Gaudi was a Genius- Barcelona Day 2

One reason why Barcelona never really appealed to me was that I am not overly impressed with Spanish painters, etc. (Sorry, but Picasso has never been a favorite...) I had seen pictures of some of the buildings designed by Antonio Gaudi, but was really not impressed. Then I saw them in person...


This is the Casa Batllo and it is really cool looking. (We saw it from the bus.)


Here is another one- called "La Pedrera" - also very interesting.

Saturday morning we decided to go to the Sagrada Familia Church. If you go to Barcelona- you have to see this. Gaudi started building this church in 1882 and it is still not finished. They are hoping to have it completely finished by 2026. Maybe because I had no expectations, I was completely amazed by how fascinating this place is. We walked out of the subway, saw a huge line and looked up- this is what we saw...


This is the Passion facade of the Church (there are four different facades- I didn't know this and we completely missed the Nativity side.) {Look up between the towers- you can see the resurrected Christ ascending to heaven.}


This is a close up of the Passion Facade. I can just tell you that pictures do not even capture a portion of how amazing this building is. I stood there with my mouth open- looking up and shaking my head.



All of us in front of the Sagrada Familia (Sacred Family Church).

After seeing the church we headed to the Parc Guell. A man by the last name of Guell became Gaudi's patron and had him do a lot of work for him. Gaudi designed a park for Mr. Guell.


By the entrance of the park


This walkway is really cool looking.

So we had to take a picture on it. (We're on the top and it's a bit of a way down. We were holding on to the kids!)


Another view of the walkway.


Claire and Madi


Shelby and Grandma.
This is the gate that leads out of the park. If it is pushed back- it becomes part of the wall.


A classic pick up your poop sign! (It only says "Gracias")


Danny and Madison (in classic form) as we left the park. You can see the entrance to the park as well.

Thank you Antonio Gaudi for making such amazing structures for us to see!

BRILLIANT BARCELONA

I don't know why, but we really didn't have a huge desire to visit Barcelona. However, since we had a day to play- we did! AND... Barcelona is great!

We had a lovely hotel/ apartment that was big and very modern. We saw all of these people out selling roses and we saw a lot of these red and yellow striped banners as well. We found out that it was Sant Jordi's Day- St. George's Day. Sant Jordi is the patron saint of Catalonia. Traditionally a man would give his sweetheart a rose and the woman would reciprocate by giving her boyfriend/husband a book. Now there are booksellers and rose sellers everywhere! (The red and yellow striped banners are the flag of Catalonia. The region of Spain that includes Barcelona.)

A street in Barcelona- you can see a rose seller with the Catalonia flag.

We spent a good portion of the day on the hop on/hop off bus tour. It was a great way to see the city and learn about what we were seeing!

Kailey and Shelby on the bus.

We saw Montjuic (a hill that overlooks the city) and the Palace that is now a museum. We also saw the 1992 Olympic Stadium and took a tram to the top of the hill. (There were a couple who were scaredy cats- but we all enjoyed it.)

Danny and Jake on the way up in the tram.


Claire and Emery were NOT afraid!

We also saw the Castel de Montjuic and enjoyed views of the city and the port.

Kailey and the former moat that is now a lovely garden area.



Shelby in front of the Castle.


Emery with the first view of the Disney Magic!


This boat will be our home for 11 days!


Claire, Emery and Shelby playing Leap Frog


Jake and Madi leave the castle behind.

We also saw the Gothic Quarter and went into the cathedral there.


Claire and I on the bus.

We had a wonderful day exploring Barcelona. We also met up with Grandpa and Grandma Carrell and were thankful that they made it safe. So we all celebrated and had Chinese food for dinner. (We ate lunch at a typical Spanish restaurant- so we did taste food from Spain. I totally enjoyed my paella.)

"Bobbee"

We have our own luck of the Irish. We call her Babs. Actually most of us do- Madi calls her "Bobbee or Babbee." We were luck enough to live close to Babs- who does not own a car- so the kids and I got to take her to church with us every week. We all loved having her with us. Every week the kids would ask, "Is Babs coming with us?" They were always thrilled when she came along. She added lots of sunshine even if there was rain. Babs is very talented at mimicking other people's voices and you can't help but giggle. She also has a great accent and at first you have to listen closely to her. The crazy thing is that Babs thought we were doing her a favor when really, she was adding so much to our lives. Babs works at Cadbury and insisted that she always give us chocolate- BAGS of it!


Babs and Madi


Time spent with Babs is a huge treat. NO chocolate necessary. We love you Babs! We will always think of you when we race Dad home after church!

The Global Feast

I am playing catch up! The next few blogs are from March and April 2010.

Every year, Sutton Park School has a Global Feast Day. Since the school has lots of international students, each family is encouraged to bring some type of food to celebrate. The kids love it because it's a non uniform day and they get to eat lots of fun (unhealthy) food. (There is always healthy food, but...)

The school looks amazing!

This is the front entry to the school.


I thought these flags were perfect together as I provided Snickerdoodles (go U-S-A!) and Enchiladas (Viva Mexico!).


A view of the front entry from the other direction.


Yum.


Sweet Claire with a pretty healthy selection of foods.


Shelby and Eline (Shelby's food- not so healthy. Too bad you can't see Jake's plate. It was loaded with cookies, cakes and cupcakes. Uggh.)


BFFs

Whenever it is a non-uniform day at Sutton Park, you have to pay for the privilege. The kids pay for their food, but all the proceeds go directly to the Chimteka Children Support (CCS). Chimteka is a cluster of villages in Malawi. I learned this on the CCS Website, "Malawi is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world with nearly 70% of the people below the poverty line. In recent years the country has been ravaged by famine and malnutrition and decimated by the scourge of aids. Nearly one third of the children under the age of five are HIV positive and 30% are orphaned." Sutton Park School has been working with the charity for several years. They've helped with digging wells, building a school and library. The kids told me that this year they were helping buy books for the library.

I love Global Feast Day because I think it is great that the kids get to try new foods and see some different cultures. I love that they teach my children about others who are not nearly as blessed. Our children are happy to give their money to this worthy cause and are so excited when they find out how much money was raised for the children of Chimteka. (Last year they raised 1,140 euros.) Thanks Sutton Park for supporting the children of Chimteka and helping make a difference. Thank you for helping my children see the world with different eyes. (Count your blessings. Name them one by one...)

Wii think it was the Ultimate Activity

For one of our youth activities we had a Wii night. We had three different wii consoles going at the same time in the same room. It was loud. It was crazy. It was GREAT!

Kirsten and Aidan- Mario Cart


Richie and Danny= COOL


Koko on the drums


Eoin and Stephen rock out on lego rockband


Claire, Madi, Rose, Em, Shelby and Alex ARE the Sing STARS


Kailey, Jake, Aidan and Terry...


Koketso and Terry drive on


Eoin and Jake are the karaoke kings



AND it was Eoin's 13th BDAY! What an amazing kid.

You guys are the best.

Getting there is Half the Battle

We have been planning our "last european adventure" since November. A Disney Cruise on the Mediterranean. However, recent events have made this little adventure a bit more interesting. Grandpa and Grandma Carrell were supposed to fly to Dublin on the 14^th of April. They made it 3 hours into their flight from Philadelphia and the plane had to turn around because of the volcano in Iceland that erupted. Ash issues. Danny was supposed to fly to NY on Sunday- but the Dublin Airport was closed (it had been closed since Thursday…) so- he stayed home (not that we were overly saddened by this). However, we were starting to get concerned- how would we get to Barcelona to get on the cruise if we couldn't fly? We went over the different possibilities- a ferry from Ireland to France (appx 20 hours) and then a 12 hour drive to Barcelona. The other option was a ferry to the UK and then train to London- eurostar through the chunnel (under the english channel) to Paris and then another train to Barcelona. The last option proved to be too expensive- so our only other option was the ferry and drive. I had this feeling that with our luck- our car would break down somewhere in the middle of France (most likely in the middle of the night) and we wouldn't make it to Spain in time to get on our boat. THANKFULLY- the ash was cleared enough so the Dublin Airport was opened. Then we decided to play it safe and fly out on Thursday instead of Friday evening. Better safe than sorry- right?

We made it to the airport, ate and headed through security. Then we saw the Parkins family (our good friends who are on the cruise with us) and they told us that they were worried at first because it said that there was a 6 hour delay! We all agreed that it was such a good thing that our flight was on time. THEN we found out that there actually was a delay- but just 4 hours…

WAITING! Lucas (with his back to us), Emery, Cara, Claire, Oscar and Madison. Moments after this photo was taken, Emery fell off the ledge and landed on her forehead. Ouch. (She's fine- just a nasty bruise.)


So what do 10 children do for 4 extra hours a the airport?

Play with new Strawberry Shortcake dolls. (Oscar thought this was great fun!) The girls thought the little dolls were pretty fun, too.


Jake watched a movie.


Shelby did some artwork.


Ipods and Nintendo DS's were very useful. We also walked around a bit and ate junk. The kids did great. It was a late night (we arrived in Barcelona at 2 a.m.) but we were so glad to arrive safe and sound and NOT have to drive and take the ferry!

London with Nancy

Nancy and I went to London and had a lovely time. Sadly- I took the worst photos of my entire life (almost). (In fact, Danny hasn't really let me take many pictures since then...)


Me and Nancy- Tower of London

Nancy with the Tower Bridge behind her. It was SOOOOO cold!


We enjoyed a lovely dinner at Chez Something (can't remember the real name of the restaurant) and then LOVED Wicked at the Apollo Victoria. (Sing it with me- Because I knew you- I have been changed... for good.)


Nancy on the London Eye with Big Ben behind her.


Still on the Eye- not that there's anything to see here...

London is great to visit. We enjoyed the hop on/hop off tour, the Beefeater at the Tower of London, and so enjoyed the soup that warmed us up!

Day 2 was filled with Hamleys Toy Store (they suck me in every time!), a brief visit to A & F (what I will do for my teenager), and views all around on the London Eye.

The best part? Getting back to the family in an hour (thanks Aerlingus) and having them actually miss me.