Quite a journey to make it across to Spain! Delayed flight with a missed connection in Dulles, impromptu hotel stay, indoor pool swim, unsuccessful search for an Uber with a car seat, enjoying United’s stellar customer service and an 8-hour flight for a 3-year old but then an astonishingly easy commute and transition into our cozy apartment in the suburbs of Barcelona.
We arrived on Wednesday morning and primarily spent the day recovering from a lack of sleep on the flight, doing a bit of grocery shopping and exploring just a bit of the local area.
Everyone caught up on sleep on Thursday and we headed out to downtown Barcelona around mid-day. Met a woman and her son on the way to catch the train, then scheduled a play date on Friday morning at the park. Enjoyed strolling around some sights of downtown; Ramblas, La Boqueria Market, Plaza Catalunya, Ciutadella Park and Magic Fountain. Good amount of walking led us to stop at an outdoor cafe for a couple cold beers and slice of cake. Climbed all the way up to the top of the hill for the magic fountain for a beautiful sunset view, but a lackluster view for the fountain show after dark. Definitely a different vibe in this touristy section of town.
Sleep schedules are normalizing on Friday and waking at 9 to grab some breakfast and then off to the park to meet new friends while Chris went to Sant Cugat for some more groceries (1 bottle of wine being quite insufficient form Wednesday). Lunch consisted of sandwiches with canned tuna, tomatoes and cheese plus hummus and crackers and a bottle of wine (hard not to drink a lot of wine when it’s so good and $2-$4 for a bottle). Siesta ensued thereafter for the entire family. Up around 5 for showers, then dressed to catch the train to Sant Cugat for strolling and dinner. Came upon a great square with families enjoying the beautiful evening and a small playground for kids to play while the parents chatted over drinks.
One way car rental from Cape Coral to Orlando. Charlie really enjoyed facing forward for the first time.
Cindy and Charlie’s packing for 3 months, woohoo!
Playing some pool at the hotel in Orlando before our flight the next day
Charlie really enjoyed the screens on the seats for watching all sorts of kids shows
Just missed our United flight at Dulles (no offense Virgin Airlines, just bad timing with your plane in the background)
Had to make room in the bag for Puzzles!
Making the best of an unplanned stopover near Dulles at the indoor pool
Loaded up and headed to Barcelona!
A quick nap just after take-off
Across the pond in about 8 hours
Charlie snoozed for a few hours until we landed in Barcelona, but not so much for Mom and Dad
Patio view from our AirBnB apartment in La Floresta
Excuse me sir, do you have any vegetarian choices?
All sorts of sea creatures to choose from at the market
The choices continue..
A day of sightseeing downtown
View from above the magic fountain looking northwest over downtown Barcelona
Late night train back to the suburbs and Charlie going strong at 11pm
Park buddies
Patio lunch before a family siesta
Chris, Cindy, Charlie and Cecily’s Adventure Blog 
You guys seem to have gotten into the groove again and having good time. Great pics.. looking forward for the tales and pics!