Barcelona, Spain!

We spent six days in Barcelona and it's safe to say that it has earned a place among my favorite cities. So you might ask, what exactly did I like about Barcelona?

Here's a list:

• The Mediterranean Sea: any city located on water of any type is a huge plus for me, but the Mediterranean Sea?! Over four kilometers of beautiful beaches with an active and well-maintained boardwalk, great restaurants and clubs, easy access to many other countries by sea, and a great place for people watching or soaking up the sun!
• The architecture: First and foremost you've got a bunch of amazing buildings designed by Gaudi, who I am now more obsessed with. This is on top of the gorgeous old Spanish architecture, innovative new designs sprinkled about, and other inspiring pieces from the Gothic period and beyond. In addition to buildings, there are modern sculptures to be discovered all over the city, oftentimes placed just feet from historic old structures.





Gaudi's Casa Batllo (right) 

• Which leads me to the next thing I loved: there is no fear of meshing old and new in terms of design, architecture, art. Here's an example:




Drew in front of a modern sculpture in front of the historic post office 






Another cool piece in the city

• Many beautiful public parks. I grew up in a small town, green space is important to me!




Outside the entrance of Gaudi's Park Guell



Cool view of the city from inside Park Guell

• The Gothic quarter: An amazing old area full of cool buildings, narrow streets, public plazas, stores and restaurants with an endless supply of hidden things to be discovered.



The Cathedral in the Gothic Quarter 

• Ease of getting around: the city is big, but not that big. Drew and I walked most days. However, there's also a wonderful public transportation system of buses, trains and the  subway to get wherever you need to go.
• Gelatterias and patiserrias on every block. Literally...you can't walk a block without going past one!
• The energy: like most cities, I suppose, but there's always something going on here. The only quiet time that we saw was the early mornings which we experienced when walking to our train at 6:30am.
• The schedule: they don't go to work until 10am, allowing more time for fun at night. Athough, yes they get out of work later, but they still manage to fit in a lot more fun time than most Americans.
• The amazing places close to the city: from wineries to the amazing Montserrat





View from our hike at Montserrat

So basically, I'm just saying that I love Barcelona and I look forward to the time I return. AND...you should go! (Check out more of our pictures here)

Have you been to Barcelona? I'd love to hear your favorite things about the city!

Continent #3: Europe

I don't have time to write a formal post, but here's a quick update for all who are following us:

• We arrived in Madrid safely yesterday around 5:00pm, took the subway to our apartment and unloaded our bags, and were happily eating pizza (gluten free for me!) by 9:00pm last night. (It would have been earlier, but the pizza place didn't open until 8:30pm, which is typical for Spain!)
• Today we (accidentally) slept until 11:30am! Hello jet lag!
• I got "lunch" at a spectacular gluten free bakery! (A brownie and chocolate covered coconut cupcake!) Drew tried some cheap sandwiches from the Museo de Jamon. (Picture a fast-food restaurant with lots of pig legs hanging from the ceiling and beer taps at the order bar!)
• We looked into train tickets and bought some for a two day trip to Toledo, leaving tomorrow.
• We wandered about and ran a couple errands before heading to El Museo del Prado for their free entry hours from 6-8. We spent just about the full two hours exploring the amazing works of art from legendary artists! Incredible to see works from as far back as the 12th century from famous artists like Goya, Valasquez, and Rubens.
• Had a shared dinner of tapas (not so exciting when it has to be gluten free!)
• Now back to rest before our big day tomorrow - off to Toledo, just a short 30-minute train ride from Madrid!

The view from our apartment into Santa Ana Plaza

My first pizza in almost 2 months!

Drew's lunch at el Museo de Jamon

The start of Spring flowers in Madrid

El Museo del Prado through the trees

Also, we are both in love with Madrid! Maybe it's just because it's our first European city after being in South America for a month and a half and there are a lot of things that are much more similar to home, but for whatever reason, we are truly enjoying it!