Well, many of you know I recently took a trip of a lifetime to Europe. I spent about a week in Barcelona and a week in Italy. WE HAD SOOOOO MUCH FUN!!! Who is the "we" you might be asking? My brother Brad and his wife Cassi and little girl Alexa Jo. have been living in Spain for the past few months while Brad attended his final semester of law school in a study abroad program. So I stayed with them in Barcelona and then we flew to Italy and stayed with some very dear friends in Italy for another week. Then we flew home. :( Sad, huh? Obviously some of the highlights were seeing the beautiful sites of these wonderful, friendly countries. I have so many memories that I'm sure it's going to take a few entries to talk about them all. So, on that note, I will start.
I arrived in Barcelona in the morning and Brad came and got me at the airport. They have become quite efficient at getting around on the bus, so me and all my bags got a few dirty looks from people who were probably thinking "why didn't you just rent a car?" But it was awesome to take the bus ride and see some of the city. Brad started telling me about the city: 1-There hasn't been bull fights in Barcelona in quite some time. They keep trying to bring it back, but as you can imagine, there is a lot of controversy. 2 - Antoni Gaudi is one of their most famous residents, who lived back in the late 1800's and early 1900's. His influence is everywhere in the city - a lot of art deco. 3 - Catalan is the language that is spoken in Barcelona. (Incidently, Barcelona and most "c's" are said with a lisp so it's like "Bar-the-lona".)
The walk home had Miss Alexa Jo. in top form with her spontaneous push-ups on the side walk. I was dying laughing. She would walk a few steps, then drop and give us 2-3 pushups. Then walk a little more and drop and give us 2-3 more. Everyone thought it was hilarious. After it had happened about 5 times, I told Brad that he should join her. He tried his darndest to encourage her to keep walking, but alas, she had to drop one more time (see below).
I arrived in Barcelona in the morning and Brad came and got me at the airport. They have become quite efficient at getting around on the bus, so me and all my bags got a few dirty looks from people who were probably thinking "why didn't you just rent a car?" But it was awesome to take the bus ride and see some of the city. Brad started telling me about the city: 1-There hasn't been bull fights in Barcelona in quite some time. They keep trying to bring it back, but as you can imagine, there is a lot of controversy. 2 - Antoni Gaudi is one of their most famous residents, who lived back in the late 1800's and early 1900's. His influence is everywhere in the city - a lot of art deco. 3 - Catalan is the language that is spoken in Barcelona. (Incidently, Barcelona and most "c's" are said with a lisp so it's like "Bar-the-lona".)
We picniced at the beach, shopped off the Ramblas, drank fresh fruit drinks, visited Casa Mila, had dinner with Caterina at an Irish Pub, moved to a new apartment, and visited Sagrada Familia (see below). 
We got rained on in Park Guell (yes, "someone" had an umbrella in their backpack, but we didn't realize it soon enough-haha). We got to see the rainbow off the Magic Fountains (also see below)
The walk home had Miss Alexa Jo. in top form with her spontaneous push-ups on the side walk. I was dying laughing. She would walk a few steps, then drop and give us 2-3 pushups. Then walk a little more and drop and give us 2-3 more. Everyone thought it was hilarious. After it had happened about 5 times, I told Brad that he should join her. He tried his darndest to encourage her to keep walking, but alas, she had to drop one more time (see below).Our last day in Barcelona, we happened on to an Earth Day fair. It was the perfect way to spend the last day in the city. We had a delicious crepe, some thai food, and couldn't find a garbage to save our life. The train ride to Girona was fun, we made it to the airport and got to Pisa very late. I'll talk more about that in my next blog...and oh yeah---we HATE ryanair. :)
