Ahhh Spain...Mucho Gusto

Ahhh Spain.... Mucho Gusto

It was hard to leave Barcelona - I so enjoyed the architecture, the people, our hotel, and I feel like there was still a lot of the city we did not have a chance to see. (I suppose we’ll have to go back!) I think my favorite thing we did was the “Fat Tire Bike Tour” it was so relaxing, comfortable, & informative. There’s something about riding a bike to the beach and having a glass (or 2..) of sangria that just really works with me….I’m definitely a beach baby. Plus it was fun to see some of the Olympics of ’92 areas.  And begin our tour-de-espana.

Wine tasting was, of course, FANTASTIC!  What a way to spend our 2 year Anniversary!! We rode up the mountain-side (2000 ft above sea level) looking at all the grape vines and so so so many olive trees, the air was crisp and we could just tell it was going to be a wonderful day.  Our driver, Ricardo, was so sweet and would have gone out of his way to make sure everything was perfect for us.  I begged him to come have lunch with us but he insisted it was our anniversary and he will be waiting when we’re done – Is this real life?  Plus the wine was great!  We can now expand our wine collection to start carrying vinos from the Priorat region of Spain….perfecto!  I can’t wait to share our new wine-finds with our friends and family when we return.  Fiesta?

Granada: I’m certain Jesse filled you in on the airport luggage debacle (I haven’t had a chance to read that post.) And to be honest, I don’t get to give my sign of approval on any of the posts (or the pictures!!!) before he lets them out for the world to see.  I did however find a horrible picture he took of me taking a siesta (you didn’t think I took those, right?  Because J hasn’t said anything about my love for siestas, right?) That photo I did get to delete before it was published.  Anyway, we move on to Granada -in my mind Granada was a cute little sea-side town.  I can’t figure out why I thought that but I was wrong.  It’s actually a college town. (Universidad).  It was much bigger than I expected, super busy, and not on the water.  When I mentioned that this wasn’t what I expected (probably only once…or twice…) my sweet husband asked me if maybe I had looked at a map while planning the trip?

Thankfully, even though we walked through the wrong part of town on our first journey (not like going to get jumped by a gang, wrong, just not where all the fun shops and restaurants are.  We were in construction-ville.) we found our way to the great part of town that night.  The town was coming to life and we could see we were going to have fun.  Interestingly, the girls were more dressed up here than in Barcelona.  I guess that’s because it is a college town (I mean, it’s no FSU..).  Which was more fun for me because as you all know I love to get dressed up.

The weather here is much warmer than Barcelona. It is about a 9 hour drive south (thats like Atlanta to Sarasota).  I suppose I didn’t need that Burberry jacket after all!  I’m a bit sad we didn’t really buy anything in BCN or Granada but there’s always the next stop.   I just can’t spend money on things I don’t really like and since we didn’t go into many stores other than electronic ones… I haven’t found much.  Except I did get a bathing suit.  I intend on doing my shopping in Madrid.  Jesse will be in meetings and I will be shopping.  Sounds pretty great to me.

Anyway, we have had nice tapas in Granada (except for THAT ONE, which we are all forbidden to talk about).  Its fun that in this area they are so sweet about making sure you don’t pay for tapas that you can get for free.  For every drink you order you get a free tapas (and typically for us we wanted to order ones that were on the pay-for menu and the servers/bartenders would pick something similar out for us on the free menu). We even had spicy thai chicken w/rice as a tapas at a bar and it was great! And I had an amazing salad yesterday for lunch and I was so grateful for some vegetables! Lettuce, green pepper, carrots, tomatoes, artichokes – yum! This is very much a meat country.  It’ll be a while until I order a ham sandwich (boccadilla de jamon) in the States again.  Or my favorite of theirs ham sammies – the bikini – it’s a grilled ham and cheese…and it’s very good.  But the funny thing is it’s always on the breakfast menu?

Well we are off to Sevilla now – we rented a car and Jesse is driving.  This is going to be fun!!

Salud!

KB

Day 5 - Black Pudding

Wednesday, May 16th - Barcelona to Granada

Five hours later the alarm was going off,,,, ugh.  Neither of us wanted to get up but we didn't have a choice.  We quickly got ready and went downstairs for a quick breakfast.  Nothing "quick" happens around here but, fortunately for us, breakfast at this Hotel Palace is served buffet style so it was easy for us to run in, grab a bite and run out.  We packed our bags and headed to the lobby.  Our driver was there ready and waiting to take us to the airport.

Katie and I made our way through the airport to the check-in counter.  We waited our turn and got to the check-in counter.  The lady behind the counter was extremely surprised that we had four bags (and they aren't the smallest or lightest bags in the world).  The short story is that we ended up having to pay just over 200 Euros for our additional bags and additional weight.  I was really wishing we had shipped my missing bag to Madrid.

The rest of the board process was fairly normal.  1.5 hours later we were in Granada.  The first thing we noticed was the heat.  WOW.  It's a lot warmer here then in Barcelona.  We grabbed our bags, found our driver and headed to the hotel.  The check-in process went smooth.  We got to our room, changed in to shorts and then headed out on the town to explore.

Siesta time??  I've heard about siesta time,,,,, stores close for a few hours, etc.... They had it in Barcelona but it was nothing like it is here.  The stores just don't close,,,, the town closes.  Other then bars and restaurants, everything was closed.

We ended up stopping at what looked to be an authentic tapas joint.  We were told that this area invented tapas and that tapas here are free with drinks.  The place we found was authentic (more so then what we bargained for) and the tapas were free.  Sweet!  We ordered a few beers and started ordering from the menu.  The waiter didn't speak a word of English so we did our best to communicate.  We just started ordering from the menu, guessing at what we'd like.  At one point we ordered "Morcilla con Brie y Marmalade."  That means Morcilla (which we didn't know what it was and unfortunately do now) with (con) Brie (cheese we like) y (and) Marmalade (what we all know and love).  The dish was served on a big toasted baguette.  It looked awesome.  The chunks of stuff we assumed were Morcilla and we guessed it was crush olives (that's what it looked like).  We dug in.  It was awesome but after eating a few bites we knew the Morcilla wasn't crushed olives.  I figured I'd look it up on Google and see what we were eating. Something I should have done prior to ordering or not at all.  It turns out that Morcilla is "Black Pudding",,, which,,,, pudding,,, sounds good, right?  Further translated means "Blood Sausage."  That's about all my stomach can handle for now,,, if you want to learn more just google it.

We did a bit more walking around and figured it was no fun to explore stores that were closed.  We headed back to the hotel where I got a lot of work done and Katie got her daily siesta in.  Around 9 PM we headed back on the town which was surprisingly busy.  We went on a search for dinner but decided we didn't want to settle on the first place we saw.  We made our way to the top of the hill and found a cute little outside tapas/bar,,,, we ordered some drinks and a squid tapas.  We decided one dish was enough from this place so we kept walking, and walking, and walking --- around mid-night we gave up and ordered a pizza.  It ended up working out great --- the pizza was awesome as was the server.  After that we headed back to the hotel for a nightcap on the terrace and then up to bed.  Tomorrow we meet our guide at 10 AM to do some more exploring,,,, stay tuned.

Day 4 - Tuesday, Wine Day

Day 4 - Tuesday, Wine Day

Happy Anniversary to us! May 15th, 2010 (2 years ago), I married the love of my life.  Today,,,,, and everyday,,,, we celebrate.  How do we celebrate today????? the wine country.

The plans were to meet our driver at 9 AM so we set the alarm for 8. However, as it turned out, we didn't need it. We were both excited enough to do the wine country that we woke up at 7:30 without help from the alarm. While Katie showered I headed downstairs to grab some coffees for us. We took our time getting ready and, even though we woke up early, we were still 15 minutes late meeting our driver in the lobby. We met our driver, Ricardo, said our hellos, and then quickly got on the road.

Allison had just emailed me that Spain Customs wouldn't release my bag to me for four days. First, great job Allison for being up at 3 AM to deal with my bag situation and Second, what?!?!? My bag arrived in Barcelona the day before, why couldn't they deliver it to me today? We were set to leave the next day so I had to get my bag today. Allison was having technical difficulties so I called DHL myself and tried to find a solution. As an American I could either wait four days or pay a 550 Euro rush fee. No bueno. Long story (and phone call) short, our driver agreed that we could put the bag in his name and only pay a 135 Euro fee to customs since he is a resident. DHL made this happen and the bag was released from customs. Moral of the story; don't forget your suitcase.  Second moral of the story, don't ship a suitcase to Spain and expect it quickly.

Once again we found ourselves starving since we missed breakfast. Our driver swung in to a fast food joint where Katie and I split a quiche. After that we continued on our way to the higher elevations. The drive to the wine country took two hours. Just before we got there Katie surprised me with an anniversary gift. First she showed me an envelope marked "Katie and Jesse" which ended up being from her Mom. It was a very sweet note describing her happiness that her daughter finally made it to her dream destination, Barcelona. Next, Katie handed me a bag with a card. The card was a very sweet and heartfelt note from her to me. In the bag was a very nice shirt and a pair of very nice shorts. They were both cotton (get it? second anniversary is cotton). I couldn't be more proud and thankful to have such an amazing wife.

We made it !!! The wine country of Spain. We figured it would be best to take some photos prior to the wine starting to flow. We got those out of the way and went inside to meet Carlos, the wine maker. As Carlos started the tour I could tell this wasn't going to be same old wine tour and that Carlos is destined to be one of the more famous wine makers I'll ever meet. I say that because I've never met a person who I felt would and/or has made such an impact on the world of wine as this guy has. When he started speaking I had a hard time following his English 1) because he spoke so fast (because he loves what he does) and 2) because I was so tired from the two hour car ride (anyone that knows me, knows that I'm not much of a car guy unless I'm the one driving). He quickly had me hanging by every word. Carlos and his wife moved to the area in 1979 and bought 135 acres of what was to become the NAPA of Spain. There were only a few wineries when they moved in and, according to him, the wineries were junk. He and his wife set a goal to make a winery that would allow his grandchildren to become famous.

Back in the 70s, on average, it took three generations of wine making before a winery had a chance of becoming famous. Carlos and his wife started in 1979 and it took 10 years for them to get everything right for their first vintage. They produced their first wine in 1989 which they released in 1992 (told ya, I was listening to every word). Within three months of their first vintage the "Wine Spectator" of Europe rated their wine a top rating and one of the best 150 wines in the world. Sales sky rocketed and he's been famous (in his circles) every since.  Robert Mondavi even flew out to see what all the buzz was about.  Here is an exert from their website:

"
In 1979 Carles Pastrana and Mariona Jarque recovered the family winemaking tradition and started off on a long adventure aimed to rescue the old Carthusian wines in the heart of the lands that were once under the dominion of the priors of Scala Dei, a monastery located in the Catalan region of El Priorat. Carles and Mariona created the properties of Clos de l’Obac and Miserere, replanting vines along the banks of the river Siurana in the southern pre-coastal area of Catalonia, and established the Costers del Siurana winery. They began to make their first wines in 1989, reaching an important milestone when the World Wine Guide declared CLOS DE L’OBAC to be one of the world’s 150 best wines.
"

It's not often that you hear of a European entrepreneur breaking the mold and going from rags to riches but, in this case, it happened. Not only did their winery take off, the entire region became a hot bed for new wineries. They started as 1 of 10 and quickly become 1 of 180 wineries in the area. From what we could tell, they were still the top dog (or is it dawg?)  During the tasting Carlos bragged about how his white wine would stand up against any red. He suggested that a person taking a blind taste test would not be able to tell it was white wine.  Katie and I both agreed that the white, while awesome, was obviously a white. He challenged Katie to a blind taste test,,,, and, like the amazing women she is, she accepted the challenge with confidence that she would prevail.

While I ran out to the car to grab Katie's scarf to use as a blind fold, Carlos readied the wine. Out of six wines, 5 red and 1 white, Katie did get the white wine correct. However, she did miss one of the reds thinking it was white. The price per bottle of wine was a tad bit higher then expected but considering the price included shipping to the US, we decided to buy a case. Another impressive aspect of the entire experience was that Carlos and his brother had invented a wine suitcase. They had originally devised a box that would allow travelers to carry wine on any commercial flight. Post 9/11 they had to devise a wine case that could be checked. They created an amazing five bottle wine case that he ended up giving us for free. Perhaps I'm a sucker but I accepted his gift and then, of course, I had to fill it with some wine. We ended up buying two more bottles for us to enjoy ourselves.

More impressive than Carlo's gift to us was what he did at our next stop. Made for Spain (the travel agent company Admiral Travel worked with) had arranged a lunch for us. We went two minutes up the street to a cute little restaurant where lunch awaited us. As soon as we sat down Carlos showed up with a paper bag that included all the wine he had opened for us. It was ours to enjoy with our lunch,,,,, WOW! They served us a six course meal which was amazing (just what we need, more food) and they ensured that our wine glasses didn't get anywhere close to empty.  We finished off the last of each bottle during the two hour lunch extravaganza.

After desert we stumbled outside to meet with our driver Riccardo and head off to our next destination. The next stop was some other winery just up the hill. We showed up and nobody was there to greet us. We ended up finding a grape worker (what else are they? grape crushers, grape processors, grape people, grape stompers, grape juicers?) who told us we had to go down two levels to the shop. Our diver had us hop in the car and he took us down two levels to the front door.

The receptionist / only person working there, was so happy to see us. Ha, who am I kidding, this is Spain,,, however, she did acknowledge our presence which is all you can really ask for. This place was much more NAPA like.  It was very commercial, everything was for sale, etc etc.  We decided to forgo the tour and we went straight to the tasting. At this point it was already 4 PM (WOW, where did the time go?) And, since I still had to get my bag from the airport (or so I thought), we decided to get the tasting over with and get on the road. We asked our driver, Riccardo, to sit with us as we tasted the three wines she gave us. It turns out that Riccardo and I have a lot in common. First, we were both born on April 28th. Riccardo is 47, 11 years older than me, but,,, and this is where it gets good, his wife is 3 years older than him. His wife was born on January 20th. For those of you that don't know, my kids' mom was born on January 21st and she happens to be 3 years older than me. We asked about kids,,,, YUP, two girls, 14 and 18. One more question,,,,, sorry, but I had to ask, "do you and your wife get along?" Riccardo's response,,,, "only when we're sleeping (with a big grin)." I had to leave it at that,,, too funny.

We finished our wine and made for the car. The receptionist chased us out with a surprised look on her face. Si? I said. Her response, in English, "would you like to buy some wine?" I replied "no thank you." It was like she expected us to buy her wine vs her actually taking the time to talk to us, sell her wine, etc. You've gotta love it. Carlos (the wine maker from the first stop) knew how to ensure his customers never left without a case of his wine.  The drive home was long, 2 hours,,,, but, it allowed me to type this (don't judge, I've had a few glasses of wine). Katie is now sitting next to me taking her daily siesta (see the pics in our album). Just as I was taking the picture of Katie I received a message from Lon and Eric (Eric is a good friend who is probably one of DHL's best customers) informing me that my bag was delivered directly to my hotel. Great news! So now we get to head straight to the hotel without the hassle of stopping to find DHL and figure out who has my bag.

Back at the hotel we were both very tired so I decided to join Katie for a siesta.  We woke up around 8 PM and prepped ourselves for our last night on the town.  We walked down to the water and ended up finding a neat little bar/tapas restaurant down one of the side streets.  The menu and the atmosphere so looked good so we went in for dinner.  We ordered a few small plates and a few drinks.  After dinner we did some more walking around and ended up going back to the bar we had been at the day before.  We had a glass of wine but that place died off quickly.   It was around midnight,,,, knowing we had an early morning we decided to call it a night.

As we walked in to our hotel lobby we could hear the live music coming from the bar downstairs.  We decided to check it out.  Although there was only one other couple in the place, the music was good and the bartenders seemed to be having fun.  We decided to stay.  We sat at the bar and chatted it up with the bar tenders.  They were practicing their bar tending tricks which was fun to watch.  About an hour after being there another couple showed up and they started a conversation with us.  We spent the next hour talking about our trip and theirs as well as their hometown, Chicago.   The place closed down at 2 so we headed up to our room to call it a night.  I was lucky enough to get the kids on Skype so Katie and I did that for about 45 minutes.  Afterwards we chatted with Ethan for a few minutes and then turned in around 3.

We will miss Barcelona but we're excited about what's to come.  Stay tuned.

Day 3 - Monday Monday

We must have had too much fun last night at the casino because we ended up going to bed around 3:30 AM and waking up at 10:30. Katie really wanted to do the Fat Tire Bike Tour which started at 11 so we rushed to get ready and then we headed across town to make the 11 AM meeting time. The meeting place for the bike tour is a courtyard in the middle of a bunch of government buildings that you can't drive to. Our taxi got us as close as he could at 10:58 AM, we had to find our way through the maze of buildings with only two minutes to spare. Fortunately we had our sneakers on so we were ready to run. However, we had two problems. Problem 1) we didn't know where we were going and Problem 2) there were so many people,,, like, a LOT of people,,,, imagine the halls of a middle school minutes after the kids were told Justin Beeber was in the auditorium.

We were "politely" passing through a sea of people that were shoulder to shoulder. I say "politely" because we had no idea how to say "excuse me" in Spanish so we just smiled, bobbed our head a little and kept running. We made it to the bike tour meeting place just in time. The group was getting the "how it works" speech just prior to walking over to the shop to pick out a bike. We joined in,,,, caught the end of the speech and went over to select our favorite beach cruiser. I chose the red bike inspired by Pee Wee Herman while Katie chose the yellow bike. I can only assume she chose yellow because she looks good in yellow (well, she looks good in everything).

We quickly realized it was a bad idea to stay out all night, wake up and rush out of the room without food. Right as we were getting our bikes the hunger hit us like a ton of bricks. Fortunately it takes a bit of time to get 15 tourists on the perfect bike and teach them how to shift gears. Sadie, our courageous bike tour leader, suggested we grab a quick bite to eat at a fast food joint just around the corner. I ordered some pig sandwhich on a baggette and 5 minutes later we were on our way to happy stomaches. The tour started out through the tiny streets around the courtyard but on the side of the courtyard with less people then the side we came in on. Regardless, there were still enough people that the less experienced riders were really struggling. It was hysterical to see grandmas on bikes bouncing off of people and structures as we made our way to the first stop. It wasn't too long before everyone on the trip, including those that hadn't ridden a bike in a very long time, were getting the hang of it just fine.

We stopped every 5 to 10 minutes to hear a story about whatever landmark we were in front of. It was interesting and surprisingly relaxing. We weren't biking hard at all and the seats on the bike were like a lazy-boy chair which is good because I forgot my padded bike shorts back in Florida. Mostly on the tour we learned about a famous hometown hero, architecht Antonio Gaudi. This guy designed some pretty crazy stuff about 200 years ago. Towards the middle of the bike tour we arrived at a church that Gaudi had designed but never finished. The city has been working on it for over 50 years and they predict it will take until 2026 to complete. When it's done it will be the tallest church in the world at 176 meters. Sadi explained all of this and then said she would stay with the bikes as the rest of us go explore the church. Katie and I decided to grab a beer at the deli and hang back with Sadi and the rest of the guides to discuss life in Barcelona. After the church we biked down through downtown for the last stop on the tour,,,, the beach.

The beach is manmade with sand from the Sahara Desert. The sand was definitely a far cry from the amazing sand we're used to on Siesta Key. However, the plethera of topless women made up for the lack of high quality sand. We stopped at a neat little bistro on the beach and we ordered pizza and beer (Katie ordered Sangria).  We stayed there for about 30 minutes chatting it up with everyone. The rest of the group had some interesting stories to tell as well as some good suggestions for food and other places to visit. After we were full and tipsy we headed back on the bikes to the shop. The ride from the beach to the shop was just over 10 minutes. We put the bikes away, paid our fare, tipped Sadie, said our goodbyes and headed back on the town to do some more walking around.

This time we walked towards the north side of town where the shops are a lot more upscale. The north part of town has all the usual suspects; Cartier, Tiffanys, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, etc,,,, there were also a lot of upscale places I had never heard of. In the mix were a few of Gaudi's other designs --- check out the pictures, his designs definitely make for some interesting places. A few hours later the beach food had worn off so we found a neat little hole in the wall to grab some tapas. We ate spicy potatoes, onion rings, cheese poppers and buffalo wings (there went the diet). They also had some great hand crafted beer. We were the only two in the place so we sat at the bar and chatted with the two bar tenders.

After stuffing ourselves (again) we did some more walking around. Katie and I both agreed it was time for a massage so I made the call to the hotel and they set us up for an 8 PM massage. By the time we got back to our room it was 7:10 which meant we didn't have a lot of time to sit around. We took showers and headed down to the spa for our treatments. The spa was nice but I only gave my massage a 6 out of 10. -1 for the bright lights, -1 for having to wear disposable underwear and -2 for the quality of the masseuse. Overall it was worth it. We were back in the room by 9:45 and ready for bed. However, we knew we had the rest of our lives to sleep so we forced ourselves to shower and head back out on the town.

We walked for about 45 minutes before agreeing to eat (yes, we were eating again) at some little hole in the wall tapas joint. We walked in to this dark, small bar which also happened to serve food. It only had 4 menu items but that was all we needed. I ordered a beer, Katie ordered a glass of wine and we split a hamburger and a bean and cheese empanada. We quickly noticed that everyone in the bar was speaking english to each other. The four people next to us were discussing how they are looking forward to a new US President,,,, I felt right at home. After finishing our food and drinks we paid our tab and headed for our room. We decided we had done enough walking for the day and bailed in to a cab. Back at the room I finished my blog from the previous day and posted it for the world to see. I did a few quick emails and then called it a night. Overall it was a great day,,, we accomplished a lot. Stay tuned,,, there is much more to come.

J

PS: see the link below from Saturday for the pics --- I uploaded all the new pics to the same album.

Day 2 - Sunday in Barcelona

Day 2 - Sunday in Barcelona - Self Guided Walking Tour

Today started a bit late as our bodies are still about 6 hours behind.  We woke up around 10 AM and scrambled to get ready for breakfast which ends every morning at 11 AM.  The breakfast room was beautiful and we were very happy with the buffet selection.  After breakfast we headed out on the town for a self-guided walking tour.  We walked, and walked, and walked, and walked.  From 11 AM until about 5 PM, we walked all over.  During the walking we ran in to a mother and her two daughters that sat in front of us on the flight over.  We shared a few stories and went on our way.  There are so many neat little sections of town with TONs of great shops.  Being Sunday, a surprisingly large number of stores were closed but there were enough open, ready and willing to take our money.

As breakfast wore off and our hunger set in we decided to find some lunch.  Our guide from the night before had suggested a few places so we picked one on the beach and headed that way.  It took us a little over an hour to work our way there but the walk was pleasant.  We walked from the west side of town and we got to tour the marina as we made our way to the restaurant.  When we got there the line was WAY too long so we decided to eat at a nice looking place across the street called Santa Marta.  Bad move.  Katie ordered the ham and cheese which was good,,, I ordered the chef's surprise.  It was a surprise.  They slapped a dead pig on a roll and almost melted some cheese on it.  Furthermore, they forgot it and Katie was done eating before I finally received it.  If that's the worst thing to happen to us then we're doing pretty good.

In my blog from our first honeymoon I wrote about the differences in cultures from country to county.  We are starting to notice a few things about Spain that sets its culture apart from anything we saw in Asia.  At lunch I ordered a diet coke (Coke Light) and they delivered it with a glass which had only one ice cube in it.  It seems ice is not something they typically offer.  Barcelona is relatively clean but nothing like Tokyo.  The people here are nice but nobody is in a hurry to serve you.  Every restaurant we've been to has had a "we'll get to you when we get to you" attitude towards service.  Knowing that's their culture we have come to accept it,,,, kind of like being on "island time."  Another observation, EVERYONE here smokes.  You can't go anywhere without walking through someone's smoke plume.

After lunch we walked back to the hotel for some down time.  Katie took her siesta and I, trying to keep up with my training for the Aspen 1/2 marathon, went for an 8 mile run.  Running through the city was interesting.  I just turned left or right depending on the lights, traffic, etc.  I saw a lot of neat things that I wish I could have stopped to investigate further.  Because of my random path, I'm not sure I could find those places again (it's a big city).

A couple hours later we were ready for the nightlife.  We got cleaned up and headed off to dinner.  A few people had suggested to us that we eat at Siete Puertas (7 doors).   We showed up around 9 PM and they told us the wait would be about 20 minutes.  They didn't have a bar so we strolled down 1/2 a block to a little bar called Casa Tomaso which ended up being a lot of fun.  We grabbed a drink and headed back to Siete Puertas,,, they seated us right away.   The food and service were amazing.  Sieta Puertas is a beautiful restaurant with white glove service so we expected to spend a lot of money.  I ordered what I thought was a glass of wine for 14 Euros and Katie ordered what she thought was a glass of Champagne for 12.  It turns out we ordered the entire bottles.  We ordered salads and split the Paella - it was awesome.  I agree with everyone who recommended this place.  For desert we split some ice-cream concoction and then headed out.  The bill was surprisingly cheap.  Just before leaving we ran in to the same mother and her daughters that we met earlier in the day.  I guess they received recommendations to eat there as well.

After dinner we headed to the casino, this time we were armed with our passports.  The walk to the casino was a bit further then we really cared to walk so we hopped on a pedi-cab.  Our "driver" spoke five different languages and worked from home as a translator during the day.  He does the bike taxi at night to meet people and stay in shape.  Go him.  At the casino they welcomed us in and we made it to the poker / blackjack room.  The folks at our table were a lot of fun.  No one at the table spoke english but we all knew how to play the game.  We knew when to yell and when to complain.  The rules here are a little different then in the US (or the Bahamas).  You are not allowed to double unless you have a 9,10 or 11.  The dealer doesn't take his second card until all the play is finished (they don't check for blackjack before you play your hand).  Another interesting aspect is that it's common practice to play on anyone else's hand.  Even people without a seat will stand behind you and play on your hand without even saying a word.  We had a ton of fun and ended up leaving down just a few Euros.  After that we headed home and called it a night.  I uploaded pictures from the day to the Barcelona folder (see link below).

More to come,,,,, stay tuned!

Katie's Day 1 - Honeymoon Part Dos

"This is really happening" I say to myself, we are really boarding the

flight to Barcelona! My dream vacation!  Not only have I always wanted

to go to Barcelona, I get to go with the love of my life AND he's all

mine for two weeks! Unbelievable! :)

We were about an hour from landing at BCN and I was like a kid in a

candy shop (or myself as a grown-up in a candy shop for that matter).

I had my bags neatly put back together, changed into my "day in

Barcelona" outfit, and touched up my make-up.  I was ready.

I knew this was a wonderful city as soon as we stepped foot outside --

and it hasn't stopped amazing me since.  First off, the weather is

absolutely amazing. Its like 75 with a breeze...beautiful! Spain in

May? Yes, please! We walked around all day (9am-2pm) neither hot nor

cold.  Anyway, Jesse is great at all the details so I'll let him stick

to that and I'll just give you my observation of the city...

1. Its pretty clean - not Chicago clean but not nearly New York City

dirty. Although it smells a bit like NYC, you know a little sewage

smell here a little college bar smell there. But your sense of sight

is so delighted its easy to dismiss the smells. That leads me to the

architecture, Wow.

2. Almost every structure is beautiful.  I have taken many pictures of

all the buildings.  I love all the balconies.  You can tell that way

back when someone(s) spent a lot of time on the development of these

buildings - and that was a good choice. Even the buildings tucked back

in the ally's are beautiful. In the streets there are gorgeous

fountains in the round-abouts. Of course Barcelona is famous for it's

Gaudi and Picasso buildings (and they are incredible!). We haven't

seen them all yet but they're on the to-see list.

3. They are so many dogs here!!! Which, if you recall, is very

different from our Asia trip. It's so great to see all the pretty dogs

having so much fun running (literally) around with their owners. And

interestingly they are hardly on a leash. (We have honestly only seen

one dog on a leash) Even the people that are jogging with their dogs

don't have them on a leash. Amazingly the dogs, small and large, just

follow their owners - unleashed.  Apparently there is no leash law

around here but doesn't seem they need it. And that makes my heart

happy.

4. Lastly, (for now) this doesn't seem to be a real service industry

country. Our first meal here the waiter acted as if he could have

cared less if we ate there or not. I guess since they don't make their

living off of tips they don't go out of their way to be polite or

expedient. Oh well, at least the food has been outstanding.

I'd also like to add that I have had SO much fun speaking Spanish!!

Jovanna, you would be proud! We learned yesterday that in Barcelona

they actually speak Catalonian which is a combination of Spanish,

Italian, and French. But it all sounds the same to us.

Thanks for tuning into our blog again and say a prayer for us for safe travels!

Salud!

Pics here

Honeymoon Part Dos - Day 1

Honeymoon Part Dos

Day 1 - Travelling to the Future

Well,,,, here we go again, Honeymoon Part Dos.  Actually, Katie and I discussed if our trip last year to the Bahamas for one night counted as an annual Honeymoon getaway.  We ultimately decided it did but that since 5/15/12 is our second anniversary we'd count this as our second honeymoon.  At the request of many, including Katie, I'm going to blog daily about our adventure.  Sooooooo, here we go:

We left our house at 11 AM, Friday May 11th.  I had a 10 AM meeting and had just arrived back at the condo where Dave and Katie were waiting.  I ass-u-me-d that we were all set so I parked my car, hopped in the SUV and we were off.  Dave wanted us to see some lights for the building project so we took a detour on our way to Tampa to visit the LED light store.  After a quick stop we continued to the airport.  About 10 minutes before arriving at Tampa International Katie asked if I had packed the garment bag (insert heart stopping sound here).  I figured she would have grabbed it but I had neglected to leave it by the door where I told her all my stuff was at,,,, ready and waiting to go.  I made a quick call to Allison but it was already too late, it wasn't coming with us.  Allison ran to DHL and sent it off so hopefully we'll have it here by Monday.  It turns out that shipping a suitcase RUSH from Sarasota to Barcelona isn't cheap.

Check in was a breeze, as it usually is in Tampa, and Katie and I headed to Chilis for some pre-flight margaritas.  Our plane was about 30 minutes delayed taking off (darn, there would have been time to receive the bag in Tampa), but it was of no consequence.  I had booked the flights so that we would have plenty of time in Philadelphia to change planes and catch our non-stop to Barcelona.   We landed in Philly, made another pub stop, and then boarded our plane.  The US-Air attendants are typically the worst in the business.  On the way from Tampa to Philadelphia they proved they still hold the title.  However, the ones on our international flight were as nice as could be.  They welcomed us with champagne and orangejuice along with a menu for dinner.  We took off Friday night at 6:30 PM (Saturday 12:30 AM Barcelona time), and we were on our way.

The flight was fantastic despite the fact we had a family of 4 (including a lap child) behind us.  The baby cried for 10 minutes and then was quiet the entire remainder of the trip.  The food was as good as airline food can get.  Katie enjoyed champagne while I took them up on their Spanish Red (Rojo) wine offer.  I was also pleasantly surprised by their list of recently released movies.  There were at least six movies I hadn't seen that are on my "Movies to Watch" list.  We choose "In Time" staring Justin Timberlake.  Although it wasn't my favorite movie, I love JT and overall it was worth watching.  Katie made it to the end of the movie but she was soon asleep after that.  I wasn't a bit tired so I stayed awake for another movie on my list "Jack and Jill" staring Adam Sandler and Adam Sandler (he plays both parts).  It was a great movie.  At the end of the movie I brushed my teeth, reclined my seat which went completely flat (nice) and I drifted off to sleep.

An hour before landing I was woken by the sound of breakfast being served.  I begrudgingly got myself up to enjoy some breakfast and prepare for landing.  Breakfast wasn't nearly as good as dinner but it was edible.  We landed shortly after breakfast and made our way to clear customs.

Clearing customs was by the far the easiest I've ever experienced.  We walked in to a large area with little toll booths setup for each passenger to clear through.  We picked a line with only two people in it.  In about 15 seconds it was our turn.  We handed the guard our passports, he found an empty page, stamped it and handed them back to us,,,,, "NEXT."  That was it.  He didn't scan them, he didn't ask us any questions, there were no forms to fill out, etc.  We were off to bagage claim.  Bagage claim was FAR less impressive.  It took about 35 minutes for the bags to finally make it to the carrousel.  Our bags were just about the first ones off.  We grabbed them and headed straight for the exit.  Just outside we found our driver holding a sign that read "M/M Biter."  He grabbed our bags, pointed us to the car (a Mercedes Van) and we were quickly on our way to the hotel.

We arrived at our hotel 20 minutes later.  "Mr. Biter, we have good news and bad news."  We arrived at our hotel at 8:30 AM and our room wasn't ready (bad news).  However, they gave us a free upgrade to their "Junior Suite" --- (good news).  We checked our bags at the bell desk and proceeded to walk around town.  None of the stores were open at this point so we found a nice little outdoor bistro where we stopped for another, and much better, breakfast.  At 10 AM the stores were all open so we continued to walk and shop our way around town.  The mission of the day,,,,,, find a cell phone.  Our Verizon phones don't work here and being out of touch just isn't an option.

A few hours in to the phone shopping Katie and I were ready to do something else.  We went to a few different stores trying to find some solid answers on how the system works around here.  One thing is for certain,,,, there are more english speaking people in Asia then there are here (by a lot).  None of the phone stores had a pre-paid smart phone that I wanted so I ended up going to one of those "everything electronic" stores.  You know the ones, with all the crap loaded up in the front window and all the stereos, speakers and,,, suitcases?, stacked in the back.  I bought a nice Samsung smart phone which was "unlocked." I inserted the pre-paid sim card I purchased just earlier from Vodaphone.  Like magic I was back in business.  For 4 Euros a week I now have unlimited high-speed Internet and, with the pre-paid card, I have 200 minutes to call anywhere in the world.  I plugged in my Gmail account and 10 minutes later I had all my contacts, calendar entries and emails downloaded to the new phone.  Technology is great.

After the 2 hour phone shopping spree, Katie and I headed to a brewpub that was recommended to us by our Vodaphone rep.  It ended up being as good as he described.  After lunch we continued to shop our way back to the hotel.  Upon arrival we were told our room was ready and they graciously escorted us and our luggage to the room.   They showed us around the room, as they seem to like to do anywhere but in the US, and left us to ourselves.  Katie was excited to get a siesta in while I was excited to take a shower.  The weather is perfect but after sleeping in the same clothes I just walked around town in, I was ready for a nice long shower and some fresh clothes.

Katie slept for about 2 hours while I spent that time trying to get my phone's voicemail from Spanish to English.  What sounds easy was indeed not.  The instructions to do this task are to dial "123" from the phone and ask a rep to change it for you.  Well, "123" dumps you in to a spanish only phone menu.  No "Press 1 for English" option,,,, I guess Americans are the only ones to offer this feature.  I finally figured out how to get an operator on the line (no, it's not as easy as just hitting 0).  However, each time I got someone on the line they didn't know how to speak english and would eventually just hang up on me.  This became comical.  I found an online app that would speak in spanish what I typed in english.  I gave it a shot but it ended in them laughing and still hanging up on me.  They would rattle something off in rapid-fire spanish and then transfer me to another spanish phone que that would just say a bunch of stuff in spanish then just end the call.  I gave up.

Katie woke from her coma (2 hour nap) and we both got ready for dinner.  Our dinner guide was meeting us downstairs at 8:30 PM so we went a bit early to enjoy some drinks at the bar.  WOW, drinks aren't cheap. A single shot vodka on the rocks is 16 Euros (almost $20).  Four drinks and 70 Euros later, it was time to go.  Our guide "Carlos" pronounced "Car"--"Less" was waiting for us in the lobby.  We said our hellos and then went outside to meet the driver.  The driver was caught in some sort of traffic so we stood around for 45 minutes just chatting.  It ended up working out because we were able to learn a lot from him and he was able to call "123" for me and get my phone converted to english,,,, YAY.

Our guide took us to two of his favorite tapas restaurants.  At one point he went on for 10 minutes explaining to us what tapas are.  I guess he didn't realize we have tapas all over America.  Either way, the restaurants he took us to were amazing.  At one point, while going from one restaurant to the other, we stopped at a palace they built for the 1929 world's fair.  It was amazing.  There were lights, water and loud music all over the place.  You'll have to see the pictures for more detail but everyone there was having a lot of fun.  I even got to do the "welcome to Vegas" drive down the strip standing up through the sunroof.

After the last restaurant he dropped us off at the happening place in town.  We went to one of the clubs but it was dead.  It was 11 PM and I guess the clubs don't get going until 12 or so.  We went to the casino next door but they wouldn't let us in without our passports (a copy wouldn't suffice).  Oh well,,, I had hit the wall although Katie was ready to go (that long nap worked out well for her).  We ended up calling it a night and took a taxi back to our hotel.  At the hotel there was a live cover band playing 70s and 80s music.  We hung around for a night cap then headed off to bed.  Day 1 was over.

Take a look at Day 1 Pics here: https://picasaweb.google.com/113169248147362226921/20120511_SpainTripBarcelona?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMKY9fqeiP-OgwE&feat=directlink