exploration. 

And next we needed food! We saw a place that literally had a “tourist menu” and decided to try something more authentic. We think we found it with this place. Lots of seafood options and even some beef! Everyone left full and happy. Their complimentary soup was served in these cute bowls that were the perfect size. 

And yes, there’s more! Even though we were starting to fade and it was around 4pm, we trekked on to the Palace and walked right through the Puerta de Sol which was a large market area where we saw a ton of street performers looking for cash for a photo. These were interesting ones though….a transformer, a Mickey Mouse…we even saw a teddy bear and a few Chucky dolls. Yes, that red haired doll. Very interesting…

Oh, and one weird thing was that they sold pop it’s. So kids were throwing these on the ground freaking me out, while Todd reminded me that they don’t have guns here so I guess nobody jumps at the sound like I did. 

We didn’t go inside the Palace because the line was quite long, but we did check out the Almudena Cathedral which was beautiful. 

Doesn’t that statue seem like he’s wearing shades? 

Our next trip was to get cafe because we had one more stop and needed a jolt of energy. We found mochas and even a churro with dipping chocolate - which is very popular here. 

And next we the Temple of Debod which is an ancient Egyptian temple that was dismantled and rebuilt in Madrid, Spain. 

Again, we didn’t need to go inside but we checked it out and since it was golden hour…

And what else? Well, we took another Mercedes Uber van back to our AirBnB because we tired!!! Now we are sitting with our feet up, recapping on the day, and writing this blog. And planning for tomorrow….

Oh wait, there’s more! Like true Europeans, we went out after dark. I know, it’s a rarity for us old people. We enjoy those early nights because our mornings come so early! 

So what did we do? We toasted to our trip with sangria and had some sharing plates of shrimp, meatballs, and calamari. You know, just random mixtures of protein. 

21,281 steps and 8.8 miles. We tired.