Barcelona!!!

Here it is guys. Prepare yourself for an epic vacation blog. Ready? Okay, here we go.

Friday ... I'll start with Friday since that's when our vacation and visitors began! Josh got his mom from the airport (after a horrible two days of travel, which we feel terrible about) and I peaced out of work for the week! We went to Newk's for lunch, where Caroline decided reaching for her daddy's soup was fun and spilled it ALL OVER him, oopsies :)  We then spent time showing Barb things around the house and then headed out for a delicious Indian dinner. I think I have a new favorite dish; it was delicious. I ordered a Taj Mahol beer and it was ENORMOUS, but delicious!

Saturday ... We started the day with a delicious Panera breakfast with Barb. Then, we headed to the airport. I cried like a BABY when saying goodbye to my baby. Holy cow, guys. It was as hard as I knew it would be. The security people probably thought I was a nutjob. So, we get on our plane in time, get ready to turn off our portable electronics and then BOOM we are deboarding due to a mechanical problem. They basically cancel our flight, Josh calls and manages to get us on a flight that leaves four hours later. We hung out in the airport for four hours missing our baby, eating overpriced burgers, and stressing over our now super short layover in Atlanta. Thankfully, we made it on our flight to Barcelona! Thank god for the free in-flight booze; I needed it to calm my nerves.

Sunday ... After a completely sleepless flight, we landed in Barcelona at 8:30am Sunday morning. The views of the countryside and sunrise on the ride in were AMAZING. After getting our passports stamped by a very unfriendly man, we headed to baggage claim where our hopes of seeing our luggage were small, as the Tallahassee airport was sure to have screwed up. Yep. No luggage. After filing a claim with the airport, we navigated through the airport and finally found the bus that took us to the metro station, somehow ended up on the correct train to our hotel, and walked around trying to find our hotel. Dude, I can't believe we made it there. None of the signs in the airport are in English, the train system is super confusing at first, and there is a ridiculous lack of roadsigns in Barcelona. But we did it, whoop whoop!!!

sunrise from the plane

Once we found the hotel, we dropped off our bags (room wasn't ready) and explored the area around our hotel. We went in search of food, got confused by all of the menus, and ended up in Pans & Company which seems to be a European fast food place. It was gross. But, we were happy to have food. We then explored the Sants neighborhood and quickly discovered that everything shuts down on Sundays in Barcelona. It was still fun to explore, though!

Josh exploring the Sants neighborhood

Once we got in our room, we relaxed for a bit and enjoyed our complimentary glasses of champagne - delicious!! We then set out for more exploring. We saw the Joan Miro's sculpture Woman and Bird, which was actually kind of weird looking but was cool nonetheless. We then walked to the Plaça d'Espanya and saw the Venetian Towers. We then made our way to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya and Font màgica de Montjuïc. It was a long walk and consisted of A LOT of stairs, but it was well worth it. The view of the city from the museum was AMAZING, guys. We could see the whole city and the mountainside. Absolutely amazing!!! We then headed back to the hotel to relax a bit more before dinner. We actually ended up heading back to that area and having dinner at the top of Las Arenas mall, which used to be a bullfighting ring. We got two beers, water, duck for Joshua, and steak with brie for me. This is where we were first introduced to the tiny portions of Barcelona. Although delicious, their meals are rarely filling.

champagne!

woman and bird sculpture, and las arenas mall

plaça d'espanya and the venetian towers

museu nacional d'Art de catalunya and font màgica de montjuïc

after SO MUCH WALKING and SO MANY STAIRS

the view was well worth it

Monday ... This is the morning we were introduced to the amazingness of our hotel's breakfast. Eggs, meats, cheeses, fruits, pastries, coffee, champagne, EVERYTHING. We gobbled it all right up. Then, we headed back to the airport to reclaim our luggage (ugh). Guys, we were there for four hours. I waited in line for THREE HOURS. Josh walked around waiting to see if our bag showed up on one of the conveyor belts (one bag was in the lost luggage section when we got there; somehow our bags got split up). We finally got our bags and were SO RELIEVED. We got back in our hotel and changed out of our nasty clothes. We celebrated with glasses of wine, which quickly turned into a bottle of wine. It was awesome.

WOOHOO clean clothes!

After we enjoyed our wine, it was time to head out for some FOOD. We found a restaurant with english translations on their menu. Of course, they only had tapas. We ordered two cervezas (beer), chicken fingers for Joshua, and calamari for me. It was very delicious! We enjoyed it a lot. We then continued our walk to La Rambla, a famous street with vendors and stores. We accidentally wandered off the street and ended up in an amazing shopping area FILLED with people. We had a wonderful time exploring, seeing some amazing buildings, and people watching. After LOTS of walking, we headed back to the hotel for a bit to relax. We then headed out to get some pizza and beers. We gobbled them right up (so hungry) and enjoyed our beers. We watched all of the dogs playing and enjoyed checking out the interesting clothes of the locals. I accidentally ordered us decaffeinated espresso (this taught me to keep my mouth shut at restaurants and let Joshua do the talking).

mmmm, beer

amazing calamari

pizza and beer, hooray!

Tuesday ... This was probably our biggest day of exploring. We filled ourselves with some delicious breakfast at the hotel; Josh even popped open the bottle of champagne which made an adorable old British woman tell him she would "fancy a glass" as well. First, we made our way to La Rambla again and made sure we actually stayed on the correct road this time. It was a fun adventure! We saw so many amazing buildings, bought some souvenirs from street vendors, walked into the most amazing market ever, and people watched like crazy. It was a fun tourist-y experience!

la rambla!

one of the many amazing florist stands

gorgeous market

one of the many gorgeous buildings

After about a mile walk down La Rambla, we finally made it to the Mirador de Colom, a Christopher Columbus Monument which overlooks Port Vell. It was really neat and was surrounded by equally beautiful buildings. The port was gorgeous! So many boats and buildings. After walking past the port we made our way to the beach to see the Mediterranean! It was GORGEOUS with bright blue water. We walked on the beach, found some pebbles and sea glass, and quickly began to notice all the topless women. We even saw one dude's buttocks (thank goodness he was sunbathing on his stomach as we passed). It was quite the interesting beach adventure! We then stopped at a beach bar and had drinks by the Mediterranean. It was pretty amazing, guys.

amazing gargoyles

port vell

hello, mediterranean!

enjoying the beach for a bit

you would not believe how many boobs are in this picture

beers by the beach!

After the beach, we headed to Can Paixano, which was recommended to us by one of Josh's lawschool classmates. It's a bar that serves pink champagne and tapas. It's hidden in an alleyway but is famous and always PACKED. Josh managed to make his way to the counter to get us some delicious sandwiches and champagne. It was well worth the crowd and a very neat experience. We then explored the gothic quarter, filled with amazing old buildings, sculptures, and wonderful stores. It was a beautiful part of the city! We then headed back to the hotel to rest our feet for a bit (we walked between 12 and 15 miles that day, I'm sure. We were STARVING and headed out for dinner. We only seemed to pass tapa bars. We finally found a restaurant with real food, only to be told the kitchen didn't open until 8:30pm (umm, crazy). We finally spotted a Mexican restaurant and basically sprinted toward it. We knew they'd have a menu we could understand and large portions. We were not disappointed; it was AMAZING!

mmmmm pink champagne

he LOVED this place

one of the many amazing sites in the gothic quarter

gorgeous buildings everywhere

HELLO FOOD WE LOVE YOU

Wednesday ... Wine tour day!!! We grabbed breakfast at the hotel and then walked back to the city center to catch the bus to the wine tour. We were SO CONFUSED and couldn't find the bus and panicked. We finally found other lost-looking people and realized we were in the right spot. We headed to the Torres winery first and enjoyed a train ride through the vineyards. We learned how wine is made and then learned how to properly do a wine tasting; I feel so cultured now! We tried five different wines and enjoyed some snacks (I would have eaten more if I had known those snacks were our lunch; I was SO HUNGRY afterward). We then went to the Codorniu Winery, where they make sparkling wine/champagne ("cava"). It was a gorgeous place and we really enjoyed the tour. We went through the cellars and saw thousands of bottles of cava. The tasting was so much fun; the tour guide kept refilling everyone's glasses. 

ready to tour the first winery

so much wine.... drool

the second winery ... gorgeous!

joshua exploring

way below the ground in the cellars

mmmmmmm, SO GOOD

After the wine tour, we made our way to Casa del Mond for the welcome dinner. It was WAY UP on the side of a mountain and absolutely beautiful. We drank more wine and champagne (oopsies) and eagerly awaited food; we were absolutely starving by this point in the day. We had a lot of fun meeting people and hanging out at the villa. I slept on the bus ride back into the city, as did everyone else. We walked back to the hotel so quickly because we were SO TIRED from the busy day. We collapsed into bed and slept so well!

view from the welcome dinner

casa del mond

drinking champagne on empty stomachs... oops!

Thursday ... We dragged ourselves out of bed still exhausted from the day before but determined to make it to breakfast! The goal of Thursday was to find souvenirs for everyone. We found a delicious place for lunch. Joshua ordered a beer and veal, and I ordered salmon and water (my poor body needed a break after all that champagne). The veal and salmon were both cheaper than chicken, and the beer was way cheaper than the water. Spain, you're silly. It was actually a very delicious lunch! I once again should have kept my mouth shut, though, because the lady asked if we wanted bread with tomato and i was all SURE. Yeah, it was literally a bread and a whole tomato. It cost us three euro. Lame!

salmon and a glimpse at my five euro water, wtf!

josh's veal and two euro beer. spain makes no sense.

After lunch, we found some great souvenirs and spent some time browsing stores. We went into the Apple store, where things cost way more than they do in the US. We then relaxed in the hotel for a bit, and headed back out to get a doll we had seen for Caroline earlier in the day (the store had been closed when we went back to get it. Stores in Barcelona close randomly in the middle of the day for hours; it's confusing). It was the second doll we bought for her, but we thought it was adorable. To us, it was well worth the ten block walk. After that, we went to the market under our hotel to get dinner. We got SO MUCH FOOD (everything pictured below) for 13 euro. See that beautiful block of bri? ONE EURO. See the enormous jar of olives? LESS THAN TWO EURO. No wonder no one is every eating at the restaurants; they all eat for dirt cheap at home! America, take notes. We ate our feast in our room and watched the BBC talk trash about America on the Fourth of July (according to them, we have lost our "swagger"). It was a really fun night!

FEAST

Friday ... Wedding day! Most of the day was ours and we headed out to finish our shopping. We realized that while finding everyone else souvenirs we had bought nothing for ourselves! We also tried to find a bottle for the seaglass we had found for my dad; no luck :( Then, it was back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding! We both had mental breakdowns while getting ready. Mine: my hair straightener didn't work, so my hair was frizzy and wavy. The thingy I bought to do a french twist didn't work for me because I have so much freaking hair! Luckily, after a quick lesson in bobby pins, Josh was able to help me make my hair look somewhat decent! Josh's breakdown: Tying a bowtie. He was determined to tie a bowtie and ended up watching YouTube videos to figure it out (at the wedding we realized every guy we spoke to had watched the same video that afternoon trying to figure it out). He finally got it tied and looked quite snazzy!

We then grabbed a cab (no way were we walking two miles in our fancy clothes) and headed to the Santa Maria del Mar for the wedding. It was absolutely GORGEOUS (Designed by Berenguer de Montagut and begun in 1324, Santa Maria del Mar was completed 55 years later. Santa Maria is the only surviving church in the pure Catalan Gothic architecture, with octagonal towers with flat tops, large bare surfaces, an exceptionally tall interior, rib vaults and soaring vertical lines). I have never been to a church like that, let alone attended a wedding at one. We grabbed a cafe con leche while waiting for the guests to start arriving. We then made our way through the tourists and headed to the front of the church (half of the church was still open to tourists during the wedding. Luckily, they were very respectful and even joined in during prayers and stood as the bride entered the church). The ceremony was great, Jen looked incredible, and it was such a neat experience.

outside of the church

inside of the church

feeling quite snazzy

waiting for the wedding to start with my hot date

wedding program

gettin' married

We then made our way to the buses and drove about an hour outside of the city to La Baronia, which was absolutely GORGEOUS (Dominating the hill that rises above the town of Sant Feliu de Codines, sets up La Baronia, a superb modernist building built on top of the old farmhouse of Can Bosch, already documented in the sixteenth century)!!! We were greeted at the buses with champagne and made our way to cocktail hour, with AMAZING views of the countryside. We enjoyed tapas and cervezas. We then made our way into the dining room for a wonderful dinner. We had crab ravioli, veal, a pina colada dessert, and some amazing wedding cake. Each course came with a glass of wine and we had delicious champagne for the toast. Everyone then made their way to the pool area for drinks and dancing. Due to our flight the next morning, we didn't partake in the drinks (okay, maybe a beer or two...). We were having fun, but were happy to take the 1:30am bus back into the city so we could get some sleep before the flights. It was a GORGEOUS WEDDING and we'll never forget it.

la baronia; freaking amazing

the bride and groom

looking sharp, i must admit!

beautiful, beautiful, beautiful

just drinking on a mountainside in spain; no biggie

josh and the groom :)

Saturday ... We dragged ourselves out of bed after two hours of sleep, got ready to go, and checked out of our rooms. We started making our way to the train station and realized the hotel employee had chased us down and said our credit card didn't go through. So, we had to turn around and go back to the hotel. They hadn't written the number down correctly, ugh! Thank god it went through, but they almost gave us a heart attack! We then headed to the train station again, took the metro to the airport, took the bus to our terminal, checked our bags, went through security, encountered another rude passport stamper person, and then settled down for a McDonalds breakfast, bwhahaha! Guys, there's no syrup in Spain. They put chocolate pudding on Josh's pancakes. We then waited by our gate for a couple hours (we got there early to be safe) and then got on the plane back to the states!

I spent half the flight nervous about our layover in Atlanta. The second I flip my phone on, after a week of being off, the first thing I see was a CNN alert from two minutes earlier saying a plane had crashed in California. Not the headline you want to see when traveling, guys!! We got to our gate, breezed through customs, got our bags and then rechecked them (I honestly don't understand the point of that process, but whatever), went through security again and were at our gate to Tallahassee an hour early! I was SO HAPPY because I was SO ANXIOUS to see our Caroline :) After a slight delay (they had to clean the plane toilet... I don't want to know why), we were on our way! 

Seeing our sweet little Caroline was AMAZING! She was completely oblivious to us at first, but was thrilled when she realized we were there. It was, of course, so great to see my parents too :D We chatted while waiting for the luggage. We grabbed the first bag and then realized our second bag hadn't made it to Tallahassee. How do they keep getting split up?? Josh reported the bag and then we headed to dinner: Texas Roadhouse for my dad's birthday!!! I ordered a small beer and apparently the bartender decided I needed a big one :) It was a fun dinner and Caroline was SUCH a good girl (I don't think Josh took his eyes off her for one second; he missed his lady so much). We then made it home and relaxed with my parents for a bit before collapsing in bed! The only thing that woke me up all night was our luggage being dropped off at 2:30am (thanks for sounding the alarm, Wrangler). Luckily, Caroline slept through it and I quickly went back to sleep.

Sunday ... We woke up early to take my parents to the airport. We wish they could have stayed longer to hang out with us and go out to breakfast :( But, it was amazing to see them, even if just for a short amount of time. Josh and I then went to IHOP where we had an amazing American breakfast. Caroline ate some peaches and was SUCH a good girl!! We then headed home and were lazy all day! I was in bed by 8pm, no lie.

we had so much fun, but are so happy to be home with this GOOF!