It's been a wild two weeks and we are back to update everyone on how it's all been going.
We reluctantly left the beautiful city of Paris and headed towards Barcelona. Here we are in yet another train station.
We got into Barcelona very late on a Saturday night. We had to take a bus from the airport to the city and in the process we lost (or got stolen of) our little pouch that had all our money, credit cards etc. Big Problem! We walked to where we where staying, trying desperately not to explode at each other. It was 2am, we were tired, this wallet thing, and to top it off careless drunk Spaniards out partying on their Saturday night. It was a mess.
Luckily we were staying with a family we knew; they were very helpful and accommodating through out this whole thing.
Jaxon is currently living there so he showed us around. Barcelona is essentially a Hawaiian vacation with courser sand, bluer water, historic Spanish architecture and amazing food. Needless to say we loved it!
We would spend the days wandering the city and resting in the parks. We read our books and just relaxed.
We spent hours on the beach. Yes we burned. Well worth it? Yes!
The big deal in Spain is a dish called Paella. Rice, vegetables, seafood, chicken and whole bunch of spices.
To add to the drama we got up early the morning we were to fly out to Italy and confronted several complication that led us to missing our flight. Below is a photo of Izzy about to burst but if you look closely you can see that she kind of has that look of completely not caring anymore. We sat there wondering what we should do. Since it was quite early we ended up taking the day to explore La Costa Brava, a remote (ish) line of beaches right on the boarder of France and Spain.
By mid day we were celebrating the situation. Having missed that flight might have been the best thing we ever did. We found ourselves in Lloret De Mar, a great little town on the Mediterranean. Blue blue blue water and a hot sun and yes a little more sun burn.
What's more, a quaint castle fortress resides on the cliffs near the beach we were at.
The castle allowed us to walk on a path that followed the base of the castle but did not let us go up into the actual fortress. This would not do! Luckily our castle experiences in Wales gave the skills necessary to ignore the "stay out signs" and climb into the fortress.
This day ended up being one of our favorites. We stayed out exploring for a long time before returning to Barcelona to make adjustments to our trip seeing as Italy was now out of the picture.
Meanwhile, back in Barcelona, the Spanish had evidently caught wind of the revolution trend that is spreading across norther Africa. Thousands of young people positioned themselves in the downtown square, protesting the government for alleged corruption and no jobs. The irony of the situation was that while these protesters petitioned jobs, opportunists wove in and out of the crowd selling food and drinks, thus employing themselves on the dime of the furious unemployed.
Johnny Turned 23. We've decided that birthday cake is over rated so now we can chose what want to be our birthday treat. Johnny chose strawberry milkshakes.
That same night Barcelona won the European Soccer Championship. The streets exploded with fans. Unlike anything we have ever seen.
We flew back to London for our last 3 days of the trip. We took it easy, slept in and explored new parts of the city.
We went to a little village outside of London near Hamstead Heath. It was small townish and quite relaxing. We had one last picnic there.
Our last night there we went to a Fleet Foxes Concert.
And that's it. Our trip to Europe is over. It was a wild ride. We saw some amazing things and will never forget the people we met and the experiences we had. Now back to the USA for the last little bit of summer which includes, but is not limited to, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Portland and then back to Utah for the start of summer term and more summer fun. Leave us a comment, we always love hearing from you.
Sincerely,
I&J
