Au revoir France... Bienvenidos a Espana

Crowded quarters on the train!! :)


Parque Guell -cool kids with Jesus as our guide...

I hear it's Tuesday... it's amazing how you lose track of time, day, date... life.. when you travel... you're so absorbed in all the beauty around you, all the memories & new friends you're making that you don't worry about the day-to-day stressers... plus not having much access to the american news channels helps...

Anyways... we left Paris yesterday and are now currently in Barcelona. We stored our luggage at the hotel, & headed into Paris - wandered around the Plaza de la Concorde, & the gardens near the Louvre... another chilly, gloomy day in Paris. Saw all the good stuff in the Louvre... Mona, Venus, Nike, etc... all good, except for the fact that there were 7 million people there, pushing & shoving to see Mona... unreal... We then wandered around town, went to the perfume factory, had a lovely last meal in Paris, and had some free time to shop before heading out.

Last night we caught an overnight train to the south of France, Perpignan. Everyone was assigned a compartment of 6 (1st picture above) and you had to fit yourselves and alllll your luggage in there...ay ya ya!! It was a bit crowded with the 6 bunks, but I think the kids enjoyed the adventure - we definitely don't have that in Iowa. :) There were only 2 bathrooms for 9 compartments to use in the morning. We left Paris at 9:53 pm and got into Perpignan around 7:10 am today.

We then hopped on a bus & crossed the border - yeah Spain!! Feels sooooo good to be home!! After a bfast stop, our next stop was Tossa de mar - a LOVELY town along the coast. The kids LOVED it... me too!! Got to walk along the beach, stick my toes in the Mediterranean and have a nice, relaxing lunch seaside.

Off to Barca we went... what an amazing city! We saw the Sagrada Familia (impressive), took a city tour with a local guide, trekked around Parque Guell (the flower pics above), saw much of Gaudi's influence around the city. Saw the Olympic stadium, las Ramblas, the port area, Plaza de Espana, etc... Ay, dios mio we're pooped!!

After dinner we walked around town a bit and had to metro & tram it home. Took the kids for phone calls (most everyone got to talk to someone!!) :)

Tomorrow is another big day for us... so stay tuned to see what more adventures await the cool Iowa group!!

Con carino ~ steph :)