We arrived in Barcelona from Paris late at night, so the next morning we looked at the clock and saw it was 11:45 am!!! Ahhhh! So much time wasted, but not really, because the sleep was so very much needed. After hopping out of bed and practically running out the door, this is what we saw in Barcelona:

The Sagrada Familia is to your left. If you're thinking "hmm... that's kind of ugly," I agree with you. But it's the kind ugly that is so unique you keep staring and soon decide it's really cool. It was designed and built by the famous Antoni Gaudi, an influential Spanish Catalan architect who was revolutionary in his Modernist style. His structures are all over Barcelona. He started this chapel, and died before it was finished. As you can see by the cranes and scaffolding, the city is still trying to finish it, and it has been under construction since 1882. And no, they are not even close to being finished. Still pretty cool though.

Here is Russ at the top of Las Ramblas

How to explain Las Ramblas? It is a street so incredibly packed with people, booths, stores, restaurants, music, street performers you experience somewhat of a sensory overload. But oh goodness, it's a blast. Barcelona is filled with ENERGY and YOUTH, and Las Ramblas is where all of this energy and youth begins.

You can also see that Russ is holding a Zara bag. Some of you have probably heard of this Spain-based store of goodness. There is a line called "Zara Man," and we found out they were talking about Russell. He IS the Zara man. Those clothes fit his body like a glove, so much so that we bought him a new suit -- a pretty shnazzy suit that fit him so perfectly it does not need to be altered one bit. He was a pretty happy Zara man.

Las Ramblas = cool

We found an awesome market with food that was so beautifully displayed just off of Las Ramblas. Soooo tempting.

Here we are at a pretty hoppin' square, again just off Las Ramblas.

Our hotel was right next to this palace -- The Fira Palace. There was the most beautiful fountain show every night in front of this palace that puts up a pretty good fight against the Bellagio fountains. Look at all those people behind the fountains!

Beautiful sunrise, right? Our second day in Barcelona started with a really, really really early morning run to the mountain behind our hotel and the Fira Palace. There is a castle up top right next to the Olympic Park. It was such a beautiful sunrise and made Russell's crazy early-morning idea worth it. And then we started running back. I'm following Russell down the poorly-paved mountain roads, and before I realized it I'm practically sprinting. Just as I'm thinking "this is the fastest I've ever run, I kind of feel out of control..." I DO lose control and FACE PLANT. Sccrraaaaaaaaaaaaape. I wasn't even worried about the blood running down my shin or the asphalt in my palms. No, I was holding our camera in my hand, and long story short, the camera is no more. Yes, I broke the camera. In Europe. And yes, a new camera was immediately bought. (... add one more unexpected purchase to the list...)

Barcelona has an Arc de Triomphe, too!

What does a man do when he sees a funny looking tree? See below.

Final word: We LOVED our time in Barcelona, broken camera, scraped skin, and all. 

 Stay tuned for more Spain adventures.

My Daily Affirmation

On days when you might need a little boost, follow this little girl's example and tell yourself why your life is so good. Looks like it's working for her...

For example, I personally could wake up and recite some of the following phrases:

I like my job! I like my friends! I like my apartment! I like my hair! I like my hair cuts! I like my car! I like my computer! I like the city I live in! I like my family! I like my pajamas! I... like... my... whole... house!

I CAN DO ANYTHING GOOD!

yeah, yeah, yeah...

J'adore Paris!

Our time in Paris was short, but very sweet. We stopped in Paris for like a day in between England and Spain. Since I have been a few times, I showed Russ the speed guide tour through the city of love. And you know? I think I did a pretty good job!

The Paris excursion started with a late night dinner after a long journey from London at a delicious pizza place. We probably sounded pretty ridiculous trying to translate the french menu, even with the little bit of French I remembered from high school. I thought about taking pictures of our fancy pizzas, but they disappeared waaaaaay too quickly.

We then literally ran to catch the last metro train from our rented flat to, none other, but the 

Eiffel Tower. 

It really was a magical time. We were running purely on adrenaline and endorphins.

We fell asleep as two happy travelers and woke up ready to get going. We started the day with the 

Notre Dame, an absolutely impressive cathedral in the heart of the city along the Sienne River. And no, the hunchback was nowhere to be found. Russ loved this cathedral, and I think he even said it was his favorite part of Paris. Me? Definitely the tour d'Eiffel. Or the food.

Every corner in Paris is picturesque. Too bad I'm not a pro photographer. Someday.

To the right you can see me trying to navigate the map looking as touristy as possible. The map worked... most of the time.

How cute is this street full of flowers? As you can see we ran into a little... a lot of rain in Paris. Rain or no rain, it was still beautiful.

The Louvre! Such an amazing building. 

The Paris Opera House! If you take Russ out of the picture, doesn't it look like a great ad for that car in the background? Yeah, I thought so.

The Arc de Triomphe! It took a few tries to get this picture without massive buses or swarms of cars flying by. The Champs de Elysee is an incredibly busy street. Anyway, again after looking like major tourists, we got a shot.

I tried taking Russ up to the Sacre Le Couere (an amazing chapel that overlooks Paris) and Mont-Martre (a quaint square that has the typical artists on the street surrounded by outdoor cafe's and everything French... and also near where my Grandma lived as a young teen), but once getting out of the metro we realized it was raining way too hard. Like rivers-flowing-down-the-street raining hard. 

So we ate instead.

We found an adorable cafe and ordered anything we sort of recognized and reveled in our last few hours in Paris. 

And then we literally ran to catch our train to Spain. And we made it... barely... again. 

Stay tuned -- Spain soon to come!

Oh Deer

I know you all have been freaking out just as much as I have that our blog was down. Ok, just kidding. You probably didn't notice. But it is fixed now! (Which I'm sure you gathered since you are reading this post).

Today I had a wonderful Monday morning email from my brother, Jace, who is in Japan right now. It was this picture, and all he said with it was "I love deer!"

Yup, he hasn't changed one bit.

And again.

... LONDON ...

What to say about London?!? Amazing city with amazing energy. Let me just start to show you pictures.

Here we are at Piccadilly Circus, one of the main city centers with tons of lights, people, theaters, and more. It kind of reminds me of a mini-Times Square.

To the left:                                                                                                                               To the right:
Big Ben, The London Eye, and Parliament Building                                    Russ and I at Buckingham Palace

On Sunday we went to church at the Hyde Park building. I'm still amazed how I can show up to a foreign city and attend the same church I am a member of in San Antonio. It was such a great experience!

After church all of us grabbed some sandwiches and headed to Hyde Park to enjoy the scenery and warm weather. We also saw some museums -- the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Natural Science Museum.

We were traveling with 3 other couples (Brittney/Stuart, Caitlin/Robbie, and some friends named Rusty/Chelsea).

We had a lot of fun together. That's all.

How much do I love orange poppies? So much. The gardens within Hyde Park were gorgeous.

This is the Natural History Museum. Even the building is a sight to behold.

Here is the group overlooking Trafalgar Square!! From left, Caitlin, Stuart, Robbie, Brittney, Rusty, Chelsea

The group again from left to right... us, B & Stu, Caitlin & Robbie, Chelsea & Rusty

Russell loves Trafalgar Square. It is one of the funnest places to just hang out at and people watch. We also completely lucked out with the weather... in London of all places!

R & C ... Elephant style. London has these painted elephants all over the city as a way to bring awareness to and raise funds for endangered elephants in Africa. Pretty cool.

Here is the Tower Bridge, definitely one of the most impressive bridges in London.

One of my favorite things about London is being on the Thames River at night. Love, love love.

While we were in London there was a protest camp right outside the Parliament buildings and Big Ben. Apparently these political crazies had been camping out there for 9 months to voice concerns concerning the war, gay/lesbian rights, the Siege of Gaza, and more. Free Speech! Except while we were there someone was arrested at this camp for speaking too freely.

St. Paul's Cathedral is an incredible building. You can see it in the back in the picture to the left, and the picture on the right is taken from the front of the Cathedral. We took a gander by this building after visiting the Tate Modern Museum.

Alright guys, this is serious. We went to Kings Cross Station to see the ever-popular Platform 9 3/4. While we were there, Caitlin was talking to an employee of the station, who let it slip that the next Harry Potter movie was being filmed on the next platform over RIGHT NOW!!! What did we do? We ran over to that platform pronto, and made a fool of ourselves as we bordered on becoming paparazzi's. We didn't see any of the actors (unfortunately), but we did get a picture of the film that was just filmed!! Even the man carrying the film had 3 bodyguards as he walked out of the station.

This so made my day in London complete.

Abbey Road. And for those fellow Beatles fans out there, please note Brittney is even barefoot.

 The Tower of London. Russell loooooooooooved this castle. He went twice. 

I just had to put these pictures on here. This was on our way to the British Museum, where we saw the Rosetta Stone and more Egyptian and Greek treasures.

St. James Park, which is right next to Buckingham Palace.

Our last night of the trip was in London, and to celebrate we saw Les Miserables, one of my very favorite musicals for lots of nostalgic reasons. It was Russell's first time, and he loved it. Perfect end to the perfect trip.

I apologize for the mass amounts of pictures! After London we headed to Paris for a short time. Stay tuned!

Bath, England

See this beautiful train platform? We saw a lot of these in Europe.  After a short train ride from the Cotswalds, we arrived in the absolutely lovely town of Bath, England.

FUN FACTS OF BATH:

• Jane Austen lived here
• Bath was known as a "Hollywood" of sorts back in this era -- It was the leading center of fashionable life.
• It was first established as a spa resort by the Romans
• Was inscribed as a "World Heritage Site" in 1987.

One afternoon Russ and I sat down in a park that was on the edge of this river and just relaxed. That's one thing I looooove about Europe -- there are parks everywhere, and they are always full. Going to the park is a daily activity.


For example, one day we sat down and ate lunch in this little park, and enjoyed the splendor of the Bath Abbey, an amazing church that dates all the way back to the 7th century (even though it was rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries).

I believe this lunch was the first Ham and Brie panini I ate in Europe. But do not be fooled, it was not my last. I <3 Brie Cheese. That may have been one of my favorite meals I had the whole trip.

To the right, Stuart is drinking a "milk shake"... or better known to us, flavored milk. Europe does not have quite the same terminologies for some food items.

One day we made the long walk up to Prior Park, an 18th-century landscape garden, designed by the poet Alexander Pope. It is the quintessential "English Garden," which tries to portray the idealized view of nature, and replace the formal, symmetrical gardens of the 17th-century. Anywho, it was absolutely gorgeous.

Prior park has one of the 4 remaining Palladian bridges overlooking a strikingly blue lake. Yes, this place is for real.

 More of the park. They did not make it in this shot, but to the right were some black and white cows grazing in the field. You know, just because.

To make Prior Park even more idyllic, there is a private high school at the top (the building behind me in the picture below). We ran into a few of the students who looked like a group of Ralph Lauren models. One guy seriously was wearing riding boots, tan riding pants, a white button down shirt that was flowing open, and blond hair effortlessly swooped to the side. I didn't know people actually lived like that -- only in Bath, I'm assuming.

Here are some pictures of the lovely Bath Abbey I talked about. I loved just sitting and people watching in the square right outside this church's entrance. We saw street performers galore.

 

After our wonderful time in Bath, we embarked on the next adventure in the amazing city of

LONDON.

Post will be soon to come.