A La Noche, A La Donde Vas, A La Bibliobecca: a.k.a the Family Vacay in Espana.

I know this is a long time coming but I've been a busy lady this summer and I'm using this week to catch up, so your patience is appreciated.

My family recently traveled to Spain for vacation in the beginning of July and my Auntie Michelle was the best at speaking Spanish. So, Auntie Michelle, the title of this blog is for you! ;)

It's hard to remember every detail of a two-week trip to a foreign country but I'll try to recall some of my favorite moments or memories. However, it's probably going to be the "reader's digest"version of our vacation. Even with my stellar memory, I sometimes can't remember every single detail. So just be prepared. I may forget a thing or two.

First let me list the people who participated in our Spanish adventure: my mom, my dad, Aunt Michelle, Uncle Brian, my sister Kelsie, my sister Brie, my cousin Jordy, my brother Ryan, myself and a cutout of my cousin Dillon's head because unfortunately he couldn't make the trip at the last minute. It's okay, he got a grown-up job with the Padres and we are super proud of him. But we did have a lot of fun taking silly pictures with his face and having random strangers come up and ask who he was. We told them he was Justin Bieber.

The trip started off smoothly enough, our flights were easy and we made all of our connections, which is saying a lot based on our previous traveling history (i.e. our Italy trip circa 2005). We started in Madrid where we met up with my little sister Brie who was studying abroad in Florence. In Madrid we attempted to stay awake and avoid jet-lag by touring the palace gardens right by our hotel and hopping on a 'hop-on-hop-off' tour bus, but the humidity made us all drowsy and almost everyone ended up falling asleep on the bus(except me because my contacts were stuck to my eyeballs and I physically couldn't close my eyes). So we reluctantly went back to the hotel to take naps in order to reset our time-clocks. I'm told some people went out to dinner later, but I slept straight through the night until 8 am and woke up completely refreshed.

The next day we went to the Royal Palace of Madrid, to the Museo Nacional de Prado, and the Retiro Gardens. It was as if we were trying to make up for that first day, but we saw a bunch of art and architecture, and the gardens were so massive and beautiful. I would have liked to get lost in those gardens for a couple of hours with my journal and my ipod but we had places to see, so we moved on.

That night we went to see a flamenco dancing show, which was such a cool experience. I haven't done any research on the subject of flamenco dancing but from what I observed it's all about movement illustrating the passion behind the dance. The way those dancers could move their feet was amazing. It was kind of hypnotizing actually. I'm not sure if it was a mixture of the dim lighting and the sangria but I felt as if I was in a little trance as I watched from my seat. If I tried anything like that, I would fall on my face for sure.

The next day we left for our villa that was in the town of Altea towards Valencia. It was about a four hour drive and we ended up stopping at this cafe in the middle of nowhere and ordering sandwiches from this sweet woman who we tried our best to communicate with.

The house was near the beach town of Calpe and was right on a golf course maybe five to ten miles from the beach. The place was pretty spectacular; there were five bedrooms, a large kitchen area, a dining/living room area and my personal favorite part of the house--the back deck which included a pool and a view of the golf course. Not too shabby right?

We spent the bulk of our time in Spain with that house serving as our home base. From there we toured the area going to various churches, castles and even a monastery which was one of my favorite sites from the entire trip (although that trip we made on our way to Barcelona). The monastery sits on the very top of a hill and there is a gondola that takes visitors to the very top of said hill. There's also a famous sculpture that looks like stairs leading to heaven where tourists take pictures of themselves ascending the steps. My cousin Jordy, my uncle Brian, my sister Kelsie and I got a picture of us standing on the sculpture and it looks like we are photoshopped in because you can't see the ground in the photo. My dad was actively not looking as we took the picture because he is not a big fan of heights. I can still remember the trip we took to the Grand Canyon but that's another story.

One of my other favorite parts of the trip was meeting these women on the boardwalk who made their own jewelry. They were so wonderful and patient as we picked out various pieces and used our fractured Spanish to converse with them. They kept telling my mom and aunt how beautiful we are and honestly, who doesn't love being told that? Especially over and over again in Spanish.

We went the beach a few times and did beachy things; towels, blankets, beers, mojitos. Most of the beaches were topless beaches since that's pretty much the norm in Europe so no surprises there. I did not participate in the topless tanning, because well, two words: sun burn. Ouch! No thank you.

Moving on...

We signed up for a guided mountain bike tour that I have now nicknamed "The Ride from Hell" and I don't think anyone who participated will disagree with the title. Except for maybe my brother, but he's used to riding 80-90 miles a day on a bike and he's one of those freaks who enjoys it. Although, he does it on a road bike and in my limited experience with bikes, I prefer road biking to mountain biking.
Overall though, I don't trust bikes just like I don't trust horses. I think it's a control thing. But that is not the point.

The real twist is that we all thought it was a mountain bike ride for beginners that toured around the city, the beach and then a little ride to see this dam/castle. What we didn't know was that the ride was 30 miles, it was one of the hottest days of the year, and we each only had one water bottle. I made it about 15 miles before I tapped out and turned around. In my parent's defense they honestly didn't know what to expect, but I think it's safe to say they will never sign me up for another bike-themed family outing ever again, or at least not for a long while. And I'm okay with that.

After Altea we went concluded our trip in Barcelona. We dropped my brother off in Valencia on our way so he could bike and catch part of the tour de France. The rest of us stayed at the Hotel Gaudi and there was the coolest (and supposedly the most underrated) Gaudi museum right across the street. We could see the sculptures on the roof from my parent's balcony.

We shopped a lot on the trip in general, because my Aunt Michelle shops like it's a sport--and she is a gold medalist in it--, but we did the majority of our shopping damage here in Barcelona. That is where I found the most amazing leather jacket that I cannot wait to rock once the weather gets cooler in Boston. The best part is being able to say "Oh this? I got it in Barcelona. No big deal." I could seriously go on and on about this jacket, but I won't. You are welcome.

We only went out one night during our whole trip, and by go out I mean went out to some bars, nightclubs or pubs. Barcelona is a huge party city but since we were with our family it wasn't really that type of trip. But apparently in Barcelona, if they see four girls in their 20s walking down the street it can be guaranteed that said girls will be approached every 5 feet asking if "you girls wanna party tonight?" Even if the girls in question are just trying to find gelatto (I'm talking to you Jordy and Brie). And if you tell these club promoters that you are traveling with your family and point back to your uncle and dad, they will disappear in approximately 1.5 seconds.

But we did go out one night and we ended up at the Cheers bar in Barcelona. It was basically just a simple Irish pub. There we met a couple of American guys who were traveling around and then the highlight of the night was when we met the British stag party. The bachelor was wearing a super girl outfit complete with a blonde wig and what I can only assume were nerf balls for his--ahem--lady lumps. There were probably about seven or eight of them altogether and we hung out with them for the rest of the night. They could not get over the fact that we were all related and that we were 'so good looking'--their words not mine haha. It was just nice to talk to people in English and not have to deal with the language barrier for one night. And it was fun being out with just the girl cousins.

My favorite part of the city of Barcelona itself was probably the gardens in the park where the artist/designer Gaudi lived. They turned his house into a museum so visitors can walk through his house as well. We bought a couple of drawings from an artist in the park where he explained that there was a different image when you rotate the picture upside down. I chose a picture of a tree that when it is flipped upside down shows a woman's profile. The architecture and art in Spain is so distinct but until I visited I would have pegged it closer to work of Italian artists. Gaudi in particular was interesting because he designed spaces that were aesthetically pleasing but also ones that incorporated the practical function of the room/furniture/space into the design.

Overall it was a good trip and we had a lot of funny moments that I didn't mention here. We drank lots of wine, sangria, cidre and beer. Everyone except for my dad did Jordy's 10 minute abs that made it hurt to laugh for a few days. We ate a lot of paella, and a lot of things that we weren't sure that we actually ordered. But it was an experience that's for sure. Some of my favorite moments were the times where we split up into smaller groups because nine people together at all times can test a person's patience. Though, I am glad that everyone was able to make it because I felt safe traveling with such a big posse.

Hopefully it is one of many more combined family vacations to come, and hopefully we can get the complete group to attend the next time.

I will close with the near-nonsense words of my Auntie Michelle...

A la noche, a la donde vas!!!

                                                                               ~~~