The last few days

We have had quite the last few days! We finished up our stay in Barcelona with a day of a bit more sight seeing and a return to the aquarium area, where I got to jump on a big bungee cord/trampoline contraption. That was really fun, but hard on my stomach, which has taken a beating since we have been here. At first, I thought it was just the effects of jet lag, but it has lasted much longer than I would have expected. I have been waking up every morning feeling sick, a feeling that fades gradually as the day goes on. It had been nice to enjoy our dinners every night, but I would prefer to just feel good during the day, too!

Anyway, today has been a little better, thank goodness. I hope it is the start of a trend.

So, our last day in Barcelona was good, although very hot, and we were all fading. We visited an outrageous cathedral called the Sagrada Familia in the morning, although the line was so long that we decided to just walk around the outside. It was very, very hot and our littlest traveling companion was really struggling. Despite all our efforts, she has not really adjusted to the time change, which has been rough on everybody. She has been wakeful at night and sleepy during the day, which is a cycle that perpetuates itself!

We bought ourselves some time by offering Rosa some slushies at the Sagrada Familia, which perked her up for awhile, and then headed over to the aquarium area, where I did the aforementioned jumping, the kids drove around some small motorboats, and then Sacha took the big kids back via taxi and my parents and I walked back with Rosie in the stroller, which caused her to take yet another nap.

We had some quiet time and then Janet the babysitter arrived so that the adults could go to dinner. She warned us that a big protest, presumably against the Spanish austerity measures, was about to come down our street, so we should leave now. In fact, just as we were leaving, we looked to our right and there was a HUGE demonstration starting just a few blocks down. As we gaped at the throng of people, we heard some loud booms and saw a cloud of smoke erupt over the protesters. We weren't completely sure, but thought it was probably tear gas. Ack! We thought it behooved us to leave quickly, which we did! Although, then we had some worries about our hotel and the tear gas and such, but it appeared that things were being broken up well before they reached our hotel. In any case, it was quite sobering and a dose of reality outside our tourist bubble.

We walked for quite awhile until we reached our restaurant, which was rated a two-star restaurant by Michelin. The juxtaposition of this and the people getting tear gassed just a couple of moles away was not lost on us.

However, dinner was absolutely amazing. Sublime, even. I hope I remember it forever! We took some photos of our food, which are trapped on my iPhone along with all my other photos. It doesn't seem to be communicating well with the hotel wireless network, but I will post them eventually!

Anyway, it was a stellar end to the first part of our trip.

We are now in the south of France at an incredible little hotel called La Cabro D'Or. We had a big day of travel yesterday, including taxis, trains, and a cramped rental minivan, which ended at last in the French countryside. We are about to go to dinner, so I will continue this tomorrow!


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