**While I was working on this post a terrorist drove a van into the crowd on Las Ramblas in Barcelona killing 16 and injuring many. I feel sick thinking about it.**

Looking back now I’m not sure how we did it but we somehow coaxed the girls to visit the original Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. It was an easy walk from La Sagrada Familia.

The Hospital was absolutely gorgeous architecturally and reminded me of “A Cure for Wellness” which I haven’t seen. Lol.

the cool basement provided refuge from the heat

Another underground tunnel.

Everywhere we turned there were gorgeous details to admire. Everything is so new in the United States and seems to be constructed with much less thought/design due to the pace of modern life.

There is a new Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau now but we didn’t visit that one as it’s a working hospital.

After wandering we took a cab over to Park Guell which sits atop Carmel Hill in Barcelona and was designed by Antoni Gaudi. Read more about its origins here.

NOTE: access to most of Park Guell is free but if you want to visit the Monumental Zone you need to buy tickets. We bought ours a day or two prior via the website.

Park Guell Monumental Zone tickets

You will want the tickets for sure!

Gift shop

This trip to Barcelona wasn’t my first. I had spent a few days there just after college when I was working in London. However, I only spent two nights and was close to penniless so I thought it would be good to go back a couple of decades later with fresh perspective and possibly a higher travel budget.

We booked only 2 nights in the apartment as we thought we might not want to be in cities for very long in the heat. The first morning, we ate breakfast at a cafe near our place. Then we set out walking to another famous Antoni Gaudi structure: La Basilica de la Sagrada Familia (Basilica of the Holy Family).

It was really hot out plus crowded! We are the idiots who didn’t reserve spot on the tour so of course it was sold out. TIP: make a reservation ahead of time if you want to go inside! (Btw: this link is funny- b/c if you click it and go to the webpage it says “Your tickets help us build the Basilica.” It has been under construction since 1882!)

A Brief History of the Basilica

• 1882 Construction began prompted by the Spiritual Association of Devotees of Saint Joseph. The first architect, Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano drew up its Neo-gothic design and commenced work on the crypt.
• 1883 – Lozano resigns and Antoni Gaudi takes over as architect.
• 1889 – Gaudi finishes crypt and commences work on apse. Proposes “new and grander design” including a large church.
• 1892 – Nativity facade is started as Gaudi believes it will continue to draw popular support (and therefore funding.)
• 1894 – Apse facade finished
• 1899 – Rosary portal finished.
• 1909 – Provisional school buildings built.
• 1911 – Pasion facade designed.
• 1914 – Expiatory Temple
• 1923 – Gaudi designed naves and roofs.
• 1925 – First bell town on Nativity facade finished.
• 1926 – Gaudi died in tram accident and was buried in the Chapel of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the crypt of the Sagrada Familia.
• 1926 – Domenec Sugranes takes over until 1938.
• 1930 – Bell towers on the Nativity Facade completed.
• 1933 – Faith portal and central cypress tree completed.
• 1936 – During Spanish Civil War revolutionaries set fire to the crypt and burned down the school.
• 1939 – After the Spanish Civil War building resumed under architect Francesc de Paula Quintana i Vidal among others.
• 1954 – Work begins on foundations to support the Pasion facade.
• 1958 – Holy Family statues were added by Jaume Busquets.
• 1961 – Museum opens in the crypt.
• 1976 – 4 bell towers on the Pasion facade completed.
• 1986 – Josep Maria Subirachs created the statues and sculptures for the Passion facade.
• 2000 – Vaulting in the central nave and transepts was built & foundations of the Glory facade were started.
• 2001 – Central window of the Passion facade finished. Stained glass installed. Four columns of the crossing finished.
• 2002 – Wall of patriarchs and prophets completed by Josep Subirachs for top of porch on the Passion facade.
• 2005 – Ascension sculpture placed between towers of Passion facade.
• 2017- 70% of the work is complete.
• 2026 – All work should be complete.

[Timeline info taken from http://www.sagradafamilia.org/en/history-of-the-temple/]

Top of the Passion facade

Western Sacristy

Nativity Facade

Nativity facade closer

Another angle of the Nativity Facade

A merging of architectural styles

Fruit topped spires

When the complaining got to be too much we walked across the street to the shady park and ate fresh fruit popsicles. I am bummed we didn’t get inside but we probably pushed the kids enough at this point. One could spend days looking at this basilica and never get bored.

Loving sisters

After a short rest and a stop at Subway (where M had her regular 6″ tuna and Bea had plain turkey on bread) we continued walking towards another architectural marvel. (To be continued in next post.)

Click HERE for incredible photos of details.

We just spent a month in Spain and I want to write down as much as I can before I forget it.

It’s been over 10 years since I’ve travelled internationally and I was rusty. I’ll share the biggies I learned re: traveling with kids (though some will be relevant for those traveling without!) We planned to move around a lot so we decided to pack light.

PLANNING

Bags

• G and I got smallish roller bags that can convert to backpacks. I got an Eagle Creek one. He got a more expensive Osprey that has a detachable day pack and is carry-on size for airplane travel.
• The girls used their Pottery Barn roller bags that they use for school.
• We each packed a week’s worth of clothes.

Eagle Creek Lync System 26" Travel Pack

Osprey Meridian Wheeled Convertible Luggage 22"

Pottery Barn wheeled backpack

Clothes

• 5 short sleeved shirts
• 5 pairs shorts/skirts
• (I packed 3 pairs shorts and 5 dresses/shifts for hot weather)
• 7 underwear
• Swimsuits (2 for G and me, kids packed 2-4 each)
• 2 bras (me only ha ha)
• hat (for sun protection)
• 5 socks
• 1 long sleeved shirt
• 1 long pants
• packable rain jackets (they come in own pouch) – did NOT use!
• Flip flops
• sneakers
• (I also took Birkenstocks which I wore almost every day)
• Ibuprofen (including Advil PM to overcome jet lag)

Shirt & shorts (1 outfit)

Roll that sucker up

Outfit burrito

Place in rollerbag for easy grabbing by a kid!

Zip-Loc 'O swimsuits – messy!

Roll those babies up too!

Shoes/Flip Flops in a Zip-Loc too – you don't want the bottoms of dirty shoes touching your clothes. (Or DO you?)

Two days after school got out we flew a red-eye to Madrid. Our kids are ages 8 and 6 so no strollers/diapers/sippy cups etc. We took two CamelBak water bottles for them one of which was lost within the first 24 hours upon landing somewhere in the airport in Madrid. The second was lost a week or so later.

The owner of the AirB&B apartment we rented had a taxi driver waiting for us. He took us straightaway to our apartment in the center of Madrid near the Prado Museum. The climate was similar to southern California’s: dry & hot. It was in the high 90′s when we arrived. We had been traveling since 3PM our time and it was now late afternoon and we were out of all fruit etc. that we had taken on the plane. Around 8 or 9PM I walked outside with the kids to find a store. It was still incredibly hot outside and we walked past several theaters and restaurants. The vibe was relaxed – people sat at tables smoking or drinking a beer or glass of wine and kids played at a nearby playground. I compared it to the Promenade in Santa Monica which is rigidly structured in comparison – if alcohol is served in restaurants in SM there has to be a metal fence around the seating area. There are no playgrounds in the immediate area either.

I bought some overpriced spaghetti, sauce, toothpaste, a coke and 2 beers for George. We were in no shape to go out as we hadn’t slept yet.

The next day we set out to explore a bit. We planned to stay 2 nights before heading to Barcelona. We’d give ourselves more time in Madrid at the tail end of the trip but for now we wanted to get out of the hot city. Before leaving the apartment I asked G where the passports were. He had all 4 of them. He planned to keep them in his daypack. I asked for mine as I didn’t think we should keep them all together. First stop was a restaurant the apt. owner recommended at the end of our street. It was called Taberna el Sur.

First outing in Madrid

Tiny sip of sangria

I saw other tourists in there so wondered if all the AirB&B owners sent them there? Anyway, it was really cute, friendly and had nice sangria. Maddie ordered a caesar salad and had her first lesson in ordering food in Spain. Try to order Spanish specialities instead of ordering familiar dishes as they will NOT be prepared the same way. We ordered croquettes (with jamon), camarones (calamari), a sort of caprese salad and I have no idea what Bea got or ate. That lunch was our introduction to a month of camarones y jamon (ham – usually Iberian).

We had to switch SIM cards first so we went to Vodaphone or maybe two Vodaphone stores until we switched them. The second Vodaphone store was inside a Cortes Ingles which is a department store. There was a pretty nice grocery store in the basement so we grabbed some sundries. The tap water is excellent in Madrid so there was no need to buy bottled water. G and I had managed not to lose our CamelBak bottles yet.

After getting our new SIM cards and Spanish phone numbers, we stopped in a plaza for a drink. It was around 9PM but still light out. In the plaza we just sat down at one of many tables and a waiter approached asking what we’d like. We had no menus so I asked him what kinds of wine he had. He said, “Blanco y tinto.” Simple! I ordered a copa de vino blanco – seco (DRY!) The wine was excellent.

From time to time people approached to sell us jewelry, carved animals, wooden trivets etc. One man tried to sell us fidget spinners. We answered “No gracias.” countless times. It was pretty obvious they could spot the tourists and beelined towards them. At first the kids betrayed me by yelling, “PLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEAze????” re: the fidget spinners. After the man left I told them that they were falling into his sales trap and that next time they had better act disinterested.

We ordered  a second drink because it was so nice out and there were so many people out and about. The kids started playing in the plaza.

Kids were playing in front of "Despicable Gru" poster.

Around 9:30 or 10PM. So nice out!

A little boy joined the girls in the plaza. Instantly I romanticized them thinking, “The children are already befriending a native Spaniard!” but then his parents called to him in English. We struck up a conversation – turns out they were from the Bay area. So much for social immersion. As we talked with them the fidget spinner salesman approached again. We said no much more quickly this time and he seemed not to mind as he departed quickly. The CA family left and we paid our bill. Thrilled to see each glass of wine was 2.20 euros and the beers were 1.50 euros!

However, thrill turned to despair as we got up to leave and found no evidence of G’s daypack. We suspected the fidget spinner salesman had grabbed it from the ground by G’s foot. Inside were his and the girls’ passports as well as his copy of Lonely Planet Spain and his prescription reading glasses. We were supposed to leave for Barcelona the following day.

**To be continued…**

We started out at my sister’s house. My niece had a day off of work so we grabbed her and headed to South Street. The last time I’d been there was probably 20+ years ago and it wasn’t the same but we had fun.

We happened upon the Magic Gardens:

Outside The Magic Gardens

M was pretty grumpy as we’d just flown in the night before and it was pretty hot. Ok forget the excuses – that’s her default mood.

We had lunch at this largely empty pub. Free air hockey and a local cider, what more could you ask for?

Rachel and me at a pub

After lunch we headed to Smith Memorial Playground. Acres of playground

When I was a kid we at times sprayed furniture polish on the wooden floor, put socks on and slid back & forth. Some genius translated this to a slide!

You grab a gunny sack, run around the walkway and WHEEEEEEEEEEEEeeee down you go!

This little fellow helped us up at the bottom.

Texting & sliding.

No texts were harmed in the filming of this slide.

Not a bad “Intro to Summer Vacation.”

G and I had the idea to take the van on a road trip in a circle around the country. So we bought a map and started planning the drive. Holy Toledo (NOT one of our destinations) we’d never have time to actually get OUT of the van if we did this. Not only that but our plan had us passing through the deep south in late July. You can FORGET THAT!

We decided I’d fly east with the kids and see everyone we could while we were there. We’d meet G later on.

Christina: Thank god for Jet Blue and its TVs! Keep these kids off my BACK.

M knows "Real Housewives of Orange County" is not appropriate for a 7 year old.

Plenty of bribes made the flight go smoothly.

Part 2 Vacation