Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

We arrived in Barcelona over a week ago. We flew here with our good friend, Corey, who came from California to spend time in Italy with us before we all headed to Spain. After almost two months in Italy, it was sad to say goodbye. I had longed to go there for years, and beautiful Italy did not disappoint. Italy will forever hold a special place in my heart! We enjoyed spending our last few days in Florence showing Corey a few of our favorite spots, and Logan was thrilled to have a familiar face from home.

  

 

Putting a coin in the mouth of the pig in Florence.

Getting ready for a meal of Chianina Beef in Florence.

View of the Spanish coastline as we came in for a landing.

We arrived in Barcelona and got situated in our new flat, just a few blocks from the famous Sagrada Familia Church. It's a three-bedroom, 1 1/2 bathroom apartment on the third floor of a building with an elevator (yay)! We immediately decorated Logan's room to make it feel "like home."

I took a picture standing across the street from our building. Directly behind me is our flat, the second balcony from the bottom, on the left side with the white patio chairs. Lucky for us, a metro stop is directly outside our front door!

Standing across the street from our building. Directly behind me is our flat, the second balcony from the bottom, on the left side with the white patio chairs. Lucky for us, a metro stop is directly outside our front door!

The view from our patio, looking across the street.

Logan's room. 

Logan enjoying the living room and the Disney channel.

On our first evening in Barcelona, we met up with some of our friends from the Central Coast of California who happened to be traveling here as well. They were heading home the next day, so it was our only opportunity to see them before they left. We met Kris, Rachel and Owen at a restaurant they recommended, Cal Pep, by the Barcelona Zoo. It opened for dinner, after siesta, at 7:30pm and we were towards the front of a growing line of people waiting for the restaurant to open. With one long bar in the front, and a tiny room in back, we were very lucky to be seated with our group of five adults and two toddlers. We got a nice table in back and told our server to bring us whatever he thought we would like, a selection of tapas. Spain is known for its fine cuisine of tapas, a wide variety of appetizers or snacks, served hot or cold. We ordered a bottle of house red wine (which was fantastic), and Rachel introduced me to the Spanish sparkling wine called Cava (now one of my favorite evening drinks). Dinner was absolutely delicious and included standout tapas such as: fried artichoke pieces, calamari, bacon and potato omelet, fish with mushroom sauce, chicken croquettes, and much more. We enjoyed a leisurely meal for over two hours. Owen and Logan were perfectly behaved little boys. They sat next to each other, played cars, ate a little bit of food, and watched Mickey on the iPhone. Thank you to Kris and Rachel for an absolutely wonderful evening with fabulous food and good friends!

We got settled into our new place, purchased groceries, washed laundry, cleaned up the apartment, and spent a few days learning the Barcelona Metro (subway). The Metro makes it fairly easy to get almost anywhere you want to go in the city. Despite having to lug the stroller up and down some stairways (not all stops have elevators or escalators), it's a very convenient way to travel!

Logan riding the metro like a big boy.

Another metro ride.

Normally when Logan naps in the afternoons, I run to the grocery store for needed items while Taylor stays home. I soon realized I would have to find a new time to grocery shop. In Barcelona, siesta closes most of the shops between 1:30pm and 5pm. I guess in Barcelona, nap time will include laundry, emails, cleaning up and some rest.

Our clothes "dryer," outside.

We spent two days enjoying the late summer weather at the beautiful Barcelona beaches. Logan loved playing in the sand, searching for and collecting seashells, viewing intricate sand castles, and taking sporadic dips in the clear Mediterranean Sea. We grabbed some Sangria at a cafe on the beach, and Logan was fascinated by a huge tractor busy rearranging and smoothing the sand.

I thoroughly enjoyed people-watching and reading my tourist guide to Barcelona. While laying on a rented lounge chair beneath a wide umbrella, I watched as numerous people walked by hawking goods and services to sunbathers. A man with a tray of drinks asked if I wanted a mojito. Another man carrying a big cooler offered, “cervesa, aigua," (beer & water) in Catalan. Others sported colorful, large, rectangular shawls draped over their shoulders and around their necks, perfect to lay on the sand in lieu of a towel. Many Asian women walked by asking if we wanted a massage for 5-euro. A set of two young ladies parked themselves nearby while one took photos of the other in her bikini striking different poses in the surf. A middle-aged Spanish woman set up her chair right in front of us, directly in my line of sight to the ocean. She immediately purchased a fresh mojito, took a look at some passing shawls, then took off her bathing suit top and hired an Asian lady to massage sunscreen all over her bare breasts as she lay with her eyes closed soaking in the Spanish sunshine. Another Spanish lady, a bit older, read her newspaper topless, then ventured into the ocean and back, only to sit there and use her tweezers on her face. It was quite an entertaining way to spend the day at the beach!

One evening we set out to get some delicious seafood at a restaurant recommended to us by our taxi driver who picked us up at the airport. It was a place called La Paradeta Sagrada Familia. It boasts a large array of fresh seafood in a display you pass by upon entry into the restaurant. You tell them how many people, and they recommend an amount of the seafood of your choice, they weigh it out for you, then they cook it up fresh in a butter and parsley sauce, fried, grilled, or in a tomato sauce. They call tables up by order number as plates of food are ready. We enjoyed seafood broth soup, razor clams, regular clams, calamari, ahi tuna, and shrimp. The shrimp were my favorite, by far! 

At the end of our first week, I had the exciting opportunity to attend the European Juice Plus Convention which was being held in Barcelona Oct. 10-12. I felt very proud to take the metro all by myself 30 minutes (and two metro lines) from our apartment to the convention center. I exited the metro and got completely turned around and went the wrong way. I found myself in a very non-touristy Spanish neighborhood with little old ladies pushing grocery carts, and locals chatting in front of cafes. Thank God for my iPhone and our Spanish SIM card…I was able to figure out where I needed to be and made my way to the convention in time!

The trainings were all held in English, with the option of headsets for attendees who needed translation. It was the first time in my Juice Plus career that I attended a conference without some of my amazing team present with me. While somewhat lonely to be there alone, I loved experiencing it, hearing from those who are successful here, and getting a reminder of why I love Juice Plus and this company so much! I was thrilled for the opportunity to purchase some Juice Plus products not available in the US - and I love them! I am hoping someday they’ll be available back home!

On the first night of the convention, Taylor, Corey, and Logan met me for my European team’s dinner. It was fun to network with our friends across the sea who I had only previously known on social media. We were warmly welcomed and had a wonderful time. I look forward to spending time in person with some of them when we live briefly in the UK later this year. Logan loved snacking on the new chocolate Complete Bars while we waited for a very late dinner (the meal wasn't served until after 10pm)! This is Barcelona time, for sure!

Barcelona is a big, modern city and the people here are unique within Spain. Most people speak Catalan, the co-official language of Catalonia, within which Barcelona resides. Everyone understands and can speak Spanish, but the majority choose to use the Catalan language. The majority of people can speak enough English for us to communicate our needs to them. Everyone has been very friendly, despite the fact that locals are tired of tourists and spent the last few months holding numerous protests and marches touting that tourists are ruining the city. In fact, Corey ran across one such demonstration just a few nights ago while he was out exploring the city. The claims of the protests and the locals’ feelings are validated: the number of people visiting the city has tripled in the last 20 years. Over 3 million people come to visit the famous Sagrada Familia Church every year. Many tourists can be loud, disrespectful, and completely unaware of how they affect others who live in the city on a daily basis. Despite the unrest over tourism, we haven’t experienced any negativity personally. We do our very best to blend in. Everywhere we go we attempt to be respectful of the people, their culture, and their customs. We try to speak at least a few words of the language, so we can say “please” and “thank you,” if not more.

This morning my mom left after spending a week here with us. Needless to say, I’ve been busy spending every quality second I could with her, which is why this blog is just getting posted! In the next few days, I will update you about our adventures while she was here, including our tours of La Sagrada Familia Church, Parc Guell, Barcelona's Zoo and Aquarium, Las Ramblas and more!