Barcelona!

We arrived in Barcelona in the evening. After a very mild couple of days in Paris, we thought we might actually have some summer weather now that we were in southern Europe. Surprisingly enough it was still the same mild weather. But who can complain, it was in the lows 70s and sunny. Great sightseeing weather. We checked into our hotel Regencia Colon, which was right off a square on which the Catedral de Barcelona was on - just a short walk from Las Ramblas, which is the main drag in Barcelona. Our hotel was very tropical. It reminded both of us of a hotel you mind find in Miami. Lots of pastel colors, everything had a floral pattern. We had both heard that pickpockets were an issue in Barcelona, but as soon as we checked in the hotel clerk sternly warned both of us. He immediately told us to keep our bags on us, make sure they stay out of sight from people walking by on the street, because the thief's in Barcelone were ruthless! Then he informed us that we were not allowed to take our room keys out of the Hotel, and must leave them with the front desk whenever we left the hotel. We definitely took him seriously!


The first night we ventured out onto Las Ramblas to watch the street performers and find dinner. We stumbled upon a Tapas Bars obviously targeting tourists. While one would like to find a place with a little more character, it was about 9pm so we were both starving and the place looked inviting and clean. We ordered traditional tapas dishes such as some fried calamari, antipasta, and a couple other dishes which neither of us can remember the name of. Of course we accompanied it with Sangria!
The first full day in Barcelona we decided to take a Tour Bus recommended by the hotel clerk. It took a loop around Barcelona and you could get off and on wherever you wanted as many times as you wanted. It was great because it came with headphones, and you could pick the language you wanted commentary in. So as you were driving around the city you had a guide in your ear providing detail about what was passing. It was a beautiful sunny day, and this provided a great way to see most of the city and learn a little bit about everything. Most of the pictures below are from the tour bus, some of the sites include Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila, Playa de Catalunya, the Olympic Village, National Museum of Art, and many other things. Also of course, breathtaking vistas of Barcelona. We both agreed that was the best way to see Barcelona in one day. Now that we know the layout and sights of Barcelona next time we're going to pick a couple to dive into more deeply.
The last night we decided to eat at a restaurant that was right on the square outside our hotel. This turned out to be a great decision, as the people watching kept us entertained for hours. We met a couple from Denver that was in Barcelona for a medical conference. He was a neurosurgeon and she was a lawyer. They had been there for a week and in the time had figured out how the pickpockets worked in Barcelona and made it a nightly habit to sit out on the plaza have a few drinks while they attempted to see pickpockets in the act of stealing the wallets of unsuspecting tourist. They had become very good at this, and shared with us the pick pockets tricks. Basically this is how it goes: There are a series of people in the square trying to sell various items, flowers, beer, kids toys. Their whole job is to provide a distraction and make you as comfortable as possible with people invading your personal space. So tourists begin to think "this must be how people are in this country, very touchy, get close to me". Also when people are being asked to spend money they tend to unknowingly show where there money is located. If it's a man, he will grab his back pocket, or a woman clutching her purse tightly. Or if they’re really lucky you actually buy something, then they really have you. They really have no interest in actually selling their junk. While this is going on there is another person observing. This person is going to be the person that is doing the pick pocketing, he picks up on the cues, and once he has the information he needs, he swoops in while the tourist is being distracted and steals their wallet, ect. At the end of the night, the big boss man comes, pick pockets give him the money and everybody involved takes a cut. We were riveted for hours!!


The next morning we got up and grabbed a cab to the port. And now we were off to the next part of our honeymoon! The Cruise!

Here we go! Honeymoon Adventures Part 1

We have over 1000 honeymoon pictures!!!! In an effort to organize them and our memories of such occasions I'll start from the beginning and separate them into parts.   Matt and I were lucky enough to have a dream honeymoon - Two weeks in Europe.  Matt fancies himself a seasoned traveler but I've never been off the East Coast.  I had only flew for the first time a few weeks prior to our wedding and was about to take a very long flight across the Atlantic!  You can imagine the pair we were.  I was astounded that we were flying over Greenland, little did I know the culture shock I would experience in about 8 hours.  Let me just say that watching the Travel Channel DOES NOT prepare you for adventures abroad!

We took the red eye out of Dulles, VA the day after our wedding.  The flight was nice, albeit slightly boring, and very bright. I have to admit I was mildly entertained by the interactive map for the duration of our flight.  Hey it was my first time going that far!! We landed in Paris, France around 8am thinking this would maximize our honeymoon experience. Sleep on the plane and then awake in a new country fresh and ready to explore with newlywed eyes! Sounds great right?!   Except my eyes were still on VA time.  I felt like I was sleeping on my feet! Puts a new meaning to "like a dream".  We managed to find our hotel, explore the street for a bit and then i promptly passed out.  I recovered from my jet lag, Matt never faltered and we decided to go see the Louvre!

Here are some pictures from our hotel room - Hotel Lotti, and the Louvre:

Hotel Lotti was beautiful and an adventure in itself.  Matt and I spend a good bit of time trying to figure out what the light switches went to (still a mystery) and how to work the AC ( which we quickly concluded that Paris cold and Virginia cold are two very different things).  The windows in our room opened to the street life below.  It was beautiful in the evening.  Nightlife never stops in Paris!  The ceilings were works of art. I think Matt's most distinct memory is of ordering breakfast in bed and expecting a huge spread only to find that breakfast in Paris is an assortment of breads, jams and AWESOME coffee.  I don't think he has taken an American breakfast for granted since!
The Louvre was magnificently grand!  The day we went was a bit rainy so we didn't feel guilty in the least for spending the day there.  The entrance itself was overwhelming.  You walked through a glass pyramid and down a flight of stairs that opened up to the biggest museum I've ever seen. We would get through one amazing collection just to stumble upon another and another.  We spent so much time there and didn't get to see everything.  Our favorite collection was Napoleon's Apartments.  Unbelievable.




We spent about 4 nights in Paris.  While we were there we had to try the famous pastries I've heard about for 3 years in my French classes. There was a cute pastry shop down the street from our hotel that we decided to check out.  We were not disappointed.  I have no words to describe it.  
We were able to take a long stroll to go see the Eiffel Tower and went up  to the second level. The elevator went up at an angle instead of straight.  I was all about going straight to the top...until we got to the 2nd level. It is alot taller than you think! I'll admit I chickened out and decided the 2nd level was high enough.  For the record, the 2nd level is not the 2nd story!  After taking in the view we decided to take the stairs down instead of waiting for the elevator.....That was a bad idea!  The stairs are just metal casing that you can see through down to the bottom.  Scary stuff!  We also walked to the famous Arc de Triumph though we didn't  actually go up to it.  By that time both Matt and I were pretty weary of Paris traffic and traffic circles! 

Here are some pictures of our adventures to and from the Tower and the Arc.  And a picture of the pastries before we dug in!

No trip to Paris would be complete without a visit to Notre Dame! The detail put into the church was amazing.  To imagine someone putting in so much time and effort to each little detail is very humbling. It was unbelievable how old it was and how much history is contains.  It was also striking how dark it was inside.  We also visited the prison that held Marie Antoinette.  Matt and I both agree that the history we learned in school hit home when we visited such historic sites. 

Here are the pictures of Notre Dame and the prison as well as a few night shots from our hotel room:

And that ended the Paris, France portion of our Honeymoon.  We took our cab and headed to the airport to catch our flight.  Next stop....Barcelona, Spain!