Spain!

Time is getting away from me faster than I ever thought possible.  It has already been a Month since Steve and I went off to Barcelona for a week of 'Us" time.  Well if can call an award trip from work "Us" time that is.  We had a fantastic time, met some great people, had some good laughs and enjoyed getting away.  Nana, was AWESOME and came and stayed with the kids.  From what I can tell, they had a great time while we were gone too! 

Day 1

We left on Saturday and arrived in Spain on Sunday Morning. I slept most of the flight and Steve watched 3 or 4 movies! I cannot deny we were exhausted though. Getting through customs in Spain is easier than going through customs in the Canada or the US, which I thought was funny. We spent part of the day on a Bus tour of Barcelona (mostly because our room at the hotel ready). The city is very interesting and so are the people.

A few from the Hill where the Olympic stadium etc is - The tall white building is our hotel

The coolest hair style we found!

 Sunday Evening we spent in the 'Spanish Villiage'  an old part of the city with really fun little shops.  We got to see the dancing horse below and eat some interesting and authentic Spanish Food.  I will say that the Hot Chocolate which was more like a melted Chocolate Bar with the most DIVINE chocolate ever was my favorite!

 Day 2
We went on tour to Monserat.  An old Monestary built on the top of a very high and very steep mountain.  I am always amazed at how these kinds of places were built 100's and 1000's of years ago without the technology and things we have today.  It was a pretty interesting place.

The view of the Mountain from the bus

The Monestary and Basillica

Us

The outside of the Basillica, it was in a cool courtyard with parts of the Monestary on either side!

 We were able to listen to a very renowned Boys Choir while we were here.  The boys actually live at the Monestary and go to school and learn music.  They are required to go through auditions and everything and range in age from 10 to 14 years old.  They were very good.  The Basillica is also home to a very interesting Statue of the Madonna.  There was a whole silly legend that went along with the statue and Steve only got half of it and was irritated about the Legend the whole day!  It was hilarious!

After Monserat we were able to eat lunch at a beautiful Villa in the country!  The food was 'Spanish', but the place was great!


Day 3 - We went to the Picasso Museum and on a tour of the Gothic Quarter.  I guess Picasso lived in Barcelona as a Youth and they have a big Museum.  He was so super talented as a teenager and then started painting some weird stuff as he got older - We really could have skipped the museum. The tour of the Gothic Quarter though was really cool.  Neat old buildings and all kinds of interesting history.  As with most of Europe Barcelona is a city built on top of an old city and on top of another old city etc.  We got to see some old Roman Columns that are still there from the time that is was apart of the Roman Empire!  We also walked through the Barcelona Cathedral, which was Ornate and Dark and Crazy!

After our morning of tours the rest of the day was ours.  So we got some lunch sat by the pool for a bit and enjoyed a walk on the beach.  Our walk on the beach may have been the best/funniest part of the day.  We got a glimpse of many topless women, you know the ones who should NEVER be seen topless. And much to our surprise 1 yes that is right ONE totally nude man.  He was classic and walkin around, posing for pictures with people and really shocking everyone else.  It was comical!

 
The evening was spent at the Gala to honor all the Top Performers in Steve's company.  After a reception to start we were bused to the National Museum where the Red Carpet was rolled out for us (all 500 of us!) It was really cool! We ate a really yummy dinner and to die for dessert and enjoyed laughing and talking with some of the people Steve Works with.  We also listened to some beautiful Opera and watch the Flamenco Dancers (they were awesome).  I think my favorite thing was the getting dressed up part - oh and walking the red carpet! 

 Day 4

We enjoyed a lovely morning at the Spa - I loved my massage, Steve's was ok!  In the afternoon we took off with some of the people we had met and wandered the city!  We toured one of the building that Gaudi designed (he is a SUPER famous architect, I learned that while I was there).  It was a very unique building. After the tour we just walked, walked through stores and streets and a market and saw street performers and then ended up at the Christopher Columbus statue.  It was an exhausting, but great day!  For dinner, let's be honest, we were done with 'Tapas' and sausage and meat and stinky cheese and ROCK hard bread, so we went for Burger King! 

The Gaudi Building

The purse we saw made out of  Sponge - it would put you out a good $350 dollars US

This is in the market and all of that is Gummy Candy!

The Christopher Columbus Statue - you can pay to go up to the top, but that was not for me!

 Day 5
We slept in - like I mean really slept in!  I don't think we got out of bed until 11:00.  It was awesome!  The rest of the day we spent wandering the city again.  It was fun and relaxing, but a little chilly.  In the evening they had a dinner planned and we got to go to the Bull Fighting Stadium and see some Cirque du Soleil type performers.  The highlight for Steve was going to the Bull Fighting Stadium, he really wanted to go to a Bull Fight, but sadly the season didn't start until the next week. 

That's it, that was Spain!  We were glad to head home to see our kids.  We got upgraded to Business Class on the way home and our luggage didn't get lost!