my last day in Barcelona bye Harry

Although this is my last day in Barcelona I definitely want to come back to Barcelona. Barcelona is my favorite city in the world :) I will miss all the great museums and amazing architecture.  I will also miss fast train traveling. My top 10 favorite parts were..... 


1. Gaudi Casa Batllo
2. FC Barcelona game first time 
3. Train Travel
4. Gaudi Parc Guell
5. Gaudi Palau Guell 
6. La Padrera
7. Magic Fountain
8. La Ramblas
9. Palau de la Musica
10. The Barcelona Beach


This trip has been life changing. I hope we do it again somewhere else :)

Final Blog post in Spain

I imagine dinner on the last night. Eating at Crepes Barcelona, savoring every last bite of crepe goodness. In my mind I absolutely do not want to leave. At first you imagine you want to go home and see your friends and family but when the days start to count down you do not want to leave. You start counting down the things like...  this will be my last night sleeping in this bed or this is my last time eating breakfast or simply a final blog post. But in a tiny corrner of my mind this feels like a dream. A dream in Spain. Now when I get back to Boise, I will just simply wake from the dream. But the good thing about dreams is that you can always go back to sleep and your bed will be waiting for you along with your dreams. Somewhere deep down inside I want to wake up from this dream. I want to see my family and eat Thanksgiving dinner. I want to walk into my classroom and see all the kids and my teacher run towards me to greet me. Then again there will be things that will not be there when I wake up. I will not have my dog. But I know that really my dog has been in this dream, in this wonderful dream with me exploring all the places eating all the food. She has been following me around the whole time I was in this dream. Well I know that I can always come back. Maybe my dream will take place in a different spot next time and all I know is that much more adventure awaits...

To be continued...

Cathedral of Toledo by Victoria

The Chapel in Toledo is the fourth biggest church in Europe.

This statue of Mary was given from the king of France to the king of Spain who was his cousin. This statue is famous because it is so realistic.

In the box that I am touching is, drum roll please, is a white stone. But this is no ordinary stone. It is quite the opposite. You see, Mary stood on that stone and when you touch the stone you get to make a wish. But only one a day and only a total of twelve. We all made a wish.

This painting of Saint Christopher is 15 meters tall. Saints are usually painted with halos. Apparently, according to the Vatican, St. Christopher never excisted. So there goes his halo. It is kind of sad really. Poor St. Christopher. Well, at least he gets a giant picture of himself.

Wow that's giant! No it's ginormous! They made the stories on this chapel in pictures because back then not many people could read or write that well. ...... I wonder, do you think the chapel is solid gold? This chapel was really an extraordinary place.

Toledo, Spain by Harry

We went to Toledo, Spain. We took a train to Madrid and then another to Toledo. If you have ever heard the expression, "Holy Toledo" it comes from Toledo, Spain. Toledo is the spiritual capital of Spain. At one time (before Queen Isabella) Muslims, Jews, and Christians all lived together peacefully together in Toledo.

This is a Jewish Synagogue built by Muslim architects. Napoleon used this synagogue as horse stables when he invaded Spain and nearly ruined it.

Toledo is a really cool city. I would definitely go back.

Ned's last day in Barcelona by V&H

at the Palau Guell

Sometimes on a rainy day you can still find lots of fun things to do...

Ned on the Miro mosaic on La Rambla 

We walked up La Rambla to Gracia but there weren't any street performers because of the rain.

Ned at La Boqueria

Our new FC Barcelona jerseys

 We went and all got FC Barcelona jerseys. V & I got the home jersey and Ned got the keeper's jersey. (Thanks, Mom) 

acting crazy

the Palace of Charles V by Harry

When we were in Granada we saw the Charles V's Palace (in side the Alhambra). He made the palace when he took over the muslim territory. There is a lot of other museums in this palace. If you stand in the middle you can hear someone whisper on the rim of the circle. The building is a square on the outside and a circle on the inside. I liked this place less than the Alhambra.

Sitges by Victoria

 Today we took a train to Sitges. Sitges is a small, cute, little beach town just south of Barcelona.

 We went with my cousin, Ned and my grandma. 

We walked on the beach and played.

this is my grandma, Omi

 The beaches looked like they could go on forever. It was just what you'd imagine a small fishing village to look like. If you wanted to be a writer, this would be the perfect place to come in the winter for quiet, peaceful inspiration. It would be fun to rent one of the beach apartments and look out every day and watch the ocean.

Ned is here by Victoria

More family has come to visit. Yes more. This time my cousin, Ned, and my grandma on my dads side came to visit. Last night we went to the Magic Fountain. We saw one of the bubble guys there and we became the main event. We chased the bubbles and tried to pop them again and again. We gave the bubble guy a big tip because we popped most of his bubbles. It was really fun and the bubbles were really big. One was bigger than a four weeler. I had a great time with my cousin.

Wow! That bubble is bigger than a four wheeler. 

Alhambra by Harry

A couple of days ago we went to Granada. We saw a muslim castle called the Alhambra. I really liked it. I think it should be one of the three best palaces in Europe. (according to Rick Steve's books the top three are: Versailles, Palais Real, and Schonbrunn. I've been to all those & I think the Alhambra should be included.)

My mom and I really liked the ceiling and the doors.

There was a summer castle. In the summer castle there was a big court yard with a lot of fountains. It was just a mile away from the big castle. Imagine that!

La Alhambra by Victoria

We went to Granada and visited The Alhambra. When you enter the Alhambra you don't feel like you are in Europe any more. It feels more like you are in Morocco or the movie Aladdin. It reminded me of the scene in Aladdin where they sing the song Prince Ali: Prince Ali - fabulous he - Ali Ababwa

It seemed like the perfect place for meditation. It was so calm and serene. It must have been a spectacular place during the reign of the sultan.

I got this new scarf at the bazar outside the Alhambra. 

What do you think? 

I have heard before that in a dunkin' doughnuts ad, Rachel Ray was wearing a scarf like this. They canceled the ad because they thought it made her look like a teriorist. Do I really look like a terrorist in this scarf?

Good-Bye!

Night Train by Harry

We went to Granada and back on a night train. I don't think you will find one of these in the U.S. I wish the United States had more train travel. 

This is the first time we have been on a night train. We had a little room with 4 beds. My sister and I slept on the top bunks. It was really exciting to try to sleep on a night train.

I would definitely do it again.

FCBarcelona rules! by Harry

Tonight we watched FC Barcelona on TV. I think Messi is the best foot ball player in the world (fact). This is a video my mom found for me of last year when FC Barcelona played and beat Real Madrid :) I love how the artist did the people in the video. This is one of my favorite videos in the world because if you look you can see the numbers on the players shirts and I love how I could recognize their faces. I think this video is very creative. I hope you like it too. 

fall has come to Barcelona by V & H

Yesterday we went down to walk on the beach and we saw that all the drift wood had washed up to shore because it was windy out. The wind made all the drift wood wash ashore. We made a hut out of the sticks with a floor and a roof made up of drift wood. Thanks to me! Well.. and Harry. I had a great time making the fort and playing on the beach. I hope our fort survived the night.

Yesterday my sister and I made a bamboo hut. I made the structure and my sister made the floor. It was cooler out than usual. The only people in the water were surfers. I had a great time on the beach :)

and just two weeks ago...

The Dragon Gate of Finca Guell by Victoria

 This gate we call the "Gaudi Gate". It's based on Greek Mythology.  Antoni Gaudi designed it for the Guell family's summer home. The gate was welded together with the use of electricity which was novel at the time (1884). The gate represents a poem where Hercules tries to get past the dragon to get oranges to conquer the heart of the queen. 


The dragon looked like it could have been made from recycled materials. I also thought that this gate looked like it should be on an evil queen's castle. It would have been cool if it could move. This is another example of Gaudi's genius.