Grammy Time!

Hola!! On Tuesday, October 28th, Grammy arrived from Pennsylvania! We brag about the weather here, but the first two days of her trip it poured down rain all day! We couldn't believe it. The first day we just rested and took Caroline to gymnastics. The second day we went to the aquarium in Barcelona, along with all of the tourists who were avoiding the rain! FINALLY on day 3, Thursday, we had sun! We showed Grammy around our favorite spots in Sitges.

Kids and Grammy in front of the Sitges church.

View of sailboats and beaches of Sitges from the church.

Caroline took this picture of us in front of the San Sebastian beach.

We rounded the corner and headed up Caroline's favorite road.

Pretty side street in old town.

At the top of the road we came upon the Thursday market. Luke had control of the camera and took this picture of himself...scary!

He then took this one of me trying on an orange jacket so I could see what it looked like before I decided to buy it. I know what you're going to say Mary - more orange!! But I couldn't help it, it was only 6 euros. :)

We then went home to have lunch on the terrace.

The forecast for Sitges was more rain the next couple days, so we headed north to explore the medieval village of Besalu, where the forecast was at least a little better! The first thing we found when we arrived was a playground with a nice stone table for a picnic lunch.

We then followed the signs to the historic area, and found a pretty plaza with this monastery of Sant Pere.

We were able to peak inside at the old sanctuary.

The other side of the plaza had some nice cafes.

We continued following the old streets to see what we could find.

Nice colorful art shop, which was a nice contrast to the gray sky outside.

We made our way to the bridge over the river Fluvia, which marks the entrance to Besalu.

A fun place to run.

On the other side of the bridge we found a few shops and a hotel. The Grammy train kept them occupied while I looked at the pottery.

It wasn't long until they ended up in the shop that sold wooden medieval toys!

Looking back across the bridge toward Besalu.

The kids couldn't wait to get settled and play with their new toys from Gram.

So we walked back to the main plaza and found a hotel that had a nice suite to fit all of us. Grammy and Caroline slept downstairs, and the boys and I slept in the loft.

We had a terrace that wrapped around 2 sides of the hotel, and this bell tower was the view from one terrace.

Jackson playing on the bed.

Outside view of the hotel.

The next morning we woke up to rain, and then the sun came out! We headed back to the edge of town to play down by the river.

The kids admiring the massive bridge, and all the rocks. They kept trying to figure out how the people would have gotten up into the watch tower.

We picked up a nice map at the tourist office, which had 13 sites of interest highlighted on it. Each site had a sign with a description. Luke loved reading the map and leading us around. This was the Hospital de Sant Julia.

There was a museum of miniatures in the one plaza, which was really cute! Here is a miniature tienda.

Caroline looking at miniature tea sets.

Continuing on the tour, we found the site of the old Jewish baths (Mikve) and place of the Jewish synagogue. The Mikve in Besalu is the only one that has been found in Spain, and only one of a few found in Europe. Apparently there was a population of Jews here at one time, but they were eventually forced out of town.

Picturesque view of the bridge to Besalu (puente fortificado).

We spent some time enjoying the sun down by the river. Caroline was fishing.

All they need is water, sticks and rocks.

Under the bridge.

Back in town we found a great little pizza shop.

We had seen a chocolate shop advertised, but unfortunately it was closed by the time we got there.

Jackson was practicing his pirate face. :)

Another stop on the tour was the Iglesia de Sant Vicenc.

We had a really nice time exploring and enjoying Besalu! It was just the right size for us. On the way out of town I happened to look in the rear view mirror and see these snow capped mountains.

On Sunday we headed into Barcelona (in the rain) for church. It kept raining off and on, but every time we needed to walk somewhere it stopped. We had a nice lunch with Alisha Sangrey from Lancaster, and then decided to show Gram some of the Barcelona sites from the car. We drove around La Sagrada Familia, Parc de la Ciutadella, Port Vell, and then up to Montjuic. Luke REALLY wanted to take Gram up the cable car to the castle, and Caroline REALLY didn't want to. So Caroline and I dropped Gram and the boys off at the cable car ride, and drove to the top to meet them. Luke absolutely loved being in charge and being the tour guide. He had done the ride enough times he knew just what to do. Here are some pretty flowers in the moat around the castle.

Gram and the boys on the bridge above the moat.

On the drive back to Sitges the sky was really pretty, and we had a nice view of Sitges by the sea.

Another view of the sea and sky.

On Monday we had sun in Sitges again! We thought about going to Montserrat, but decided to have a relaxing day around town and on the beach instead. There were lots of surfers out.

Grammy taking Caroline for a ride on the rocks.

Grammy and the kids: nice faces.

Grammy and the kids: funny faces.

Down on the beach we found a collection of rocks in the sand that we thought would make a great medieval village.

Caroline didn't feel like going to the beach that day, so it took her a little to get warmed up. Grammy told her that she was going to be like Pop-pop when she grew up - happy to stay home!

Working hard on the medieval city.

Picnic by the sea.

The kids drew some great pictures in the sand on the walkway. Luke said this is he and cousin Juli with two hearts and two kisses because he really likes her.

Caroline said this is her and me with two hearts because we "love each utter." :)

During Gram's week here we made two trips to King Jouet, the local favorite toy store. The playmobile figures were on sale for 2.95, so they got quite a collection of them from Gram. Luke wanted to take some pictures to show them to you. I am only including a few of the 20 some pictures he took. :)

Soldier guy.

Pirate guy.

Knight guy.

Princess with her unicorn.













Also included below is a video of one of the many races that took place on the grassy area along the paseo after our picnic lunch. There is something about a long stretch of grass that they just can't resist. We had a GREAT time with Grammy and are so glad she came to visit! We really had a lot of fun with the kids. They took turns sleeping with her, and she was able to do school with them as well. They really liked that. Now we have a quiet 2 weeks until Brian returns, followed by his sister Jess and her family. Gotta run - time for futbol!

Hugs & kisses,

Tonya