Frank and Donna visit Barcelona July 21th -25th

After Sandrine and family left, we had a couple of weeks with no visitors and so to keep the kids busy, I enrolled them in local summer camps.  Nathan and Ciara did two weeks of art camp at the local art school, and I enrolled Rylan and Cole for 4 weeks of soccer camp at the Can Vidalet soccer club not far from our house.  They only went for the morning 9am to 1pm so they still had the rest of the afternoon free.  At the beginning it was difficult especially for Cole and Rylan who were not used to playing soccer in Spanish, the kids were a bit rougher, there was some bullying and they learned lots of new Spanish swear words.  I didn't have high expectations for any of the camps, but I think it was a good experience for the kids at a very reasonable price: 36€/week for Ciara and Nathan's camps and 27€/week for Cole and Rylan's soccer camp.

My aunt Donna (my mother's older sister) and her husband Frank arrived on Tuesday July 21st.  They stayed with us only a few days on their way to the Shetland Islands where Frank is from.  Frank and Donna were planning on serving a mission for our church in September and they were called to the Toronto, Canada Mission, but a few weeks later they got a call from church headquarters and their call was changed to serve in the Vancouver Temple presidency.

Frank and Donna arrived during an extremely hot and humid week, temperatures in the mid 30s and with humidity it felt like the mid 40s.   We wanted to take them all over Barcelona, but the heat took its tole on Frank and he was not able to manage long outings in the sun.

We did take them downtown on the 22nd and we showed a few famous sights and then took them to the Museum of Ideas and Inventions http://www.mibamuseum.com/en/index.  This is mainly because the kids could get in free with their Super3 cards and we had never been to this museum before.  It was actually pretty fun.   The kids each got to draw a picture of something they would like to invent and then enter a contest to see if they could win a prototype and patent for their invention.   They had all kinds of crazy inventions on display, it was very interactive, but kind of small.  Not sure if I would pay full price for my kids 6€ and adults are 8€.   Frank and Donna enjoyed it, and at least it was air-conditioned inside.

Later that evening we took them to a local festival.  La Festa Major de Santa Magdalena, in honor of the patron saint of Esplugues.

People dancing with large heads

Watching the festivities.  Next to Bob is a Gigante, or giant, not a really tall woman.

Castellers

The following day, I took Frank and Donna shopping at the open market in Sant Ildefons.  Donna seemed to enjoy it a lot, Frank was fading quickly with the heat.  So in the afternoon, I proposed to take them to Decathlon.  Frank had a great time in Decathlon and bought all his gifts there to take back home.  All of our visitors so far have enjoyed shopping at Decathlon and every time I bring someone there, I always mange to find something that I need to buy.

The following day, we drove to Salou, near Tarragona.  Frank and Donna were going to meet up with Frank's niece who was staying at a resort near Port Aventura.  While they met together, I took the kids to one of the many beaches in Salou.  We settled on Platja Llarga which wasn't very busy and had some nice waves.  Later we met up with Frank and Donna along the Passeig de Jaume I, a very beautiful boulevard beside the main beach with parks and fountains and lots of tourists.   We had a nice lunch at a restaurant on the beach before heading back to Barcelona. 

We wanted to squeeze in just one more sight, so that evening we took them to the Magic Fountain show near Plaça Espanya.  It was a really busy evening, but I think Frank got some good pictures and then we headed over to Las Arenas, the mall that was built from an old bull fighting ring, to grab a bit to eat.

Platja Llarga, Salou

Lunch on the beach

The next morning Frank and Donna flew to London and then on to the Shetland Islands.  When they landed in the Shetlands the temperature was 12ºC, so between Barcelona and the Shetlands the temperature dropped more than 20º.

Visit with Sandrine and family July 3rd to 6th

Time to go back and finish writing about our summer.  A few days after Christine and her kids left for Germany, Sandrine and her family arrived.  Sandrine and Eric are originally from Marseille in France, but live in Brampton now with their 3 boys.  Their oldest boy, Alexandre, was best friends with Nathan, their middle child, Quentin, is the same age as Ciara and they got along very well too and their youngest, Tomas, was best friends with Rylan.  We spent a lot of time together when we were living in Brampton.  They always spend their summers in Marseille with Sandrine's family, so last summer we spent a few days with them up in Marseille which was really fun.

This summer they decided to do a road trip around Spain, so naturally they planned to spend a few days with us in Barcelona.   They arrived on the evening of July 3rd from Granada.  The next day, we took them downtown to see all of the typical famous sights of Barcelona.  It was really hot and we did a lot of walking.  The highlight of the day was swimming in the pool in La Mallola.

The following day was Sunday, so we advised them to go to the Sagrada Familia in the morning and then we would meet up with them in Parc Güell in the afternoon.   Sunday was an even hotter day, and everyone was hot, tired and thirsty in Parc Güell.  Fortunately we found some public fountains so that we could refill our water bottles.

Melting in Parc Güell

Gaudi's famous dragon

Funny faces at the summit of the park

They had to be back in Marseille on July 6th, but since they would have to drive up Costa Brava to get to France, we took them to a beach near Playa d'Aro, called Cala Belladona.  It was a beautiful day and we brought our cool Decathlon Easy Breath snorkels so that they could try them out.  Eric is a very resourceful guy.  He caught some sea urchins, cut them open and all of us got to eat uni sashimi on the beach!

Rylan with a sea urchin

Eric cutting open the sea urchin

It doesn't get any fresher than this!

Maybe my new favourite beach in Costa Brava

Cole and Quentin trying to catch fish

Rylan and Tomas

Nathan and Alex, guess who's had a growth spurt

Ciara playing in the sand

First week of School

Well, I have a lot of catching up to do on the blog.  It's now the first week of September and the kids have started school again.  And this year, Ciara is back in school full-time.  After our brief experiment with full time homeschooling and then the rest of the year part-time homeschooling, it feels a bit strange to not have any kids at home during the day.

The first day of school was Sept. 1st, earlier than last year.  Most kids in Catalunya will not start school until Sept. 14th or 15th.  I was nervous, especially for Ciara and Nathan.  Ciara because she is starting middle-school (grade 6) and Nathan because he is starting HIGH SCHOOL (grade 9).  It's crazy to think that I am now the mother of a high school student!

Well it seems that I had nothing to worry about.  Ciara was super excited to go back to school.  I was so impressed with the way she prepared her backpack and chose her outfit and everything.  Bob gave all the kids a blessing on Monday night.  It is amazing how each of them has matured over this past year.

And the first day of school was great.  Everyone came home happy with their new teachers and classmates.  It seems like everything is back to normal with kids from the neighbourhood stopping by every afternoon.  Ciara and Nathan are back doing judo and of course next week Cole will start soccer practices again which he is really looking forward to and Rylan will continue with flag football.   And this year Nathan will start seminary!!!  We are still not sure if he will be doing early morning seminary or after school.  There are only 3 other kids in seminary in our ward.  One of them does it at home every morning with his mother, the other two will do it with one of the other wards that meet in our building.  We are hoping that Nathan will be able to do early morning, although it will be hard for me, as I'm not a morning person :(

Also, Ciara on her own decided to try-out for the cheerleading squad on Friday.  Tomorrow will be the last day of try-outs and then she will find out if she makes the team.  She has been practicing faithfully all weekend.  I really hope that she does her best tomorrow at the try-outs and doesn't get nervous.

After my brief experience last year homeschooling Ciara full-time and then the rest of the year homeschooling part-time, it feels a bit strange to not have any kids at home during the day.  But, my friend Manju, who is also from Canada, will be homeschooling her son Asvin this year.  He is in grade 6 and doing a British Columbia curriculum.  Fortunately for them, the BC government supports homeschooling parents.  Gives them all the curriculum and books, provides them with a teacher to Skype with every 2 weeks and even a grant to buy other materials they might need.

So I have offered to help Manju by doing a writing class with Asvin every week.  I just remember that when I was homeschooling Ciara full-time I really appreciated all the extra help I got from other teachers and parents.  It will be good for me too, because I enjoy being involved with homeschooling.

As this may be our last year here in Spain, I hope that the kids have a good school experience and we will of course try to use all of their holidays in order to explore more of Spain and other parts of Europe.

Christine, Joseph and Erika Visit

Our next group of visitors were our good friends and neighbours from Brampton.  They had been planning a European vacation for the past two years with visits to Spain, Austria and Germany. Unfortunately just a few weeks before they were to leave, Christine's husband got called away on business to India and he had to miss the Barcelona portion of their trip, but we were happy to host the rest of the family.  Here is a breakdown of their visit:

Saturday June 20th

-  My kids rediscover the joys of playing with Lego
- Hike up to the top of Collserola to view the city
- Attend local drumming festival in Parc del Torrents

Sunday June 21st
- Drive to Montjuic and for the first time ride the cable car to the fort.  Even though it is expensive, everyone was hot and tired so maybe worth the price.
- Visit the fort (remember it's free on Sunday)
- Stop to play in all the different parks on the way down the mountain.

Erika, Ciara and Christine riding the cable car up Montjuic

Monday June 22nd
- Kids opted to go to school, and I took Christine, Joseph and Erika to Sagrada Familia.  This was my 3rd time inside, but we all went on the guided tour, which I had never done before, so it was more interesting.

Tuesday June 23rd - Longest day of the year or shortest night (Nit de Sant Joan)
- We took our guests downtown to visit La Rambla, La Boqueria, La Catedral
- Walked to El Born district and visited the Born Cultural Centre (they have really nice public washrooms and it's never busy)
- Highlight of trip was a visit to the Chocolate Museum.  (My kids all got in free with their Club Super3 cards)  Your entry ticket is a chocolate bar (nice touch).  We learned the history of chocolate and how it came to Spain and then the rest of the museum is filled with chocolate art.
- Walked to Parc de la Cuitadella and there happened to be a guy making giant bubbles in front of the fountain.  The kids spent almost an hour chasing and popping bubbles until their heads were all soapy.
- We walked back to Plaça Sant Jaume to get gelato
- At around 8:30pm we walked to Parc del Pou d'en Felix in Esplugues to prepare for the Sant Joan festivities.  This year we purchased a box full of different fire crackers and fireworks.  At around 9:30 the diables started their procession with correfoc around the neighbourhood and ended upat the park.  At 10pm they lit a giant bonfire the band played and the diables lit up their correfocs and started dancing around the fire.  The heat is so intense that we have to more back even though we are sitting about 20 metres away.  Once the lighting ceremony is over, the crowd disperses and everyone starts setting off their own fireworks all over the park.  I go back home with Christine, Ciara, Cole and Erika.  Bob stays with the other boys and finishes the box of fireworks.  It was a long day!!

In front of La Catedral

Museu de la Xocolata

Everything is made of chocolate

Parc de la Ciutadella

Playing with Bubbles in Parc de la Ciutadella

Meeting Julius Caesar on La Rambla

Waiting for the shortest night of the year to begin

Here come the correfoc!

Lighting the bonfire

Lots and lots of fire:

Wednesday June 24th,

- It's a holiday in Catalunya so we head up to Costa Brava, the roads are empty in the morning so it's a good time to leave the city.

- We stop in Castelló d'Empúries where we have rented a small house through HomeAway.  It's right in the centre of the old town and even has remnants of the original wall that was built around the town in the middle ages.   The owner is really nice and tells us all about the history of the house.

- We head up to Cadaqués and spend the afternoon at the beach near Sa Conca and then wandering through the town.  We quickly learn that Cadaqués is not a great town for a big van, the streets are really narrow and steep, but the seaside is beautiful for going on a walk. Unfortunately we didn't get time to visit Dali's house or the Dali Museum. 

Sa Conca, water is shallow, but still very cold

Nathan and Joseph snorkelling 

Rylan on the rocks of course

Selfie in Cadaqués

Nathan and Joseph exploring

walking through town

The church La Santa Maria de Cadaqués

Thursday June 25th,

- We spend the morning exploring the little town of Castelló d'Empúries which is really quite cool.  The old gothic church was first built in the 10th century and is very well preserved.  You can see remnants of the old wall and the moat that surrounded the town.  We also took a quick tour of the Ecomuseum Farinera which is not really that interesting, but with our large family card (targeta de familia numérosa) the kids and I all got in for free, so it was worth it for us.  Then we had lunch in a little restaurant right in front of the old church. 

- The afternoon we spent at the beach in Empuriabrava which is all white sand that stretches for miles along the coast.  Here there are lots of amenities, the water was much warmer, and better for swimming but no fish to look at.

Lunch in front of the church

Santa Maria de Castelló

The old wall and moat

Friday June 26th

- Before we leave Castelló d'Empuries we go shopping at Decathlon, both Christine and I spend about $200 (it's a fun store)

- We drive back to Barcelona

- In the evening we take a walk around Parc del Forum, in Diagonal Mar area of Barcelona.  It's such a contrast between Downtown Barcelona because there are so many wide open spaces and not many people. 

Strange playground/art installation in Parc del Forum

Saturday June 27th,

- Before leaving  for Germany I take Christine to a local open air market in Esplugues.  Of course I end up buying more stuff than she does, but at 1€ or 2€ for an article of clothing.  I don't feel so bad. 

Bonnie and Dan Visit

As this summer may be our last in Spain so we decided to stay in Spain instead of going back to Canada and visiting our family and friend.  For the last few months we have really been encouraging all of our family and friends to come visit us here in Barcelona.  I think that our plan worked!  Since the end of May, we have hosted 3 groups of visitors from Canada and we will have 3 more groups coming through in July and August.

On May 30th, Bonnie (Bob's sister) and her youngest son, Dan, arrived in Barcelona.  It was so much fun showing them around.  They were pretty happy with everything they were able to see and do. Here is a summary of their week here:

Sunday May 31st 

- parc de Labirint

- Feste de la Cirera (cherry festival) in Santa Coloma de Cervelló (important to show them correfoc)

Monday June 1st (holiday for the kids because of segunda pascua or second Easter, because in Barcelona you need to celebrate Easter twice)

- Drove up to Begur and spent the afternoon at the beach in Sa Tuna

Tuesday June 2nd

- Downtown to la Rambla, Boqueria, Barri Gotic and la Catedral

Wednesday June 3rd

- La Sagrada Familia

- More exploring downtown

Thursday June 4th

- Bonnie does a gyrotonic session at a studio in Gràcia

- Parc Guëll 

Friday June 5th

- A bit of shopping along Carrer Gran de Gràcia

- Bonnie does another gyrotonic session

- Bob meets them downtown to explore El Born, Parc de la Cuitadella and Barceloneta

- Flamenco show near Plaça Reial, http://www.masimas.com/tarantos (the show was pretty short, about 45min, but it was enough to get a taste of flamenco and the price for tickets online is only 8€)

Saturday June 6th 

- Some shopping at the local street market in Esplugues (my favourite for finding clothes)

- Afternoon in Sitges at the beach and exploring the town

Sunday June 7th

- Afternoon in Montjuic (we discover that the castell de Montjuic is free every Sunday, and now they have a really neat interpretation centre that talks about the history of Montjuic)

Ciara and Aunt Bonnie in Parc de Labirint

Group photo in parc de Labirint

One of our favourite Costa Brava beaches, Sa Tuna

Enjoying some churros in Santa Coloma de Cervelló

Click on the link below to see the full video clip

https://goo.gl/photos/NjdBkRUmtZzFNB8j6

Walking through Sitges

Castell de Montjuic

Hiking to Tibidabo

Last year Manju and I hiked to Tibidabo in March.  We took carretera de les Aigües  (front side of the mountain) from my place and it took us about 2.5 hours, since we didn't really know where we were going.   This time, I checked out Google maps beforehand. We took the high road over the top of Collserola and made it to Tibidabo in just under 1.5 hours.  It is a great hike because you walk through a forest, you get great views of the city and the final goal of reaching Tibidabo, the highest point of Barcelona.   This time, we decided to also go up the elevator to the top of the famous Temple Expiatori del Sagrat Cor.  It only costs €2 to go up the elevator and then you have to climb up some pretty steep stairs, but it's really neat at the top.  You really can't get a better view of Barcelona.  You get to look down on the Collserola tower, and the Sagrada Familia looks like a tiny church from up there.

Once you are at the highest point of Barcelona, the walk back to Esplugues is pretty easy.  It's almost all down hill and we were able to do it in a little less than an hour.

Front view of the Temple of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

View from the left side of the temple

View from the right side of the temple

Here you can see the Collserola Tower and the last peak in the distance is Esplugues.

Selfie with Manju at the highest point in Barcelona