After five weeks in Spain (Tenerife is Spain), many attempts at speaking Spanish, liters of Sangria, and hundreds of Tapas later, we are leaving Spain and Barcelona. Our stay in this wonderful city, though brief, was quite magnificent. We managed to make it around to the majority of Barcelona's most famous landmarks, while learning about their history and culture in the process. Barcelona is the only city in the world with the honor of winning the Royal Gold Medal RIBA architectural design award, which is intended only for individual architects. We found it very difficult to find an area of the city without remarkable craftsmanship and famous architectural influence. The Segrada La Familia, arguably Antoni Gaudí‘s most famous creation has been under construction since 1882, and isn't expected to be finished until the year 2026 – the centennial of his death.
We’re fortunate that our Airbnb apartment in the Gràcia neighborhood is near the city center, and has a comforting, homey feel. Our temporary roommate, we don’t know her name but refer to her as “Grandma,” happens to talk and look a lot like Kyle's Oma (word grandmother in Dutch). Kyle has spent a considerable amount of time indulging her conversations, though it's still very difficult for him to understand most of what she is saying. We quickly found out that air conditioners don't really exist here, which is unfortunate for us as the average July temperature hovers just below 90°F / 32°C. Toss in some Mediterranean humidity and you have yourself a recipe for uncomfortable – but compared to the cold, wet summer that London is having, WE'LL TAKE IT! This afternoon we managed to find relief from the heat in the form of the Mediterranean Sea. We finished off the remaining trips on our T-10 passes as we made our way from the Barceloneta station to the beach, lazily meandering past shop venders, and fellow travelers. The beach was packed, especially for a Wednesday! We were hardly able to locate even the smallest plot of sand for our flip-flops and towels. Barcelona's mile long beach is ranked number one in the world by National Geographic, and we certainly can’t argue with them about that!
Tomorrow marks our embarkation from Barcelona's port on a 12-day Norwegian cruise around the northern Mediterranean Sea. The ship will grant us passage to the beautiful cities of Toulon, France – Pisa, Florence, Rome and Naples, Italy -the island of Mykonos, Greece – Istanbul and Izmir Turkey – Athens, Greece and finally docking in Venice. Lucky for us we will be spending two nights in Venice and get to see Yara and Eros before we head back to America. Not a bad way to end three whole months abroad!
Xo, K&M
