Barcelona with Paul and Kathy

European travelers, Paul, Celia's brother, and his girlfriend, Kathy had been in London, Paris and then Spain over a 3 week period. We met them in Barcelona over the weekend of September 24, and were delighted to see familiar faces. The kids were particularly excited to see their beloved Uncle Paul!

Photo: Riding the metro. Listen up, Kelsey has a story to tell


Shortly after arriving on Friday evening, we hopped on the metro heading for the famous Las Ramblas area for dinner. It was crowded and ripe for pickpockets. Sure enough, we got picked. When we were on the metro, Kathy had her wallet stolen which contained all her credit cards along with Paul and Kathy's passports.

These thieves are experts; they work in pairs or groups. In this case, while one was wearing a backpack on his front (to look like a tourist), another one was pushing on Kathy amongst the sardines packed into the metro car. The man with the backpack (we think), took Kathy's wallet which was slung across her shoulder and sitting on her front, by concealing his hands underneath his backpack. Kathy didn't know her goods had disappeared until we got off the train. Understandably, Kathy had that yucky, violated feeling. We found a (cute!) policeman and with a shrug, he told us to file a report. Pickpockets are common in big cities and Barcelona in particular. Later, we were learned that Barcelona ranks 5th in petty theft. What an honor. Although I see on this site, it has Las Ramblas as #1. The theft incident in Barcelona also made us appreciate the relative safety and 'small town feel' of Zaragoza.

Not the start we wanted from the weekend but after canceling credit and bank cards, we were able to keep the weekend moving forward. On Monday, Kathy and Paul went to the American Embassy and were able to obtain temporary passports in about 2 hours, which they needed for their flight back to the U.S. on Tuesday.

On the upside, one of the enjoyable aspects of riding the metro was watching Colin master navigating the system from buying tickets to choosing and directing our routes. A little proud parent moment realizing that this was part of why we came to Spain -- to provide the kids with new experiences and the ability to navigate their way through the world in more ways than one.

Photo: Happy to be enjoying Starbucks (none in Zaragoza) before we make our day on Saturday











Photo: Parker and Kathy on our way to Miró with the National Art Gallery in background








On Saturday, on our way to the Joan Miró Foundation (museum), we trekked up Montjuic and enjoyed a stunning panoramic view of Barcelona.







Photo: View from top of Montjuic with Sagrada Familia in background


















Photo: Paul and Kelsey walking up the hill to the Miró Foundation



Throughout his life, Joan Miró took interest in a diverse set of materials, forms and colors. It led him to experiment with different art forms such as painting, sculpture, printing techniques, ceramics, theatre and tapestry. Most of his work was not to our taste but we found it fascinating to see his style shift over the course of his life and to note how it reflected his life, i.e., his friendship with hat maker, Joan Prats or his dark stage during the onset of the Spanish revolution in the 1930s.

Photo: Kathy and Parker entering the Miró Foundation

















Photo: Inside the Miro museum. Note Miro's avant garde style of work














Photo: Miró painting














Photo: The Kelsey look -- would you mess with her?















That night, we had a fantastic dinner at Salamanca which had a huge fresh fish bar where you could hand pick your choice.

Photos: At Salamanca and Fish Bar




After dinner, on the walk back to the apartment, we were treated to a huge fireworks show in honor of La Merc, the patron saint of Barcelona (some saint is always being celebrated in Spain!).













On Sunday, we meandered around the city to a carnival in Parc de la Ciutadella where we watched theatre acts, and played games; Kelsey loves to get her face painted and she had that done as well.

Photos: Various shots from the fair








Parker returned to Zaragoza on Sunday night as he had to teach on Monday morning. Celia, Colin, and Kelsey stayed in Barcelona for an additional night with Paul and Kathy. Yes, Colin and Kelsey skipped school.




























On Monday, Celia, Colin, and Kelsey revisited the Sagrada Familia (SF) -- (see blog post Barcelona Day 3)-- while Paul and Kathy went to the American Embassy to get their temporary passports. During this visit, we went inside to check out the extraordinary stained glass windows along with the exhibits on the making and history of the building of the SF. It was surprising that while SF has been in development for over 130 years, the inside is still a huge construction zone and no where close to being finished.

Photos of inside and outside of Sagrada Familia