Madrid Temple here I come!!

     Being in Abu Dhabi is amazing and we have so many unique experiences but we don't have a temple.  It is one of those things that I look back on and think, "why didn't I go more often when I was right by one?"

     I woke up sooo early so I could attend while Carl was working and be back when he was finished so we could spend the evening together.

These remind me of the statues at the Seattle temple.  

     I had brought 2 coats with me thinking it would be cold here but it has been warm the whole time so I did not bring one with me to Madrid.  It was really chilly but since I was going straight from the airport to the temple and back it was ok.

 This is when I needed a selfie stick.

     It was the most wonderful thing to be there and I am in awe of the beauty of the spirit felt in the house of God.  I am already planning how I can get to a temple every other month.  Not practical but sure would be awesome!

So green and pretty.

     We spent the evening walking around the village our hotel is in.  We went to the shopping center here which was fun and then had some local food.  It was a really great day!

A happy day for me!

 

Getting my hair done!! oh yea, and Flamenco Dancing!

     Carl had to go to his conference today so I had the morning to myself.  I caught up on school stuff for the kids and worked on getting day 2's blog done.  Kind of boring but it was nice to have some time to myself with no interruptions (ie, kids).

     I have a really hard time with getting my hair done in Abu Dhabi.  I have tried a ton of places and I am really fed up with getting terrible hair cuts.  I did have one person that I liked but she is not there anymore:(.  So, I made an appointment and ventured out.

     I am terrified of getting lost!  When I say that I mean that when I go out of the house without written instructions (turn left here, right here) my heart starts to beat quickly and my mind goes into panic mode.  I am truly terrified.  So for me to head out on the subway with a change of lines to get to downtown and then find my way by myself is a very big deal.  I almost canceled my plan of getting my hair done because I was afraid.  I know it seems really silly but this is me.

     I did it though and I found it!  I even went to lunch by myself.

     I was really nervous about communicating but it was no problem and I am thrilled to have shorter hair.  I think I lost 5 inches which will be great for the hot weather we have at home.

There was a school group from the us sitting behind us.  They kept photo-bombing us.  We let them know we knew what they were doing but we were ok with it.  

     Carl met me after his meetings and we just walked around for a while.  We went to the area where the cruise ships let off and man, it was crazy.  I really hate all the kitschy stuff they try to pawn off on tourists.  This part of town was not my favorite.  There were some street performers but they were not great.  I think because I have seen the remarkable ones in New York and Washington DC I have a high expectation.

That night we went to a Flamenco show.  I was not sure what it was going to be like.  The seating was strange and uncomfortable.  It was a great show!  It went a little long but man can those women stomp and click their feet.

It reminded me a lot of clogging.  One of the dancers was pregnant, it was impressive for her to be able to dance like that while being with child!

After the show got out we wandered about the little alleys.  They emptied quickly as we were looking for somewhere to eat and it was a little creepy.  Lots of dark alleys as the shops were all closed.  We found a sandwich shop and YUM.  I have decided that the delicious things here are Spanish Sandwiches, Chocolate, and pastries.  Although delicious, after a week I would like a real meal that is tasty.

We found Mannas Gelato again.  It really is the best!

Going to church and a stolen phone

We enjoyed a lazy morning, getting some much needed sleep and then headed out the door to have some adventures in Barcelona.

First, we went to see the Sagrada Familia.  As we walked up to the line and followed it around the corner, then around another corner, and then even another corner we became a little sad.  It is said to be the most visited place in the world and I can believe it.  Even those who were not going in were lining the streets outside to take pictures.

We were standing in line when a worker was going down the line giving information.  Turns  out the line is to buy tickets that will give you entrance into the church at 4:30 pm.  That would be in 5 hours.  Yikes, and who knows how long the line would take.  She then let us know that we could purchase tickets online and skip the line.  We made the purchase for a 2:30 entrance and happily walked away from the line.

We then went to find Carl's conference for him to sign in.  Turns out after a long metro ride and a lot of walking that there are many areas with the same name and we were 30 minutes walk from where we needed to be.  We decided to scrap that and head back towards the church and grab lunch close so we would not miss our time to get into the church.  As we have found that the local food places take a really long time to serve food we opted to do a quick lunch at Burger King.

I loved this Fountain in the Middle of the round about.  It looked so fun to climb.  Of course that is not allowed.  I wonder where Madison gets her desire to climb everything?

I can't tell you how amazing the inside of this church is.  The architect,Gaudi, showed his love of the gospel through every detail.  I was in awe of the beauty and the spirit that was in this Cathedral.  I have never had that feeling in any other Cathedral or Basilica that I have been in.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves although I don't think they truly capture it.

The side we entered into the Familia had the Nativity scenes.  It covered the entire side of the Church. 

 This Church has been being built for over 100 years.  The Architect, Antoni Guadi, died soon after part of this was completed.  They are trying to continue to build the church to his plans.  Many of his plans were destroyed in the revolution they had here in the 30's.  His faith is shown through everything seen here.

The Nativity

 Mary and Joseph

 Carl in front with a small part of the church.   

 Gaudi included nature in all off the design.  The columns are trees that at the ceiling become leaves making it feel as if you are in a bright forest.  I have never seen anything like it.  The way he did the slits at the ceiling lets in natural light that brightens everything.

Gaudi said that he wanted light to fill the church and it has come to fruition.  The stain glass windows are glowing with beauty.  There are different colors flowing through, making me feel as if I am flowing in color and light.

 The columns are different as trees are different and are even made of different stone.

 We came out to view the the exterior of the other side of the church which shows the passion of Christ.

Judas kissing Christ in betrayal.  Notice the serpent coming out from his robe.

I love the color that is here and there showing the color of nature.  Above the Windows you can see bronze leaves that are green and red.

This was in the Gaudi Museum.  It was really interesting how e came up with ways to create his art.  In order to decide on arches for another church he loaded pebbles in little bags that represented the weight the arches would support.  he then made an upside down structure that represented what the angles of the arches would be based on the pulling of the bags.  Here is a representation of this.  I was fascinated with his genius.

This is to represent the tree of life.  The doves are the followers.  I just stared and stared.  I hope I will be a dove partaking of the tree of life, I am trying.

The are still working on the church.  It looks as if there is much left to do.  We plan to come back when it is completed.

After a lot of walking we decided we wanted to sit for a bit and plan so we grabbed some ice cream at McDonalds so we could get a table.  It was there while looking over the map together that two women walked up to us and put a paper with writing on our table.  I told them I did not understand as I don't speak Spanish.  they left quickly and it was 5 minutes later when we were gathering up our things that I realized they had taken my phone.  I do give them credit for their slyness.  I was distracted by the map and they quickly covered and then grabbed my phone.

This put a damper on the evening.  We had a great time walking through the streets in the Gothic area and then went to a nice dinner.  I have decided that thus far I am not impressed with Spanish food.  It lacks flavor and passion.  The food is good but not something I would want to go home and create for anyone else.


Dinner was nice.  We went to a place recommended by trip adviser.  We wanted to be adventurous and tried the specials.  Carl's was so small that it could have been an appetizer.  It was good, not great.  I loved the big spoon, fork and knife on the walls.  I asked Carl if there was anything he thought he would eat with that spoon and she said the Xocolate they serve at every cafe here.  He is right, that stuff is Delicious.

The pastries, chocolate, and gelato are AMAZING!!!

Splendid Spain

We left in the middle of the night and arrived in Barcelona exhausted and travel weary.  Carl was so tired when we started the trip in Abu Dhabi that he left his computer bag at security.  Thankfully he remembered before we boarded and we found it sitting on a chair, love the security at that airport.

As we arrived at 9am we could not check into our hotel yet.  I was bummed as I had not planned on touring in my travel clothes (my way of saying don't judge me in the pics, been flying for 10 hours and no sleep for 24 hours)

First we took the metro to the Central Square in Barcelona where we found they were having protests.  Not sure exactly what was going on but something to do with divorcing the country.  People were everywhere shouting, clapping, wearing flags as capes and pretty much having a party.

One of the most important things to us when we travel is to try the local food.  This is sometimes a gamble, especially when we don't speak the language.  We went to a Spanish cafe for lunch and it was NOT good.  We were disappointed but decided to move forward (mostly to keep awake) and find our way to the Picasso Museum.

On our way there we wound our way through the little streets of the Gothic Quarter.  It was quaint, romantic, and wow, there was some great chocolate places along the way.  There was a miscommunication and instead of finding the way to the museum Carl lead us to a gelato shop that had the most amazing gelato.
Barcelona Chocolate!!

Carl enjoying some peanut butter gelato

We continued to stop at spots to try all kinds of things.  We found an empanadas place and regretted even more our first choice for lunch.  They were delicious and we need to go back to try the leek and goat cheese empanada.

Fun streets and shops of the Gothic Quarter

Along the way to the Museum we were sidetracked by all the shops.  I already know what I want to get each of the kids.

We finally made it to the Picasso museum.  We were not terribly excited since most of Picasso stuff we know could have been done by our kids!  We were blown away by the art he was able to put out at such an early age.  The museum was with definitely worth the time to go to.  No pictures, of course were allowed to be taken inside.

Courtyard of the Picasso museum

After the museum, we wound back through the streets.  We stopped and got some chocolate creme cookie ball thing and some hot chocolate.  It was really good.  Then we headed back to the hotel to check-in and get cleaned up.  We felt pretty funky and seriously needed a shower.  We Skyped with the kiddos, then headed out for some dinner.

Most amazing hot xocalate (next time say yes to cream, wow was that thick stuff!)

Nothing fancy tonight, since we are kinda drop dead tired.  Started off with Chorizo in a wine sauce and then pork sandwiches.  Both were very good.

After dinner we went around the corner of the hotel, where there was a local festival of some sorts going on.  They had firecrackers in trees and attached to pitchforks.  Seemed like a safe idea so we hung around for a little while and got 1/4 kilo of churros (when the say quattro, they mean 1/4 kilo not 4 churros).

 So when we got back to the hotel we gave most away to a group of American students.  The festival had a drum line and a lot of guys dressed as devils.  We asked what it meant, but the front desk lady did not have a great explanation.

Now off to bed, and prepare for another great day tomorrow!