Spain Day 7

Second full day in Spain, we slept in again - what is it with Spain that makes me so sleepy! Today we aimed to explore the shopping portion of the city we missed yesterday. In the middle of shopping we walked past Picasso's Museum, and decided Pete should add this to his Museum experience repertoire - I'd been the time I was In Barcelona with my sister Amy. We did the hour pass-through :) Always interesting - but slightly incomprehensible for me. We finished the day with a long reading session and snacks at the "Taller Tapas Cafe". Left over Paella for dinner - still yummy. We were distracted from our post-supper movie by the sound of fireworks overhead (literally)!


Larger than life patron saints march through Barcelona on parade.

The square a block away was the center hub for Barcelona's Patron Saint festival - which was (apparently) this weekend. Of course, we went out too see the festivities and get some Gelato. The music was interesting - semi-classical ensembles mixed live with techno beats by the onstage DJ - only in Barcelona. Fell asleep a little after the last act (which ran from 1:30-2:30 AM!!!)

Spain Day 6

First full day in Barcelona - slept in and enjoyed our last bowls of Crock Cocoas cereal for breakfast :) We shopped in the morning and hit the beach in the afternoon after the morning cloud cover had burned off. Tonight is the night we attempt to re-create Naomi's awesome Paella. Pete was at the helm of cooking efforts and it turned out great - but not really resembling Naomi's - we'll have to get the recipe :) The day ended with a good games of Settlers - I finally got my vengeance.

Spain Day Five - Off to Barthelona

Yes, I know it's officially Barcelona, but you would never know from the thick Spanish lisp of it's natives. We said a sad farewell to the Smith's this morning (after our last café con leche, of course) and drove to our next destination - Barcelona. Pete found the cutest apartment on Hostelworld.com - don't be deceived by the pictures, it's a postage stamp!

We decided to put our cute red kitchen to use tonight, so we hit the local supermarket, and came home with lots of goodies: Churizo, olive oil, garlic, tomato sauce, pasta, warm bread, ripe tomatoes, and a few more goodies too. 

When we got home, we opened a wonderful bottle of Sauternes, threw some garlic, olive oil, and churizo into a frying pan, and cooked the night away! It all turned out really tasty - the Sauternes was Peter's favorite yet, and Julie's second favorite.  After dinner, we were summoned by the blogger gods ;) and here we are!

Spain Day Four

First order of business today was to experience Spanish Tapas. Joshua and Naomi took us to one of their favorite spots for a late breakfast/early lunch (we had just rolled out of bed at the godly hour of 11 am, the Smiths had been up for hours :).

They look so beautiful under the glass.

We had the privilege of watching Josu for a few minutes, while Naomi and Joshua picked up Malachai from school; he found the swing particularly entertaining. (Note to the "Julie-an-Peter-should-be-Parents-Soon-Club"- this is the closest we've gotten so far :)

A supermarket in spain is an experience:

From top to bottom, left to right: Jamón on the hock; the Spanish version of wine in a box; a refrigerator full of fake baby eels - a Spanish delicacy; chorizo (my personal favorite) a unique snausage made from fatty pork, paprika and garlic.

Spain Day Three

We spent the majority of the day working on the Smith's new ministry website - check it out at alternativacristiana.org. They are doing very exciting work, planting a house church in Baranain, a suburb of Pamplona, Spain. If you know anyone in the area spread the word!

A highlight in our day was the afternoon meal, which we partook on the Smith's beautiful porch.

Our Ride

Per Amy's request here is our little Europemobile :)

Spain Day Two

We had the privilege of observing a service of the house church the meets in the Smith's home. It's a small group right now, having just started this last August and has 3 local families attending - all of which have recently immigrated from various latin american countries. The ethnic diversity means yummy food at the meal they share together after the service and boy did we have a feast!

After the service we had a chance to relax, take a walk in the local park and enjoy catching up with Joshua and Naomi over a long dinner on the balcony.