Viva Espana!

Matt and I were lucky enough to enjoy a 5 day getaway without the kids to Barcelona, Spain.
Here's what I really liked about Barcelona:
You could go see some cool buildings, get a little culture, and when your feet got tired, spend the rest of your day at the beach. Rinse and repeat. It was great.

The big draw back to Barcelona (and to some I guess this wouldn't be a drawback):
Lots of naked bosoms and even quite a few completely nude people. Like more than half of the people were at least topless or indecent (by american standards). It was a like a wreck on the freeway. It's horrible, but you can't help but stare. More than once I caught myself with my mouth hanging open and Matt remiding me to stop looking. Ooops. Couldn't help it.

Moving on. We had a great trip. We rented a little apartment a block from the main beach in Barcelona. The location was most excellent. We were also there for one of the world cup games Spain was playing. It was really fun to see all the spanish pride. GO SPAIN! The majority of the architecture around Barcelona was inspired by Gaudi. Love this guy. Really abstract, colorful, vibrant art. Probably our new favorite.

This was one of our favorite stops at Gaudi's Park Guell. All the buildings, benches (longest park bench in the world), walls, are all done is mosaics. I don't know why, this place made me think of my friend Julie. I guess because she's so artsy I could see her loving this place and then going home and making her own mosiac bench. :)

It was hot, I was tired, Matt got this great picture. Funny story: When we were at the beach I pointed out this super fit girl with a cute figure and I told Matt "I want to look like her". He laughed and said, "You could do it, you would just have to have hip surgery." This picture attests to that. I'm just meant to have the curves. I'll deal.

Luckily, he's so handsome.

Isn't it pretty? So colorful and happy. If I lived in Barcelona I would spend all of my time here.

Found a shady spot.

Sweeeet green wall.

Any project runway fans recognize this spot? Mmm hmmm.

My little nest.

Happy.

Matt and I got a little turned around and ended up in this underground alley. Isn't it awesome?! Maybe I'm weird, but I'd love to have my family pictures taken here. We'd just have to sweep out the trash first. Also we'd have to have a translator check for swear words on the wall. haha.

Casa Batllo. Another one of Gaudi's buildings. Love it.


Ok, a little more Gaudi for you. This is The Temple de la Sagrada Familia. It's a temple that Gaudi began in 1882 and is still being built. They hope it will be finished in the next 20 years. It was breathtaking.

I know I look preggo in this picture. I had just had big meal, ok! Just look at the window. Sheesh.

So pretty. I love how it fades from reds to oranges and yellows and greens into blues. Like the earth. :)

This is outside and will eventually be the main entrance to the temple. It's the nativity scene. Amazing.

Inside the temple. Gaudi wanted the inside to feel like you were worshiping outside the the forest. The lighting and everything is going to be amazing.

Matt really REALLY loved this temple. He's already planning to come back in 20 years to see it finished, so I had to take a picture of him with his new BFF.


Another one of my favorite stops. La Boqueria market. Walking into this market was like going into sensory overload. The smells, colors, variety of things to buy and see, I couldn't take it all in long enough. And this juice? It was good.

So, once again, if I lived in Barcelona I'd spend a lot of my time at this market.

Driking these yummy smoothies.

And snacking on nuts and dried fruits.

And candy. Lots and lots of candy.

But not so much hot peppers.

I would definently be eating this fruit everyday.

But probably not these fish.

And DEFINENTLY not these eels.


Here's a shot on top of the Barcelona Cathedral. Matt's trying to teach me something. I don't remember what.

Swwwweet pic.

Umm, yeah. Sometimes I had to remind myself to put the camera down and just look around and take it in.

Legend has it that who ever drinks out of this fountain will live in Barcelona forever. They also may end up with a tapeworm forever.

And here are a few shots from just cruising around the city.







Paella. Mmmm.

I thought it was really funny that they brought me a wine glass for my diet pepsi.

So, city, building, arcitecture, Gaudi, blah blah blah. Lets get to the best part, THE BEACH!

I'm afraid many of my beach pictures could not be posted on my blog due to their graphic nature. haha.

Ah yes. Loved the beach. I love Germany, but I love the beach more.







The first step in dealing with addiction is admitting you have a problem....

One of the few crowded beach pictures that seems to be G rated. I think....lets just not look too hard.

Our last day there Matt and I rented a scooter and just cruised along the coast. It was so nice. Whenever our butts got tired, or we saw a nice remote beach, we would park the scooter and go lay out for a few hours. The one very important discovery we made is that if the beach is secluded... the people are all completely naked. Except for us of course. We just had to keep our eyes on the sand.

cool guy. love him. I love that he wants to take me to see the world and that we are on the same page that it just isn't that fun to do it with the kids. :) We're really lucky to have good friends out here that we trust and can do kid swaps with for romantic getaways. It's worked out really perfect so far.

So in recap: Loved Barcelona, very naked place.