Saturday, May 2 - Barcelona Day #3

We started our day at the corner restaurant with the yummy breakfast, Suamu.

Then it was off to try new public transportation.  The kids are infatuated with all of the different modes of getting around places.  This day was to start with the underground trains/subway.  We walked to the Maria Cristina station.

Options for where to get out when we returned.

On the way, 2 clowns had approached us and given the kids balloons (which they loved) and a booklet with kid-friendly restaurants for us.

  Here are the kids and Scott waiting for the train.

Our plan for the morning was to visit La Sagrada Familia.  We had bought tickets ahead of time (thank goodness since the line was incredibly long) and our entry time was between 11:45am-12noon.  We arrived about half an hour early which gave the kids plenty of time to run off some of their energy at the playground across the street.  We also ate some fresh fruit from the fruit stand before heading into the church.

Even with our tickets, we waited in line first to have our bags searched and then another line for the headsets.

At last it was time to start learning and admiring from up close.  I was mesmerized with the church.  Unlike many other large churches I've been in, this one is mainly one HUGE room.  And, there weren't many dark areas.  Rather, there's a ton of stained glass letting in just enough light to make it bright enough inside, but not overly so.

Beware, loads of pictures to follow.

Just a light pole outside the church - in a Gaudi-like design.

Soaring cranes

Loads of people

Nice and bright

Grand

Trying to capture the beautiful colors of the stained glass windows.

Looking down to the crypt where Gaudi is buried

A confessional

After about 2 hours, the boys had had it.  Scott took them across the street to play some more.  Rosa wanted to stay with me and do more touring.

Selfie of the girls.

Our little artist Rosa took out her notepad and started sketching.  Love her and her creativity!

After going, going, going the day before, and after having forgotten to have a morning snack, we tried making the second full day in Barcelona even more enjoyable.  To do that, we chose a very relaxing lunch, at a Subway.  It's our first visit to Subway since being in Spain.  And after ordering food that we're used to and eating in an environment that felt like home, we all felt  ready to tackle the rest of the day.  Sometimes it's fun to take a break from embracing new cultures, and just rest a bit.

After lunch we walked down the street to another train station and took the train to the beach.  Barcelona not only has amazing architecture, art, history, culture, and food, but it also has beaches right in the center.  We surprised the kids with this beach trip.

Here are the boys in the very cold water (about 58 degrees).  

Loads of digging and beach fun!

Rosa was so proud of the huge whole she dug (and rightly so).

Just before leaving the beach, Cody ran up to Devon, took off his hat, and dumped water all over his head.  Not to be outdone, Devon then dumped sand all over Cody's head.  They both thought that this was so funny that Cody continued to rub his head in sand and Devon continued to get more and more wet.  Rosa decided to also join in the fun.  It probably took at least 30 minutes more before the kids would leave the beach.

Finally we pulled them away from the sand, rinced them a bit in the beach showers, and then caught a bus back to our apartment.  We showered and then met Silvia and Lluis for dinner.  Scott stayed with the kids at the nearby playground while I met them.  Just before leaving the playground, both Cody and Devon took bad falls off of a spinning toy at the playground.

We ate dinner just a block away, but Devon was so tired out from the day (so we thought) that he didn't eat and he spent most of dinner curled up in his chair trying to sleep.

Rosa and Cody didn't eat much, either, and they all just wanted to go back to the apartment to sleep.

We said our goodbyes (and hope to see you soons) to Silvia and Lluis and then went home and to sleep.