Adventures in Barcelona......

**I was a bit bummed that I couldn't take my new camera. It seems that the charger was packed with the movers back in January! I ordered a replacement (almost a month ago) and it did NOT arrive in time so I had to take my little point and click....at least I have pictures!


We drove into Barcelona for our first trip into the city...yes, I said first and that was the last time we drove! It is CRAZY there. We were traveling with 3 cars and we ended up in 3 different parking garages. I call them parking garages loosely because the one I found felt like a small basement that held about 10 cars tops. I also had to leave the key in the car so they could shuffle it around. I did as they said...that's why I have rental insurance right??

We all decided to meet up at the Barcelona Cathedral. So, with GPS in hand we headed to the cathedral. On our way there we walked along an old Roman wall. The funny part is we couldn't find the cathedral and the GPS was saying we "reached our destination." We asked people and they chuckled and pointed which made no sense to us. As it turned out the cathedral was on the opposite side of the wall!!...why didn't they just say that instead of laughing???

Once we walked around the wall we found our destination.....

We found a yummy chocolate store just around the corner.....

Chocolate Easter Egg baskets...

Jacque drooling as everyone was buying their chocolate.....

Spring Break in Spain....

We just returned from spending a week in Spain for Spring Break. It was absolutely beautiful and the weather was perfect! We stayed at THIS house in Sitges which I would highly recommend if you are traveling with a larger group and want to stay outside of Barcelona. It can accommodate up to 16 people...we had 15.

We had an early morning flight so the kids were able to play by the pool.
We had a cookout and just relaxed for sightseeing the next day.

Our stylish rental.....

Ever heard of salt pottery?

Today, the salt pottery factory and store in Hohr-Grenzhausen was open for business which is special because today was Sunday (stores are usually closed). We headed to the Topferei Girmscheid so we could tour the workshop and see the pottery being created at all phases of development.....I also needed to go to place a special order for our Girl Scout leaders, but shhh more to come on that when it is ready for pick up! Gitta, the owner, was very helpful! At one point she got out her camera and asked if she could take a picture of Ian.

The pottery all starts with some clay and a wheel......

They have been busy creating all kinds of things!
Everything waits here to be hand painted......

First, designs are carved into the clay....
This is something special for garlic...one came home with me!

Then some paint is whipped up....

It was quite interesting to watch them carefully paint the designs on each piece!
By this point the kids were asking if they could make one too......

Then it is time for the kiln!
This is an IMPORTANT ingredient when it comes to salt glaze....

The salt is carefully layered onto each shelf.

Snapped a shot of the kiln as the worker was grabbing another shelf.

Now it was time to browse through the store....

Here is the finished product from earlier.
These are for scraping garlic on the deep ridges instead of pressing.
I added one to my collection of kitchen "stuff."

I came home with......
a couple of flower pots, vase, potato salad dish, garlic scraper dish, and a mug!

tschüss

Animals galore!

We have Wild Parks and zoos here in Germany. The kids really enjoy the Wild Parks because the majority of animals are free roaming which means you are "with" the animals. Last Saturday the kids and I ventured out to the Freisen Wildpark for an exciting afternoon.

The deer and pigs immediately greeted us....

Then this guy showed up....

He would sneak up and do whatever he had to do to get the bag of food!
Yes, he is hitting Colton with his antlers!
So we tried to escape him but he followed....chased.... us down for quite a while!
We did manage to dodge him so we could walk in peace.
Down the path we walked.....
The kids found a couple of kangaroos with a special surprise!
How CUTE!!

Jacque & Ian had fun throwing rocks into the water....

Hey, what's that?

Pretty soon it felt like we are in a scene friom Jurassic Park!
Seriously, the herds came running across this field and it was loud, fast, and I missed getting a picture of it all because I was making sure we were out of their way!

This guy stopped to check us out!
See the little piglets in the background?

The kids had fun feeding them branches....
Jacque really wanted to feed the deer but was scared they would bite his hand.
He'd drop the pieces of corn before the deer could lick them off.
Finally convinced him to hold his hand out flat.....
Yes, a SUCCESS!!!

This guy was not quite as friendly!

I think we will need to go back:)