All right, onto finishing the 2nd half of our Europe trip in Spain :)
With Alyssa (AJ) and her family having moved to Valencia, we planned to visit there for 5 days then go to Barcelona for 4 days. In the past, we would often push to do a bunch of stuff during vacation but we've slowed down a bit and now usually aim for 1-2 things a day and some built in leisure time, like how we went to the beach in Porto and just played for most of the day. Yes, we could just as easily go the beach an hour away from home so it does seem squanderous (is that a word?) but the kids have more fun and we are more relaxed, even if we don't see all the sights in a given place.
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| Landing in Spain and walking off the plane |
AJ and her family (John, Melissa and older sister Kelsey) surprised us at the airport. We kept it quiet and Sora was very surprised to see her. They hadn't seen each other for over a year so it took them a couple hours to reacquaint but after that they all got along very well. It helped that Kelsey was so friendly and outgoing and eventually all five kids were playing together. John and Melissa helped us get back to the our rental which was just about 5 mins walk around the corner from their condo. They have a really nice setup with a large 3 bdrm place, which was cheaper than Angel's place in Porto. The girls have really enjoyed living in Spain and "never want to go back" to the US :) The situation is a bit different than ours as I think John and Melissa were working so much to keep up in the bay area that it was hard for them to get time with the kids. The move has allowed them to spend much more time as a family and increased their happiness quite a lot.
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| Kelsey, Sora and AJ |
The other bonus is that Harsha met us in Valencia as well! He was just coming back from Rwanda and was passing through Europe so made a detour to join us for three days. It did not turn out to be easy, with flight delays and extra cost, but seeing him is always awesome and welcome. He stayed with us in our rental (two bedrooms, Harsha got the small one, Kids had the larger room and Amy and I slept on the pull out sofa.) Harsha has traveled with us to so many places including Japan, Prague, Valencia and many places in the US. Good times, my friend.
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| On the couch at our rental |
Valencia has one of the nicest mercados in Spain, housed in an old building done in a mix of Valencian Art Nouveau and Gothic style (I don't really know what that means :) Our place was right next to it .. great job, Amy, for picking the rental.
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The Mercado is still functioning as a true market,
rather than changing to cater to tourists |
We rested for the night and then spent the first day walking around the old town. Valencia is very nice. Still not super touristy, though more and more people are traveling there. Even within 5 days, we got the know the old town pretty well already so it was nice and familiar. Outside of the old town, it's a medium sized city like most others along with a great public transport system, like most European cities. Valencia is also part of the old Catalan region of Spain (they have some different words for things and speak with that lisp), right on the beach and not so commercial/touristy so a nice combination.
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Our first breakfast in the plaza next to the market..
not sure why Kai looks so funny :D |
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| The old silk exchange |
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Kids got some ice cream as a reward for
walking around in the 90+ deg heat |
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| Kids spent some time relaxing and playing games as well |
Valencia has a really modern area called the City of Arts and Sciences, which is a complex of museums, theaters and parks. The kids went off to the aquarium with Amy and Melissa while I wandered around with Harsha looking for a book on Valencia photography.
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| Very nice aquarium and deep water exhibits |
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| Silly Jad |
There is a lot of water features and decorative pools around the buildings of the complex. I don't think you were supposed to go in there but a lot of people were wading around and Kai and Jad jumped right in. I was trying to give the kids more freedom (inspired by John and Melissa's parenting style and a talk with Harsha) so didn't interfere and let them have their fun. If you look closely at the picture below, there's a deeper spot that Jad ran and slipped into. Thank God, he was still able to stand up and Kai was nearby and helped him. Funny, I want to give the kids more independence but, having seen some terrible things in the ER, I know it only takes a moment for something to go badly wrong so those two sides are always conflicting within me.
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| They got soaked but dried off quickly in the heat |
We had a nice dinner of various tapas and a chance to chat with Melissa and John while the kids ran around in the playground. We ate til about 10pm and then took the bus back. A later schedule than usual but when in Spain, you must do as the locals do.
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| Patatas Bravas, one of many tapas plates |
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| Waiting for the bus to go home |
The next day, we met up again and walked through the old town from the other side. It was so nice to have friends to hang out with, just like when we were with Angel and Sujit in Portugal. Really, that was the best part of this trip to have these shared experiences with friends.
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| Torres de Cerranos, the old city gates |
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Where did Kelsey go? We also lost Jad at one point in the tower. He is pretty good so we weren't
too worried but I did go down to the entry stairway in case he wandered out |
Valencia has a great street art scene, much like Portugal, and some of the works were really cool. It really added to the feel of a real living city, rather than just a place for tourists.
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| A couple garage doors near our rental |
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There were these ninjas all over in different
poses.. Jad is copying this one |
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| This painting really looks 3D |
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| And this mural was super cool |
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| Kids are posing like the characters in back. |
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| The kids had a really good time hanging out together |
In addition to a great Spanish food, Valencia is big enough to have a great variety of food. We stopped at a Mediterranean place for lunch and had some pretty good stuff. We are a bit spoiled coming from the bay area though because we have a great variety of cuisines here and most of it is quite good.
There was a lot of walking while we were in Europe and we regularly hit 15,000 steps a day. It's a much healthier lifestyle than here in the US where, even with some effort, I'm usually averaging about 600 steps per day. I've tried to keep it up here but it's much harder for me to get going when I'm not heading to a place or sight to see.
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Church of San Nicolas, the "Sistine Chapel" of
Valencia.. very elaborate murals |
We also didn't eat quite a much (maybe?) while we were traveling. Usually we would get up at 9a or so and then eat some pastries for breakfast/brunch, get going around 11am or so (the hot part of the day, already) and then walk somewhere, we'd eat snacks or ice cream/gelato along the way through the afternoon and then usually a dinner at about 7pm and that was it.
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| Example of said gelato |
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There were traditional gelato flavors but also
some odd ones, like smoked salmon (ugh), for the tourists |
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Tinto de Verano is red wine with soda and
a ubiquitous drink in Valencia |
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Gulliver playground where the structure is shaped like
a fallen giant man |
The Pearsons were so nice to us and such good hosts. The girls wanted a sleepover so one night, Sora went over and stayed with Kelsey and AJ. Amy and I took the boys (Harsha included) for some traditional Valencian paella (chicken and green beans) and seafood paella at La Riua. Paella originated in Valencia, you know, so it would be remiss for us to not try it here. It was very good :)
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After sleeping in, we had a relaxing
breakfast at a cafe before getting the kids ;) |
ps. Horchata in Valencia is made with chufa (tiger nuts) and tastes quite different than the Mexican variety. It's less sweet and more fibrous, an interesting taste.
Our last full day in Valencia was a beach day. The Mediterranean's water was so warm! It's probably not like this all the time and I don't remember what the water was like when we were in Greece (a dozen years ago almost), but this water was amazing. We all spent the day playing in the waves and trying to body board. It was quite fun :)
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| Taking up much of the train on the ride there |
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| Boys had a lot of fun on the boogie boards |
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| We ended up staying there until almost sunset |
All in all, our time in Valencia was great and we are very thankful to the Pearsons for helping us to feel welcome in their new home city. Hopefully we can repay them when they visit the bay area.
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| Hugs before leaving! |
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Waiting for the train to Barcelona! These kids are
going to be expert travelers :) |
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| Kids done passed out on the train ride |
We arrived late evening in Barcelona. Immediately, you can tell that the city is larger and busier, more international than Valencia. The stores are all recognizable, often upscale, brand names and there is much more numbers and diversity of locals and tourists.
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We hadn't had Asian food in a while so we went
across the street to Oishii Ramen Station for dinner |
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Cool decor and train but the food was mediocre.. maybe ok
for Spain but we're used to pretty good ramen :p
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Our place in Barcelona was pretty nice. Located centrally, very close to the Passeig de Gracia station and the main walking street down towards Las Ramblas. It was a loft kind of place with a cool spiral staircase but they had an outer door and apt door that unlocked via an app and it was very unreliable. Often it wouldn't work and we'd have to wait til someone came out to let us in. There was another issue too but we'll cover that later.
We got going the next day and walked around town. We pointed out the requisite Gaudi architecture and explained some of the significance to the kids.
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| Superhero pose in front of La Predera |
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The line in front of Casa Batllo.. we didn't end
up going into these places, just admired from outside |
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| Las Ramblas is very busy! |
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We went to this fantasy inspired place for lunch and rested our feet. Neat place, kind of like
a rainforest cafe kind of vibe with a bit more fantasy |
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| After that we took a free talking tour of the Gothic quarter |
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| Some cool history and architecture |
Food is a big reason that we people travel. I wouldn't say we were foodies but we like to have good authentic dishes wherever we travel. For Tapas, we managed to walk in to Cerveceria Catalana which was just a few blocks from our rental. Really good tapas!
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| Probably the fanciest place we ate at in Barcelona.. on the sidewalk |
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Fish, Eggplant, Tomato Bread and Octopus.. all very good,
though we're going to give up octopi because they are too smart |
The next day we walked around Parque de Montjuic and the old Olympic area. There was a big castle at the top and a great view of the city but the kids didn't want to go into the castle. With the Olympics going on while we were there (we watched a lot of olympic events in the mornings and evenings.. the climbing and skateboarding were big hits), we thought it would be cool to go through the old Olympic locations. Unfortunately, they were mostly closed so we just spent a lot of time walking down through the park. The park ends at the Montjuic fountains, a place that I thought was really magical when I first backpacked through here in 2002 (22 years ago!) The fountains were lit up at night, there would be music playing and lots of people just hanging out around the area. The fountain was shut down due to drought concerns, which I understand, but too bad the kids couldn't see it.
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| Ninja-ing around the old cannons |
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| The gate to Castel de Montjuic |
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I still remember this from the 1992 Olympics.. cool to see in person
but it didn't make much of an impression on the kids |
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| There was an Olympic museum and they had many of the torches from the previous years |
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After much walking, we made it to the National Museum and
got some ice cream |
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| They also had some sort of art/festival going near the fountain |
Unfortunately, we returned to our rental late in the evening to find that someone had stolen our tablet and laptop :( We aren't sure what happened. The place was on the 7th floor in a building with an outer door so it wasn't easy to get into but with the electronic lock, I wonder if the cleaning people had access or any other number of people. It's possible that we may have even left the door unlocked / open while going out because the kids were the last to come to the elevator. It did seem to be a crime of opportunity because they didn't bother to look thoroughly around and money and passports were left in my bag (though my colorful rainbow shirt was missing too!) I wonder if it may have been some younger person who saw the door ajar and just grabbed whatever looked valuable on the desk. We called the police and they sent two officers to come take our report. They said I'd have to go to the main police station (near Montjuic) to file the report the next morning. The whole experience soured things for us and we felt anxious about everything. We froze our credit reports and was paranoid about our accounts for a while after. Things seemed to have blown over though and we haven't had any issues yet. I suppose these kind of things happen though and we've been traveling for many many years without losing anything so in the end, it's not so terrible.
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| The police report |
The next morning, I woke up early and went to the police station at 8am. They said I would have to wait for the official translator who came in at 9am though I offered that I spoke some Spanish and could use Google Translator to help. I waited for a while and then eventually talked to the translator and filled out a report. She then told me, they would submit it for a detective to review. I was like, "how long will that take?" About 2 hours she told me and I had to be there when they were ready so they could file the report. What?!? I think they make it hard on purpose. Considering that we were leaving the next day and the chances of getting our stuff back was minute, I decided to just leave. The laptop and tablet were not super expensive and I wasn't going to miss our travel day for it. The kids were very understanding but sad that they lost their game progress what was on the tablet :p We tried not to let it sour our vacation.
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The police station early in the morning.. Spain does
not operate in the early hours :( |
Back in the day, you could just walk up to the Sagrada Familia and get tickets to walk in but no longer. We made reservations about a week in advance while we were in Valencia and that's where we headed when I got back to the family. The Sagrada Familia is really amazing and it's so close to completion. It was supposed to be done a few years ago actually but the construction was delayed by COVID. Now they say it'll be totally complete in about 2-3 years. It's been building for over 150 years! I originally thought it was all Gaudi but apparently a number of architects after him made changes and elaborated on his designs. It's just such a unique and impressive building and truly something not to miss when there.
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Almost done! But they'll have to go back and clean
up over a century of dirt and grime |
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The light was great on our visit and the projections onto the walls
and ceilings were beautiful |
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They had added pews and altar from the last time
Amy and I were here |
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Stained glass on one side was warm and light while the other side
was darker and more deep.. very pretty |
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| Nearly every wall and fixture was styled |
We left the Sagrada Familia and then walked towards Park Guell (not enough Gaudi for one day?!? :) stopping at a pearl milk tea place. We walked for a while but eventually we gave up and took the bus up the hill the rest of the way. I'm glad we did too because it was a pretty long walk. Park Guell is a park that belonged to Eusebi Guell, a count and patron of Gaudi, who let him design much of the structures in the park. Eventually, it was donated to the city and became public / tourist space.
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Panda milk tea.. pretty good but not
as cheap as I was hoping |
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| A view from the bus stop near the entrance to Park Guell |
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These columns and walls are pretty cool. Kids
tried to climb up a bit :) |
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| It's almost like Alice in Wonderland or something with all the colors and curves |
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| Jad goofing around the walls and gates |
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| Cool ceiling and great family |
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| The famous lizard/dragon |
And that was our last day in Barcelona! I think we had a great time and hope that we, including the kids, have great memories from the trip. When asked they said that the best part of the trip was the time we spent in Valencia with the Pearsons, which I can understand. It was tough at times, like all trips, but I think we'll remember this one for a long time. We packed up that night and took the train to the airport, where it was super busy. After a very long travel day, we finally made it home.
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| At the Barcelona airport waiting for check in |
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Heading home! I like this guy looking directly at the
camera above Kai's head :) |
That's it for Europe (this year anyway :) Til next time!
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