Hola Barcelona

Spain was high on Brewster’s wishlist.  “Mom, can we please go to Barcelona?”  He repeated over the past couple of months.  I’d answer, “probably not.”  That was until a few weeks ago when I looked at the TGV schedule and spotted a direct train from Aix-en-Provence to Barcelona.  I wanted to treat Brewster for surviving a semester of Spanish 3 taught in French and treat Sadie for completing a semester of French school.  As my dear friend Julie Leahy pointed out recently,  “Why Not?”  which has become my mantra in France.  

I talked over the idea with Matt. “Babe, Barcelona is only four and a half hours away." ” I started convincing him.   “ We can leave Saturday morning and return Sunday night.  It’s our birthday week and Brewster doesn’t have basketball that weekend. It’d be really fun.  What do you think?”

There are so many things I love about Matt including his answer.  “Yes, go.  Definitely go to Barcelona.  It’ll be a blast and you won’t regret it.”  He was absolutely right and so awesome for saying so.

I booked our train tickets and started searching for a hotel.  I prefer Airbnb for two or more nights but just for one night, I’m a fan of hotels.  I rank hotels by their stars on hotels.com and look for the best deal.  After reading reviews and researching the best Barcelona location, I booked a boutique hotel room in the Gothic Quarter. I was excited and so were the kids!

Friday night we packed an overnight bag and set our alarms for 6:45am.  “World traveling is exhausting,” I said sarcastically when the kids quietly complained about waking up that early on a Saturday.   

We walked to the bus station in the dark and took a bus from Aix to the TGV station as the sun rose.   At 8:15am we boarded the train going towards Madrid.  Four and half hours later, we were in the Barcelona train station looking for the subway.  “Another metro,” Brewster said as we walked underground.  We were noticeably more comfortable than we were a few months ago navigating public transportation in a foreign city.  I smiled watching Sadie and Brewster walk through the turnstile confidently.

We exited the subway on La Rambla at the Christoper Columbus Monument. I remembered the view from 2004 when Matt and I visited Barcelona.  The Spanish sun warmed us up.  We shed a layer and walked to the coast.  With our backs to the Mediterranean Sea, we looked down La Rambla and I said, “Well guys, welcome to Barcelona!”

Brewster pointed out a Catalonian flag nearby and educated us about the Catalonian Independence movement.  He knows more than I do which is both impressive and handy.

We walked down the wide pedestrian street, La Rambla, through the market stalls to Place Real, a square filled with trees, fountains and restaurants. From there, I passed my navigations over to Brewster and he lead us down the narrow windy streets of the Gothic Quarter to our hotel.   We checked in and giggled when the bell-man asked if we were celebrating our anniversary.  I remembered I mentioned in my reservation that we were celebrating our birthdays so they were clearly confused.  They gave us a bottle of wine which I opened and enjoyed a glass.  Our room was a step up from the accommodations we’ve been staying in and the kids loved it.

Our first stop on our afternoon field trip was a walk past the beautiful Cathedral and across to the amazing Mercat de la Boquieria.