My Birthday in Barcelona

I cannot believe I'm 34 years old. Seriously...it feels like I just left my twenties...now I'm almost half way through the 30's. Wow, time does fly! But what better way to say goodbye to another year of life then to take a long weekend in Spain...Barcelona to be exact. We headed out last Wednesday evening on the lovely Ryan airlines...seriously if they weren't soooo darn cheap, I would never, ever use them (ok, maybe I would if I was still in my twenties and not traveling with a soon to be 2 year old!). But despite the stress of getting on the plane and having to fight to sit together in the teeny tiny rows, I guess it's not all that bad. If you plan to use it though be sure your carry on luggage is REALLY small!! They are super stingy about it and if it doesn't fit in their ridiculously small container at the gate (much smaller than the actual overhead bins are) then you have to check it at the gate and pay 50 euros. Trust me...it happened to us :o(

We arrived in Barcelona about 9 PM and hopped on the A2 bus and headed to our hotel just off the Ramblas (thank you Rick Steve's for the great recommendation on the bus and where to stay). We didn't stay in one of his hotel recommendations, just the area. We stayed at the NH Duc de la Victoria and it was perfect. Easy access to the airport, close to tons of shopping and the beach, lots of places to eat...it suited our needs perfectly.

On our first day we headed out to explore...in the rain :o( The good news is it rained for a few hours and this was all the rain we saw all weekend. It was absolutely beautiful the rest of the trip. Here are a few shots of the Ramblas I mentioned...it is a strip of shopping leading down to the beach. The flowers were amazing...and so cheap! There was also a huge market that we went to for breakfast every morning...it was HUGE! There were fruits, veggies, seafood, breads, pastries...pretty much everything you could ever need. I would love to live here and have access to it all the time.

Then we spent some time down at the beach. It was great listening to the waves crashing and watching the surfers out in the cold water trying to catch a ride. All that was missing was the sunshine :o)





We wandered around for a bit and decided to take a gondola ride across the bay...it had great views of the city...and check it out...the clouds were parting and the sun was making an appearance.


The next morning we decided to take Autumn to the aquarium...we had heard Barcelona had a great one so we had to check it out. The best part was the large circle aquarium that you stood on a moving walk-way to travel around while oogling at the sharks and sting rays and other giant fish.

Jacob was especially interested in what this strange fish was...I've never seen anything like it!

Autumn's favorite part was really just playing on the moving walk-way :o)

It was a great aquarium and I'm glad we took the time to check it out. That afternoon we headed over to the famous Basilica de La Sagrada Familia. An amazing cathedral that has been under construction since 1882 and is not expected to be completed for another 30-40 years! This is the work of the famous architect Antoni Gaudi, whose imprint can be seen throughout Barcelona. Pictures don't even do this thing justice (and we didn't even see the inside). It is so massive and yet so intricate and detailed it truly is like no church you have ever seen. I think it's somewhat unfortunate that it is still under construction because the cranes and equipment everywhere take away from it's beauty, but I guess that is the price you pay to achieve a masterpiece.

On our last full day in Barcelona (also my actual birthday) we decided to do the City Bus tour. We got to see some other famous Gaudi sights, including Park Guell. And it was huge....I pictured just a small area with some benches, but the park was enormous...and even Gaudi's house was located here. We wandered around for quite awhile just taking it all in...so long that the rest of the bus tour was spent on the bus...we didn't have time for Hop on, Hop off after that stop. Here are some pictures from the park.





That night we found a great little Mexican restaurant Rosa Negra, for my birthday dinner and then we're off to the Art Museum up on Mount Montjiic to see the famous illuminated magic fountains. It was a spectacular music, water, and lights show and a perfect way to end a great birthday!



We really enjoyed our trip to Barcelona. It was a relaxed, but enjoyable weekend together!

Click here to view the full Barcelona album.

More Wild Boar Please...

I know, I've been kinda MIA, but there just hasn't been much going on lately...we've been busy as usual, but with all the normal stuff so not much to write about just yet! Things are about to start getting VERY busy though...we head to Barcelona next week for my birthday then a few weeks later we're off to the Netherlands to visit Amsterdam and to see the beautiful tulips at Keukenhof. Then my sister Erin and her husband Andy come in town. Then Jacob's parents are in town. Then we're taking a 12 day vacation somewhere...we're still thinking Turkey and Greece, but for some reason I can't seem to get it booked. We are close, but I'm still stressing over if it's really what I want to do during that time. Part of me is thinking maybe we'd be better off just hopping in the car and driving to Italy via Switzerland. We shall see...we need to decide soon! Our airfare has already doubled in price since I started planning :o( I'll try to keep the blog posts coming wherever we end up though so you can all travel along with us!

And our fun adventure last week was an invitation to dinner at Mr. & Mrs. Cousin's house. They own our building and we've only ever had short conversations while passing in the hall...so they invited the three of us to join them for dinner. We took the two flights of stairs down to their apartment and were greeted with kisses at the door...I'm still getting used to this European greeting...it's so hard to know how many kisses to give, etc, but we managed...and it's actually kind of fun...makes me feel like I fit in here. Mr. & Mrs. Cousin were joined by there grandson Thomas who they informed us is learning English...so he was here to practice. He didn't say much all night so I'm guessing his English lessons are going about as well as my French...ha! Their apartment is similar to ours except VERY fancy. The floors were covered with oriental rugs...one overlapping the other...pretty much covering every inch of parquet. They had little trinkets and items everywhere that I assume they've collected with years and years of traveling. Jacob and I were concerned about Autumn getting in to all their lovely possessions, but luckily they had a dog so she was so preoccupied with him and the pretzels they offered us to get in to too much trouble.

We all sat down at the table for dinner and our first course was some type of pureed vegetable soup. I really don't know what it was, but it was delicious! Autumn took the opportunity to create a sculpture out of her soup bowl and silverware. Seriously I wish I had a camera because it was quite a sight...forks standing straight up out of the bowl as their tines were wedged on the rim, spoons all around the outside...ha...it was really pretty clever. Luckily they have many grandkids...and even some great grandkids so they didn't mind the mess she left behind. Our second course was wild boar with baked pears...we think they even shot the animal themselves...we saw pictures later :o) Again, it was scrumptious and we gobbled it all up! (Ok Autumn didn't...she had a few noodles we had brought for her and then was down chasing the dog around again...oh well). For dessert we had some type of jello-ish custardy thing. Ha...I know there is a better word for it, but you get the picture. Not my favorite, but not bad. After dinner we chatted a bit more...they are quite fascinating people and have lived a wonderful life from the sound of it! Jacob and I especially liked the story Mr. Cousin told about how he was forced to quit skiing at 81 or face having to use a walker for the rest of his life. Haha...I sure hope I'm still that active at 81! We think that probably puts them in there late 80's or so. Anyway...we all enjoyed ourselves immensely, but it was time to head home and get Autumn to bed. Hopefully we can return the gesture some day and have them to our house for dinner. I am quite certain though it will not be as nice or as delicious at the one they prepared for us!

Semi Marathon de Paris

We made the three hour trek to Paris on Saturday for me to run the half marathon on Sunday. We got a bit of a late start, but luckily Autumn was feeling better after a week of having the flu...so at least that was in our favor :o) I had packed some sandwiches for the road, but left them in the fridge...urg...I really didn't want to eat out both meals the day before the race, but oh well. So our first stop (after Autumn's two hour nap) was McDonald's. While I was waiting in line, there were four girls in front of me speaking perfect English. Turns out they were Americans from the military base in Belgium and were headed to Paris for the race too. What's even more funny is one of them went to Mizzou...where Jacob went...such a small world!

Anyway, when we finally arrived at our hotel (The Novotel Paris Vaurigard...same place we stayed last time) we were ready to relax, but we had to get to the race expo to pick up my shirt and packet. I didn't really think our hotel location through very well. I just wanted to be close to the eiffel tower of course...and didn't even worry about where the race was...assuming we could easily take the metro. And we could take the metro...unfortunately it was not easy...or quick! It took 3 trains and about an hour each way...oops! So when we finally made it to the expo it was already 5 o'clock! We gathered up all my goodies...including my short sleeve dry fit shirt with my "sort of" eiffel tower on it...my main reason for running right? Haha!


And then made the trip back to our hotel. We had planned to also go see the eiffel tower, but it was 6:30 by the time we got back and Autumn was getting hungry and it was getting dark out :o( So no eiffel tower for me.

The next morning we enjoyed our free hotel breakfast (totally one of the reasons we love this hotel, the hot FREE breakfast is awesome!! My mouth was watering as I watched Jacob polish off some eggs and sausage and pastries...my orange and dry bread looked pretty shabby in comparison, but I didn't want to over do it. Then we headed back to the subway and boarded our train for the race. Luckily we were so far away the train was almost empty when we boarded (otherwise I don't know how we would have crammed the BOB on). But by the third train and a few stops more and more and MORE runners kept piling in! The train was literarily bursting at the seams. It was just as bad (or worse if you include the fact that many Europeans don't smell that great) as a metro link ride after a cardinals game! We were barely putting along by the end as we finally reached our destination. Here you can see all the people making their way to the start.

The race started by the beautiful Chateau de Vincennes. Jacob and Autumn explored it for a few hours while they waited for me to return. Here are a few of the pictures of it.

I signed up to be in the "2 hours 10 minute" or more group...turns out since I was hoping to run the race in exactly 2 hours and 10 minutes this was a mistake and I should have signed up for a group ahead. I was weaving in and out of people for at least the first two miles as I tried to get ahead of all those running at a much slower pace than I wanted. It made for a rough first couple of miles, but finally opened up enough that I could maneuver around a little easier. It also meant that our group didn't start until quite awhile after everyone else...in fact I didn't cross the starting line until 35 minutes after the race officially started. That's a long time to be crammed in to a little pen waiting to go. Overall though the race went fairly well. It was pretty flat. The weather was pretty nice (cloudy and started in the upper 50s I think and was in the low 50s by the end with a chilly breeze). And they had music and such to entertain you along the way. We also ran by the Seine River for a bit and caught a great view of Notre Dame and even the Eiffel Tower off in the distance. The water stops were a little too few and far between for my liking and I was kicking myself for not bringing my own, but I survived. And they had fresh fruit at each water stop...oranges and bananas. I just had one orange slice around mile 10 and it was delicious! It does make for quite the treacherous terrain though as you are trying to navigate your way through all the orange and banana peels on the ground. When you add some water to them, they are REALLY slippery! Don't worry though...I didn't fall...I saved that for later on the ride home when leaving a gas station with some sodas...ugh! Leave it to me! I'm great at finding those slippery spots!

After the race we headed back to our hotel for me to change and get the car. I had spotted a Kentucky Fried Chicken a few blocks from our hotel the day before so we headed there for some lunch...mmmm...those chicken strips were divine! And with full bellies we headed home. Unfortunately a few accidents and some rain made for a long 4 and 1/2 hour trip so we didn't make it home until 8:30! We were all tired and hungry and happy to be home!

I wish we would have had more time to go see the eiffel tower and other Paris sites, but it still was a great opportunity and I'm so happy to be able to say I ran the Semi Marathon de Paris.

ps...my official time was 2:15:47

Scrumptious Fries & Blue Skies

Last Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day in Brussels...one that made the cold dreary winter seem almost worthwhile as we all start dreaming of the impending spring!! The skies were a gorgeous shade of blue and although it was only in the upper 40s the warm sunshine on your face made it feel so much warmer!

So we of course HAD to get out of the house! We had a beach party to go to that afternoon (what a perfect day to break out the flip flops too, right?), but before the jimmy buffet and hawaiian shirts we took our chance to head down to the Flagey market to try the famous frites (french fries) we have heard so much about. We typically hit up the market most weekends to grab a rotisserie chicken or two for the week and usually some fresh fruits and veggies, but this was our first time sampling the fries (ok, I guess we did steal one fry out of Bruce's cone when he was in town visiting, but that doesn't really count) Supposedly the "French Fry" was created in Belgium and not France...and they are quite the fans of fries here. They double fry them so they are nice and crispy and typically eat them with a mayonnaise type sauce. We decided to bring a left over packet of ketchup from McDonald's with us because although they have ketchup you have to (1) pay for it and (2) get it all piled high right on top of the fries...which kinda defeats the purpose of the aforementioned crispiness :o)

And the famous Flagey Frites were quite delicious. As you can see my little model was definitely enjoying herself.

This weekend we are off to the fabulous Paris, France! My 1/2 Marathon is on Sunday and I'm kinda freaking out. Not about the race exactly, but that I am going to turn up sick before then. Autumn has been sick all week with 101-103 temps. We went to the doctor yesterday and she has the flu :o( And Jacob has been fighting a nasty cold/flu bug for a few weeks now. I have been sneezing all day and my nose is like a faucet, but if I feel like this on Sunday, I'll be fine...I'll just bring some kleenex. I'm just petrified I'm going to wake up tomorrow or Sunday and feel rotten and all that cuddling with my sick little sweetie this week is going to have caught up with me! Ugh...Sunday really needs to hurry up so I can make it through without catching either of these monstrosities! Say a prayer! It's so hard to train for several months for something and then get so close without being to complete it. I really want to run this race!!

In other news...we got fired from our shared babysitter this week :o( She decided all of a sudden that she wanted 14 euros an hour instead of 8 since there were two kids instead of one. Our friend had negotiated the price up front and told her there would be 2-3 kids, but for some reason now she decided she wants more money. My friend Donatienne is quite upset with her and I think is actively looking for her replacement...so maybe I'll have my Friday mornings off again in the future, but for now Autumn and I get to hang out :o)

Hopefully on Monday I'll have good news and I'll have made it through the weekend and the race without being sick!! And will of course have some more pictures of the eiffel tower to share!!