The morning after losing the passports we packed up our stuff in a jiffy and took a cab to the US Embassy where we were soon engaged in a 4 hour effort to get replacements. G and the girls were told to take new passport pix at a photo booth by the entrance.

The results:

Angry.

Bea had to re-take hers.

The folks in the embassy were so nice to us and commiserated over the 300+ euros we had to pay for 3 temporary passports. The first of several unexpected charges we would pay…

Once we got the passports we caught a train to Barcelona. The train ride is very nice – air conditioned and comfortable.

Train from Madrid to Barcelona

We arrived in Barcelona in late afternoon and went to the apartment.

The apartment was right off of Passeig de Gracia and within walking distance of the Sagrada Familia. After relaxing a bit we set out to explore, stopping first at a nearby tapas restaurant. It was only around 8:30PM so we were the only ones getting dinner since dinner is not usually eaten until around 10PM. Our stomaches were a bit upset from travel so the kids ordered spaghetti with tomato sauce. We soon learned NOT to order that. The overcooked spaghetti was smothered in something akin to (undiluted) Campbell’s tomato soup. I have no idea what I ordered other than a couple of glasses of good wine. After eating we strolled out into the night. It was around 10PM and everyone was out walking. We passed Catalan Art Nouveau’s architect Antoni Gaudi’s Casa Mila (aka La Pedrera) on the famous Passeig de Gracia.

Of course we ended up sitting outside having a drink. The kids tried to buy orange Fantas at the bar.

Around 11:30PM we headed home to bed.