Fat Tire Bike Tour

Our plan for Valentine's day was a four hour bike tour of the highlights of Barcelona. For just over $100USD the four of us had a great time riding around Barcelona, viewing the sites and avoiding pedestrians and cars. I told the boys if they were successful in NOT hitting anyone they could have iPod time.   Success!     

(Mabret "almost" hit a runner but Roman DID hit a pole. No injuries, so they got their IPod time.)

The tour began at 11am and included about 16 people in the group. Large but not as large as in the summer months. The tour met at Placa de Sant Jamue a square that houses the Town Hall and beautiful goverment buildings. We were fitted for bikes and helmets and off we went. Paula our guide, originally from Chile was a knowledgable and outspoken guide. She definitely made the tour interesting and fun for all ages. The stops included the Cathedral of the Holy Crosses and Saint Eulalia, Palau de la Musica Catalina, Arc de Triomf, Parc de la Ciutadella, Sagrada Familia, Torres Mapfre and the beach for lunch. The ride through the Gothic Quater's quaint streets with wonderful balconies and windows was amazing. The Passeig de Lluis Companys and the Parc were beautiful on this sunny day. 

 

    The Catherdal

     The Arc de Triomf

    Gaudi Cascada within Parc De La Ciutadelia (currently being cleaned)

The boys learned about the four highlights of Catalonia (the area immediately around Barcelona) : 

       Siesta, Tapas, Flamenco and Bull Fighting. 

 Thankfully, bull fighting was made illegal two years ago here in Barcelona and the arenas are now a museum, a shopping mall, and a parking lot. Siesta, tapas and flamenco are all still popular.

Anthoni Gaudi, the famous architect, was often a topic of discussion.  We walked around his final and greatest architeural endeavor, the Basillica Sagrada Familia. We enjoyed the vastly different views of the church from each angle and wondered at the 200 years of construction work, which is still on going. Roman and Mabret especially liked the Darth Vader like statues fronting one entrance (not seen in this photo).

Overall, the tour was a great first full day in Barcelona and gave us a good taste of what is to come!

Arrival in Barcelona

Arrival in Barcelona, Spain was courtesy of RyanAir an inexpensive airline within Europe that Katie found and will hopefully will serve us well while here. The flight was good and we had another smooth transition through the airport. We taxied to the fountain in the cetre of Placa Reial to await the arrival of our apartment contact. The placa is gorgeous and a lovely place to relax. The apartment is only steps from the fountain and very nice for our needs. Especially nice is that Katie has her own bedroom and with the kitchen we save plenty on food costs and can enjoy a home cooked meal together.

We spent a rather lazy day, doing school work and getting settled in. The grocery store is close by and we were able to stock up for the week. Dinner was some of the 'colorful' pasta Roman bought in Rome. Pasta, bauguette and good cheese and we are set for the night!

One of the most enjoyable and memorable events of the entire trip are the nightly 'shows' the boys put on for us. They can range from singing songs with accompanying drums, plays (The Hunger Games and the Wizard of Oz) and most recently Olympic events recreated. The extended time together, lack of videos games, toys, after school activities and most often television, leads to very creative entertainment! I will miss this when we head home.

Good night from Barcelona!