Barcelona

The day after Nathan flew back home, the kids & I boarded a Ryanair flight to Barcelona. Micah was scheduled to take the ACT there on Sept. 12, so we decided to spend a few extra days and see the city.

Thank goodness for cheap airfare!  Ryanair is bare-bones, but it got us across Spain for less than half the cost of train tickets.

Our AirBNB apartment was on the 6th floor of a building in the middle of a Barcelona neighborhood.  It was interesting to see what is on the other side of all those tall buildings that line the streets.  (Basically a lot of laundry hanging out to dry.  And cats.)

The girls loved sitting at our window and watching the cats play down below.  Better than tv!

They also loved our rickety old elevator.

The highlight of the trip was seeing Antoni Gaudí's jaw-dropping cathedral Sagrada Familia.  It has been under construction since 1883, and they are still working on it.  The goal is to have it completed by 2026, the centennial of Gaudí's death.  I can't wait to return to see it fully finished!

The detail work of the exterior is beyond description.  I could have spent hours looking at all of the statues and carvings.  (But that's not really possible when you are traveling with 4 kids.)  I am always on the lookout for the rare images of Christ as a child.  I fell in love with this statue of a young Jesus sitting on the lap of Joseph.    

The adoration of the Three Kings.  The statues on this side (the Nativity Facade) of the cathedral were so realistic and tender. 

The interior of the cathedral was strikingly different from the ornate exterior.  It was aglow in softly diffused light from thousands of brilliant stained glass windows.  

The pillars inside were designed to resemble towering trees.
I've looked at all my pictures, but none of them can even come close to capturing the magnitude and reverence in this cathedral.

On the other side of the cathedral is the Passion Facade.  This was my favorite!  The sculptures on this side were stark and edgy.  But they still portrayed so much emotion.

Pontius Pilate - just part of one of the many stories told on the side of this magnificent cathedral.

Barcelona is all about the details.  There are random surprises all over the city, like this cool dragon just hanging out on the side of a building.

We walked La Rambla.  Torah is lucky to have such a great big brother.

Red Bull ice cream?  No thanks.

I was trying to get a cute picture of my kids in front of the Cathedral of Barcelona, but this creepy squeaky white apparition wouldn't leave us alone.  Panhandlers in Spain are creative, but still obnoxious.

I was so excited to finally get to witness the locals dancing the Sardana - the traditional Catalonian circle dance.  The steps are slow and methodical, and it was fascinating to watch the circle slowly grow as more people added their bags to the pile in the center, then join in without missing a beat.

The girls enjoyed an afternoon swimming in the Med.  Torah loves the big waves that crash right over her and drag her to shore.

We caught a late metro out to see the Magic Fountain at Montjuïc.  The lights and water were set to a backdrop of Disney music.  The little girls were enthralled!

Barcelona is clearly the city of Gaudí.  Walking up the Passeig de Gràcia, we passed 2 of his most famous residential buildings.  This is Casa Milà.  Supposedly, George Lucas visited this site and modeled the helmets of his storm troopers after the chimneys on top.

Casa Batlló - another Gaudí.

La Boqueria is Barcelona's version of Pike Street market.  :)

The sights & smells of the market were tempting, but mostly overpriced.

We did get some fresh-squeezed juice for 1 euro.

My little iPhone camera just can't capture the colors!

Our last stop was Park Güell - yet another Gaudí extravaganza.  We weren't able to get tickets to go in, but we enjoyed walking around the park outside.  The walkway was lined with these stone-age looking planters, interspersed with stone benches to rest on.

And the view from Park Güell was stunning!

Baba & the girls arrive!

Nathan, Emma & Adana arrived on September 4th!  It was great to be all back together again (except Jared).

We spent much of the week that Nathan was here enjoying the great food of Sevilla.  We LOVE Spanish pizza!

One day we were walking around and we came across a Renaissance Fair in a park near our home.  There were booths of food, treats, jewelry, and all sorts of things.  I was worried that Nathan was going to want to buy one of these enormous meat grills for our back yard.

We came back later that evening for dinner.  The meat was good, but I especially liked the grilled veggies.

Torah had been waiting and waiting for Baba to arrive so that she could ride in one of the horse-drawn carriages.  It's touristy & expensive, but really fun.

It's a good thing our apartment has excellent wifi.  :)

More great food - this was paella night!

I love my family and I am so thankful that we can share this amazing adventure together.

Seville - Getting settled

On August 20, we said good-bye to Russ as he flew back to the states, then we caught a fast train to our new home for the next 5 months - SEVILLE!

We arrived in Seville with nothing more than a 4-day hotel reservation - no place to stay, no friends, no idea of what this city was like.  But we felt that this was where we needed to be & we were excited to find out why.

Here are some of the highlights of our first week in our new city:

The biggest highlight of our move was definitely finding our apartment.  More on that to come, once Emma & Adana arrive.  Suffice it to say that after searching and praying and fretting and looking at some scary places, we found the perfect place for our family to call home!  We are SO thankful!

The second biggest highlight of our move was finding our ward and discovering that it is fantastic!  They immediately welcomed us, invited us to their homes, and made us feel like we had friends.  Again, SO thankful! 

Gonzolo, one of our first Spanish friends!

We are really trying to go local & live like Spaniards.  But oh, how thankful I am for Costco!  Hey, it's Spanish Costco, so it counts, right? :)

We got to FaceTime with this handsome guy as he was set apart as a missionary and began his 2-year service for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He will do amazing things as he serves the people of Turkey.

Torah is constantly on the look-out for playgrounds, which seem to pop up at random all over the city.

We have mastered the extensive Seville bus lines.  Our little C5 bus (which goes right by our apartment) is a riot!  It is about the size of an airport shuttle bus, and it is usually filled with a bunch of old Spanish people.  They are hilarious and totally in love with Torah.

We love discovering produce markets!

It doesn't matter what country you're in, these mechanical horses are always a hit!

Micah's birthday dinner.  He researched to find the best burger in Seville.  Success!  It was delicious!

My baby boy turned 17 during our first week in Seville.  I have loved spending this time with him.  He is so calm, easy-going, and thoughtful.  He can make me laugh when I'm feeling stressed, and he has been a huge support as we've tried to make this country our home.  His Spanish is pretty amazing and I have no doubt that he will do great things someday.

Another delicious discovery - Spanish bubble tea.  We like it better than the stuff we usually get back in the states.

This is called the Metropol Parasol.  I'm not exactly sure what it is, and neither apparently do the locals.  It's just an enormous, undulating canopy of criss-cross wooden plates that stretches across the road and over a large plaza.  Underneath is a market and some shops & restaurants.  It is only a few minutes walk from our home, so we pass under it nearly every day.

Toledo

One of our days in Madrid, we road the high-speed train out to Toledo (just a 30 minute trip & super cheap!)  Toledo was amazing - an ancient Spanish city that makes you feel as if you've stepped back in time (if you can ignore all the little souvenir shops & ice cream carts).   

First stop for me, of course, was lunch!  I found this great little shop that sold jamón pastries by the kilo.  A wedge cost me 5 euros and fed both me & Torah.  The crust was buttery & flakey, and the filling was so delicious!

After spending so much time in Madrid & on the modern Med. coast, it was fun to explore the narrow maze-like streets of this old town.  And they were so much cooler!  One of the reasons that they built their cities with such narrow streets was so that the buildings would block out the sun & keep the streets shady.  It worked!

Another breathtaking cathedral!  Again, right in the center of town.

The High Alter of the cathedral.  It is HUGE and covered in gold!  To get an idea of how high this is, click on the picture and look for the crucified Christ at the very top.  He is 9 feet tall. 

I was so blown away by the magnitude of this cathedral that I apparently failed to take many pictures.  But I did buy a cool book about it, so I have those pictures to look at.

I did take a picture of this painting because I loved it!   It's called St. Joseph and the Christ Child by El Greco.  It's not often that you find a painting of this time in Christ's life, when he was a child with his earthly father.  I love the obvious affection that they have for each other.