Once Norah's visa arrived, we were ready to plan a trip for President's Day weekend. I was just thinking today about how last year at this time, we were traveling to Amsterdam. I had recently found out I was pregnant with Norah and not many people knew! It's amazing how much has changed throughout the past year! Unfortunately for us, this weekend also fell on a British school break and Valentine's Day, so airfare was increased no matter where the destination. When we started looking in December at where to go, we decided on Spain because it was somewhere we definitely wanted to go while living over here and if we were going to be paying more than usual to fly, we figured we should probably go somewhere we actually wanted to go to. So we were able to get cheaper tickets into Valencia and arranged to take the train fairly cheaply from there to Barcelona. Our flight left around 7a on Friday morning, so we were up at 3a to get to the car park by 5a and then to the terminal to board by 645a. I was surprised at how smoothly things went with Norah.
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| Just making sure I know my emergency procedures. |
The flight was about 2 hours and she only cried once for about 20 minutes and then settled in for a nap. We were in a row of three and met a very nice lady who just recently became a grandmother, so she was all about giving Norah some attention. Once landed in Valencia, we only had a couple of hours until our train to Barcelona, so when researching things to do in Valencia - we decided to go to their Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, basically a science center.
We bought metro tickets and since there weren't any direct routes there via metro we picked a stop to get off at and walked through a park - Antiguo Cauce del Rio Turia to get there. While on the metro, a worker came around to scan our tickets and told us we needed to buy another ticket because we had only bought one. It was confusing when we bought the tickets because it said you could load up to 4 persons on one ticket, so we took that as up to 4 people can use one ticket, but it was that 4 separate tickets could be loaded onto one card. The weather was gorgeous for walking. We both took our jackets off while walking through the park but couldn't help noticing that the locals had scarves on, some with their winter coats on too. It had to be at least 60 degrees, which must be cold for those in Spain. While walking through the park we saw some orange trees and decided to pick one to eat.
I peeled and Aaron ate the first slice. His face was hilarious, he immediately spit it out. I tried a slice too after he insisted I do so. It was so sour and bitter! I thought it was a little bit like grapefruit. Aaron did some research later then and we discovered that they were called bitter oranges. I'm sure the locals were laughing at us.
We arrived to the science center and enjoyed wandering but it was getting to be time to head back to catch our train. Once to the metro we took it to the stop where we thought the train would be and the station was no where to be found near the metro. We took a look at a map on the street above the metro stop and could find nothing. A local tried to help Aaron and was telling him he had to get back on the metro and go to a different stop. I asked the worker at the information booth in the metro and she spoke minimal English but kept pointing up and saying, on the street, on the street. So we starting walking one direction, turned and walked the other direction and finally saw some people with suitcases coming from another direction and went that way. The train station was a couple of blocks from there. We didn't have much time to find our platform and board the train but we made it on successfully. We noticed that both the metro and the train were very clean and the train was quite spacious with more than enough leg room. I could have easily set Norah at my feet in a car seat, that's how much space we had. It took about 3 hours to reach Barcelona, we were delayed for a bit on the way there with some slowing down at times. Norah decided to have a major meltdown while on the train, which wasn't a huge deal - because we just took her in between cars, no one could hear her crying that way. I finally got her to sleep while watching the scenery go by. The coast was beautiful. Once into Barcelona, we purchased metro passes and headed for our hotel since it was late evening by then. We checked into Aparthotel Mariano Cubi, our home away from home for the next 3 nights. The staff were so welcoming and helpful. They gave us a map and circled all of the must sees and explained the best way to get around. Our room was huge by European standards.
I read in the reviews that it was close to a couple of very prestigious medical clinics in the city, that patients often stay at the hotel to recuperate before discharge. The room had a kitchen, king sized bed and big bathroom - so we were set. We put the pack and play they set out for Norah around the corner near the kitchen, hoping she would do well in her new sleeping environment. However, she slept horribly the first night.
We were up for good by 7a and decided to walk to our first sight that morning. It was about a 30 min walk to La Sagrada Familia. I had bought tickets online prior to arriving per suggestion, which I'm thankful we did so because there was a line we were able to skip to get in. I hadn't booked Norah a ticket - she was free but still needed a ticket but thankfully they let us in anyways.
I had to stand in line to get an audio guide for Aaron and while I was doing so, an Asian tourist spotted Norah and squealed with delight. She called her entire family over to Aaron and asked if she could hold the baby. She posed while her family took pictures with her holding Norah. It was beyond comical. Aaron kept catching my eye while I waited in line. The woman pulled out her phone and was trying to show Norah a video of a horse, Norah wanted nothing to do with it. Little did we know, this was just the beginning of all the attention Norah was about to receive. We headed inside once I obtained the audio guide.
A little bit of background information on La Sagrada Familia would be that Antoni Gaudi signed up to labor on this Gothic-style church in 1883. He worked on it for 43 years, until his death in 1926 and the project was 20% complete then. It has since been a work in progress. It was a bit disappointing to see the outside of the structure with cranes and scaffolding covering it but still pretty magnificent. While the outside is still under construction, the inside was astounding. Gaudi was a phenomenal person with quite the vision.
We wandered and then went to find the entrance for the tower that we had booked to go to the top. Once in line, we were informed that Norah was unable to be taken to the top but we could individually go. So Aaron got in line and I wandered some more. Once Aaron went to the top and came back down, I was feeling the effects of a not so great nights sleep, so I decided to skip going to the top of the Nativity tower.
We left La Sagrada Familia, went to a souvenir shop, ate lunch and headed for the Big Bus stop. We booked a hop on hop off tour for one day after reading this was the best way to see the entire city of Barcelona. Barcelona is quite huge and spread out making it hard to navigate just by walking. The bus had two loops, which we hoped to take advantage of.
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| We call this her I-forgot-to-put-my-dentures-in look. |
Once on the bus, we rode to the center of the city, getting off to walk to see the Christopher Columbus statue and explore the marina area for a bit.
Then we walked down the famous La Rambla street, went to see the cathedral and decided to continue on walking to the famous Casa Batllo, Casa Amatller and Casa Mila.
We tried to hop on the other bus loop to go to the beach but Norah was starting to hit her tolerance level for the day so we got off and walked for a bit while Norah almost fell asleep. We thought we could stop and eat something for an early dinner and was able to order some tapas and she lost it. We took that as a cue to get back to the hotel and turn in for the night. We asked an awful lot of her and she did really well up until that point. She usually gets cranky in the evenings at home, so it was no surprise when she decided it was time to be done for the day. Once back in the hotel, she was having a great time playing with us. We put her to bed at a decent hour and she slept a little bit better than the night before but still did not get enough rest.
The next day, we walked to Park Guell - a park designed by Gaudi. We paid the admission to get into the "monumental" region of the park. While in line to enter the park, another Asian tourist asked if she could take Norah's picture. Aaron and I came to the conclusion that just as we think Asian babies are adorable, they must think that our little white baby is adorable in the same way. We're convinced Norah is probably some sort of internet sensation in China by now.
Park Guell was amazing as well. We took our time walking through the monumental region and got some pretty great views of Barcelona.
Once we were done there, we walked to catch the metro to go to the World Expo Fairground area. We rode the metro a couple of times while in Barcelona and each time once we boarded someone almost always immediately rose to give me their seat which was so kind. I often had Norah in our Ergo baby carrier and if she was sleeping, she would usually wake up if I sat down. So while it was nice to sit, I didn't really want to due to her waking up but I didn't know how to tell people this in Spanish. I've also been told that it is rude not to accept a seat when someone offers it to you, so I accepted most times. While on the metro, Norah would charm all of those around her. It's amazing what a baby does to people. I don't like the attention on myself but I enjoy watching Norah interact with people. Often times, the locals would just marvel at her in Spanish and I obviously couldn't understand a word they were saying and would be totally clueless to when they stopped talking to her and were instead addressing questions to me. So I often just smiled like a fool. I eventually did figure out the most commonly asked questions to be, is she a girl (I guess the pink polka dotted fleece wasn't a dead giveaway) and how old is she? Once off the metro, we discovered that we were in the area of Las Areans an old bullring now converted into a shopping center.
We decided to check it out and I was able to take care of feeding Norah and we also sat down to lunch there as well. We were able to take an elevator to the top of the building to get some more great views of the city. From there, we walked to the Magic Fountain area. When reading about Barcelona, I read about the water fountain show at night and really wanted to try and go to it but quickly realized having a 5 month old that wasn't sleeping well wasn't going to allow for such things to happen. Once we got to the fountain area, we discovered that the fountains were under maintenance anyways and there wouldn't have been a show that weekend even if we would have went at nighttime, so I'm glad we didn't even attempt.
From the fountains, we took the metro to the beach area and walked down to the beaches. For supposedly having some of the best beaches in Europe, we were not impressed but we did enjoy walking and seeing the sand sculptures in progress and listening to the local musicians. We also found some churros, freshly made and they were delicious.
From the beach, we headed back to the room where Norah and I spent the evening while Aaron was able to go a FC Barcelona soccer game.
He really enjoyed seeing the infamous Messi play and I thought I was watching the soccer game live on TV until he returned and informed me I was not watching the correct game at all. We turned in early for the night knowing that we had to catch the train early the next morning to Madrid.
Our train left at 550a, so we were to the metro by 5a - which was when it opened for the day. We were looking at a map with all the stops on it when a local who was also looking at the map turned and started speaking to us in Spanish about something. Once we told him we only spoke English, he quickly switched over and explained that the line we wanted to take was under maintenance and only traveling so far and not to the stop we needed to get to. So he offered to show us how to get to Barcelona Sants a different, more roundabout way. It was very kind of him and he was headed that direction as well but he didn't have to do what he did for us. We probably would have missed our train to Madrid otherwise. While on the train, he told us he lived in New York for awhile. We've found that many are proud to tell us they've been to the States when we tell them we are American. Often it is assumed that we are from New York City as if that is the only place Americans can come from. Once pointed in the right direction for the train station, we were able to get on the train and head towards Madrid for the day. We had most of the day in Madrid, but I hadn't been able to do much research on what to do and how to make the most out of the little time we had there. Aaron's family hosted an exchange student back in the early 2000's who now lives in Madrid. She originally planned to meet us for the day but ended up having to travel for work. Instead she gave us suggestions on what to see and do with our time which was so kind and super helpful. We ended up checking our bags at the train station for less than €4. We followed her itinerary backwards so that we would end back at the train station.
We were able to see a lot in a short amount of time and at one point spent 1.5 hrs straight walking so that Norah would get a proper nap in. She had another meltdown on the train from Barcelona to Madrid and I was starting to get nervous about the plane ride home. She was clearly exhausted from not sleeping well and getting quite hysterical when she got so tired she wanted to cry instead of sleep. We were able to get to the airport with plenty of time to spare and once we went to go through security, I had Norah in the carrier and they made me take her off to walk through the scanner. Unfortunately, she woke up and was not in a good mood. I struggled to get her back to sleep and she did fall asleep right before we boarded the place, which I knew was a recipe for disaster. I could just read the looks on peoples faces as they glanced my way while waiting in line to board. It was confirmed that this could possibly the longest 2 hours of our life. Once boarded, Norah continued to sleep just until takeoff. She woke up and cried for the next 1.5 hours. We felt so badly for her and everyone around us. She did finally sleep for the last leg of the flight. We had to disembark and walk outside, so that woke her up as it was raining. It took quite a long time to get through customs and then we had to walk awhile for the bus to the car park. By the time we got home, we were exhausted and thankfully so was Norah because she slept until 5a the next morning. While it was more of a challenge to travel with a baby, we enjoyed experiencing Spain and are so grateful for the opportunity to travel and are looking forward to our next adventure already!
