Barcelona: Day 1

For our first vacation since arriving in France, we decided on Barcelona.  Our villa is actually a little bit outside the city in a town called Argentona.  It's perfect for our family--plenty of space, a pool (that the kids jumped in the night we arrived even though it was freezing) and an awesome view.

And the best part was that the owner, Giovanni, spent an hour or so giving us all kinds of travel tips--what to avoid, what we should definitely see, the best way to get around.  He even gave us a few business cards from his favorite restaurants and offered to call to make our reservations since we don't speak Spanish or Catalan.  He also had maps and had even pulled together some stuff from the grocery store that we could have for dinner since stores are closed on Sundays.  Such a nice welcome!  

Giovanni had mentioned that the best way to get into town would be to take the train right into Place Catalunya, which is in the heart of the city.  So that's what we did.  

We spent the first hour or so just strolling around, enjoying the city.

And, finally, we found La Rambla--probably the most famous part of Barcelona.  It starts near Place Catalunya and stretches all the way to the port.

We stopped by the Boqueria market to grab a quick lunch.  They have everything--fruit, vegetables, meat, chocolates.  It's an incredible place!  My kids really liked the juice.  Baylor had kiwi, Ken got coconut (which was awesome) and Emory had watermelon.

Then we stopped by the empanada stand.  And all three kids did the unthinkable and ordered hotdogs.  I tried to talk them out of it, but they're their own little caucus--they tend to think as a group on these sorts of things...

Once you get to the end of La Rambla, you start running into the street performers.  They are so much fun!  We had to get a picture with every single one.

Emory and the Mad Hatter...

Ken staring up at Julius Caesar...

Ken and Christopher Columbus...

The girls' favorite...

Baylor with John Lennon...

Emory with Galileo...

The girls with alien...

Can you find the three American kids in this picture--ha!

After a quick Popsicle stop, we hit the aquarium.

On the walk back over to La Rambla, we passed a man blowing huge bubbles which made my little people pretty happy.  

You can see in this picture that there's a guy in the background selling knock off purses.  It's unreal how quickly they can pack up their things as soon as they spot a cop.  They tie ropes to the corners of the blankets that the merchandise is laid out on, and as soon as they see a cop they grab the ropes, throw it on their back and take off.  Hysterical.  Today I had a guy put fake Beats headphones on my head and say, "Don't you hear the boom boom, momma?!?  35€ for the boom boom!"  Ha!

LOVED hanging out with these little adventurers today :)