Camp Nou

Ok I just need to recap the last two days in BCN.  I will break it up into separate entries to have more photos, and hopefully it's faster to read.

We finally made it to Camp Nou and toured the stadium/museum. (This was our 3rd visit there within 4 days.) I was more interested in it than I thought I would be because FCB's (Futbol Club Barcelona) political activism was highlighted greatly in the museum. The Club was very anti-Franco and spoke out about it, which lead to one of the coaches being assassinated by Franco's regime and many players were exiled. Franco did many things to punish this club i.e. change their name and colors to be more Spanish and less Catalan.

This museum is the most visited museum in BCN, which I find a little shocking and sad. I'm glad we went, but it was pricey.  The audio tour wasn't that great and we had to give them a 50 euro deposit to use the audio that was included with our tickets. I guess lots of people must try to steal them. It was busy, loud, and there were lots of kids running around (this makes the teacher in me go crazy!)

What all did we get to see?

1. You start in the museum

Chris learning about all of FCB's victories.

I learned that Cruyff played for FCB. There is a soccer move named after him. I  tried to do it once in front of the Valley Family (HUGE soccer fans) and sprained my ankle.  I have pretty smooth moves.

Maybe the Champion's League Trophy? Chris watched this game on TV and remembers it so he was happy.

Chris with Messi's Golden Ball Trophies.

They had lots of history and memorabilia on display. Chris got to see lots of special trophies that he explained to me and I smiled while snapping photos.

2. Then we went to the press room

While traveling with Chris, I became angry and jealous of his hair. He has a good hair day with no effort everyday. I wake up and look like a crazy lion hence the ponytail. 

See the guy telling me not to take the photo.

3. After we went to the visitors' locker room. Not really anything special or worth a photo.

4. Then we got to walk out the tunnel like the players.

The door on the right is the chapel.

Almost on the field!

5. The tunnel lead us to the sidelines of the field

Way better than benches

Mes que un club is Catalan for more than a club

6. Then we climbed a bunch of stairs to the press boxes.

7. The tour ended with in a multimedia room that keep showing FCB highlights.

Many of you may be shocked with me writing a post about soccer.  I'm not a big soccer fan, but Chris has been trying really hard for 9 years to get me to like it more. I have come a long way and will watch soccer games with him. I do really get into the World Cup and Euro Cup because the Valley family completes brackets to predict the winner. Surprisingly, I'm really good at picking the winner! :) I'm very proud of myself because my picks have nothing to do with soccer. Whereas, the Valleys pick according to stats and records.  Lucky for me, Spain has a good national team because I always pick them. The last World Cup almost all the Valleys picked Germany to win it, and I clearly knew better with my support of SPAIN! Cary got me a really cool España Futbol shirt as my prize ~ I can't wait to fit in that shirt again.

Up next...More Gaudi!

España Part 2

 Barcelona!

Chris and I took the commuter train, Renfe, into the city.  We lugged our bags to our hostel with the help of Chris' coworker, Sam and her boyfriend.  I was very thankful for the extra help!  We checked into our hostel, dropped off our luggage in our room, and prepared ourselves for a day of exploring and walking around town.

Side note- On travel days i.e. switching hotels, I was trained to wear a money belt to keep my passport and cash safe.  This worked well in the past.  However, a pregnant lady using a money belt with maternity pants is ridiculous and hilarious!   For those that don't know, maternity pants basically go up to your bra. Now picture trying to pull your pants down to get at your money belt that is below your baby bump. It's just laughable.  Chris wore his money belt with fewer problems; however, he did ask me if it made him look fat. (He wasn't joking!)  I simply replied, seriously, you are asking me if you look fat and I walked away. 

Our first day in BCN we explored the Las Ramblas, which is street with a huge walking area for people with lots of venders.  We also checked out La Boqueria, which is a large open air market. Then we wondered around the Barrio Gotico. This is a really cool neighborhood with narrow and windy streets. Sadly, I didn't take many pictures this day.

Barrio Gotico

Barcelona's Cathedral 

We took a midday siesta.  That evening we headed out to Camp Nou, the futbol stadium of FCB. They had their last home game of the season. We looked into buying tickets, but it would have been 70 euros per person for the worst seats. We passed on the tickets and decided to check out the atmosphere around the stadium on game day, and then we watched the game in a nearby bar.

Chris was very happy and in his element.

Day 2 in BCN was a busy day.  We woke up early to visit the Cathedral when it was free.  Then we stayed for mass. Mass in Spain is awesome and efficient.  It was done in 40 minutes, which long for Spain. It's usually a 30 minute event without any songs.

We were out so early that no one was there yet!

After mass we went to the Picasso Museum.  It was its free Sunday of the month so we were prepared to wait a while. Once we got there the line was so long ~ 2 hour wait was the estimate. Chris wasn't too sure, but I really wanted to try and wait.  A docent from the museum walked past the line, and had the 5 older ladies with canes behind us walk with her to the front of the line.  Then I realized I should show off my baby bump. When the same docent came back, Chris and I were pulled to the front of the line!! Thank you Baby V! Standing for 2 hours would have been a little hard on my back.

I felt like Charlie with the golden bump/ticket!

Cool courtyard in the museum.

We spent over 2 hours checking out Picasso's work. This is my most favorite museum I have ever been to in the world!  I highly recommend going to visit.

That afternoon we explored Parc Ciutadella, which is kind of like BCN's Central Park. It was busy due to a family festival. We had a great time walking around and people watching.

This fountain is beautiful!

We had big plans for Day 3.  We headed out to Camp Nou again to tour the stadium and the museum. Unfortunately, half of the exhibits were closed because Neymar Jr was having a press conference because he  just signed with FCB.  So we decided to come back to tour Camp Nou the next day when everything would be open.  Thanks Neymar for messing with our plans! 

So Day 3 became Gaudi's day!  We head over to Parc Guell. Gaudi originally designed this to be a wealthy neighborhood, but his idea didn't catch on.  So it became an awesome public park.  To get to this parc you have to do a lot of uphill walking. 

entrance

Chris playing around 

Normal Jane            ~       Pregnant Jane

We spent a lot of time walking around and exploring. We were a little disappointed that we didn't have a map nor could we find one. So this meant we had to walk a lot. 

We headed back to our hostel to buy tickets to the Sagrada Familia online to avoid waiting in a long line.  Then we were off to Gaudi's Basilica the Sagrada Familia.  This place is just amazing and a little over the top.  They started construction in 1882. About 20% was completed in 1926 when Gaudi died. The Spanish Civil War placed this peaceful place under attack. They are hoping to complete the construction in 2028. When I visited the Sagrada Familia eight years ago the nave/inside of the church was under construction. You could only see scaffolding on the inside. Not surprisingly, I cried once I entered the church to see the nave finished. If you enjoy nature, light, peace, and/or God, this is a must visit sight!

Nativity Facade             and             The Passion Facade

The pillars were inspired by Sycamore trees. Gaudi used nature to inspire his work.

It feels like you are walking through a forest in a way.

I got yelled at for taking this picture.  Sorry! I didn't know, but I'm glad I have this photo.

There is so much light inside.

We bought tickets to go up the Passion side's tower in an elevator and walk back down. I wasn't going to let being pregnant stop be from this experience!

Looking up at the towers while in between towers.

Looking out on to BCN.

The Risen Jesus on the Passion side.

I thought this photo was pretty cool with how the sun was hitting the Risen Christ. It was impressive to look up at him from ground once we got back down.

These were the easier stairs because of the walls on both sides.

The Valley Familia with the Sagrada Familia

Ok these stairs were a little scary. Can you tell Gaudi was influenced by a snail?

Locking Chris up in the tower!

We walked back to our hostel. On our walk back, we stumbled upon our favorite restaurant in BCN that we visited multiple times.

España part 1

It took us close to a day of traveling to arrive in Barcelona.  The flight from ATL --> BCN was hard on my back. Luckily, I didn't have too much trouble with swelling because I listened to my smarter older sister who told me to buy compression stockings.  Genius!  It's a must for all those preggo ladies out there that fly. My dad also rocks them really well too, but that's a different story. I made sure to get up and walk every 2 hours on my flights just as my doctor told me to do.

Once we landed in BCN, Chris' coworkers rented a car and drove us to our hotel.  We were staying in Castelldefels, which is about 15 km south of Barcelona. We were in Castelldefels for Chris' conference.  It is a quiet and beautiful little beach town.  It turns out a lot of FCB players live in this town. Chris had a chance to play soccer with Jordi Alba.

We checked into our hotel and took a short nap.  I had to force Chris out of bed, but he thanked me later because he adjusted to the time change quickly.  Then we walked to the beach and found a nice little place for lunch.  Of course I needed a ham* sandwich for lunch.  I have a small obsession with jamón serrano*, Spanish cured ham. My bocadillo/sandwich was amazing and my response was to cry.  Clearly I am having some hormonal and sleep issues. Chris ordered what we thought was a glass a wine.  While I was in the restroom the server brought Chris a bottle and he couldn't explain that he wanted just a glass.  So we spent more time relaxing along the sea as Chris enjoyed his bottle of wine.  I explained the misunderstanding to the server and asked if we could take the wine with us to our hotel and we could. Chris thought it was funny to have me carry it home for him. 

Chris' bottle of wine instead of a glass.

Me carrying his wine back to our hotel.

Later that night we went out for tapas at another restaurant along the sea. We went to bed early because I was leaving the next day and Chris had to go to work early in the morning.

Day 2: Chris left for work and at the same time I left to return to the BCN airport.  I was heading off to visit our family friends in Oviedo while Chris was working at the conference. I took the city bus to the airport for 2 euros (a cab to the airport would have been 30 euros) and arrived with plenty of time. 

I was in Oviedo for 3.5 days. I'm so glad I went and had a chance to see our friends.  Some of them I hadn't seen in 8 years! It was also nice to have a Spanish only part of the trip. I didn't need to explain anything in English to anyone. :) It was very relaxing and I stayed entertained. I'm sure I would have been bored in Castelldefels waiting for Chris to come back from work each day. 

Oviedo

Oviedo is kind of like Seattle.  It is very green, rains frequently, and is very cloudy. It is also in the mountains or hills.  Spain as a whole was having abnormally cold weather while we were visiting. (This was a nice break from the ABQ HEAT!) I had to borrow a heavier coat from our friends.  It took a while to find one that had long enough arms and that I could zip shut, oh the baby bump.

Views of Oviedo from Alicia's apartment

While in Oviedo I stopped by the peluquería/hair salon to get my hair done!  Our friends Paquita and Alicia who are sisters own this salon.  I had 3 different people working on me at once. I had my hair highlighted, mani, and pedi done.  I felt like I was in Princess Diaries.

This is their salon, Pali (their names put together)

I also spent time with Paquita's granddaughters.  They showed off their English to me, which is pretty good! Paula and Carlota are tons of fun and I had a great time with them.

Can you feel their energy?

Paquita and Alicia took me shopping for a gift for Baby Girl at Baby Zara... THANK YOU!!!

I thought this one was very Kate Middleton, but I  thought a white coat was crazy!  So this was vetoed!

Baby V. does own this little number.

We got her this little dress and some tights to wear under her stylish coat. 

We did a lot of walking around town. I had to see the Woody Allen statue in town.  He is a big fan of Oviedo and filmed part of Vicky Cristina Barcelona in Oviedo. I was told he visits often too, but has his body guards with him.

Paquita, Woody, and I.

I had a morning to myself to explore some of my favorite sights in Oviedo.

I stopped by the Cathedral.

This kids were on a field trip to the Cathedral and were SOOO well behaved!

I stopped by the church where Franco was married. (Franco Spanish dictator for many years. Hopefully, you remember him from history class.)

The last thing we did while in Oviedo was to go and visit Luanco, which is a seaside town where Paquita owns a cabin/cottage. I spent a month there when I was 13. It was a chilly day, but I still had to put my feet in the water, the Bay of Biscay.

Luanco

The beach!

Putting my toes in

Paquita and her friends with me in Luanco.

Stopping for a bite to eat

The next day I work up bright and early to catch my flight back to BCN to return to Castelldefels to see Chris. We had one last night there before we were switching to our vacation time in Barcelona, which will be my next post.

*For all the concerned people out there thinking OMG she ate cured ham.  That's not cooked...she clearly is a horrible person. First, calm down. Second, if you are really getting into details about why I'm horrible, it's not because of the ham.  Third, I hate to break it to you, but you are wrong. You can eat jamón serrano and jamón iberico. If you don't believe me, read this. http://www.antena3.com/noticias/salud/embarazadas-pueden-comer-jamon-iberico_2012100500171.html It's better to read it in Spanish, because the Google translation is horrible and comical too.  They did a big study on this and the results were released this past fall. The Society of OBGYNs of ALL of Spain have signed off saying the ham is safe for preggo people to eat.  I also consulted with my doctor and he said enjoy the ham! Chris also gave me the thumbs up too.