More U.S. Friends and Mallorca Island

Our friends, Ruri and MacKenzie (mom and daughter), made the trip to Barcelona to visit us!  What a treat!  The boys and MacKenzie have all become great friends in the past couple years, as they have many similar interests, and they get along famously.  The same goes for Ruri and me, and we never fail to find things to talk about.  We could probably talk 24/7 without a problem!  You won't see Ray in these photos because he took a trip back to the U.S. the day after they arrived.  

Our first trip was to the beach and right up the rope structure, of course!

We went to this restaurant near the beach.  It was a lesson for our guests on how unaccommodating service can be here ("sorry, absolutely cannot--will not--make your sandwich without egg in it!")

The boys introduced Kenzie to Happy Pills, their favorite candy shop.  

(Jacob did not "bunny-ear" Kenzie on purpose!)

We also took them to a Venezuelan restaurant that we frequent.  This is my vegetarian "sandwich"...it's a hot polenta/cornmeal type pocket stuffed with black beans, Venezuelan-style veggies, avocado, and sometimes cheese.

Now, this photo below (at our Venezuelan restaurant) could have been taken 5 days out of any week.  Jacob goes there any, and I mean ANY chance he gets...he gets the chicken-avocado mix with cheese.  I think he is going to ask the owners for the recipe before we leave.  It might be one of the top things he will miss from Barcelona!  And yes, he has made friends with the people who work there.  

The boys and Kenzie at the Arc de Triomf...

Ruri and MacKenzie at the huge fountain in the city park

Playing in our favorite tree in the park

Had to go by La Boqueria, the famous market in Barcelona.

Ruri and Kenzie took a fabulous side trip to Paris for a few days and came back to Barcelona for one day before we took off together for Mallorca, an island on the coast of Spain.  We wanted some real get-away beach time together...and we got it!

Kids on the plane...

Playing in the sand right outside our hotel

On our first night, we ate next door to our hotel at what we discovered was a wonderful restaurant.  We loved all the dishes we had, including dessert!

Happy Birthday, Dear Ruri!!

The following day we made the fairly direct but very curvy route to a beach called Sa Calobra.  It was a destination for many bus tours, so large crowds would come, take photos, sometimes sit around a bit, and head back out.  It was a gorgeous place, even though the weather was on the chilly side.

We made our way through a tunnel on the path to our final beach destination.

At the beach, this staircase was a huge temptation for the kids for some high air jumps into the water.

Here Jacob is contemplating how to reach the bottom step so he can climb up.

He found a brace coming out of the rock from the walkway that used to be there, and he made umpteen attempts to hoist himself up, but to no avail.

All the while, Kenzie and Nicholas played in the cold water.

Jacob finally came back to shore.  He said he needed a rope to help him get up, and I had a net bag in my purse that I offered to him to use.  He was warming up before heading back to try again.

But there was a rock wall on the other side of the beach, 

so he went up to see if they that had adequate jumping heights...

Aha!  A great place to jump!

Nicholas and Kenzie join Jacob, and they all do many flips off the the rocks.

See Nicholas in the rocks?

And then...they searched and found a way to access--from the TOP of the stairs--the premium jumping spot!!

Feel free to watch a VIDEO OF THE JUMPS that Jacob put together:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBaoh59-39g

What a fabulous day at Sa Calobra!

The next day we decided to go to another recommended beach called Cala Llombards which is not visited by many tourists. We found out the reason why--you have to drive through many little towns which each have multiple roundabouts with vague signs so that you hardly know which direction you are going.  We probably got turned around half a dozen times, with Ruri at the wheel being incredibly patient as we gave her our best guesses at which direction to go...again and again and again.  Half way through we contemplated turning back.  When we arrived, despite the incredible beauty, the wind was so high that we hunkered down on the beach to keep from getting pelted by flying sand.  Not exactly the weather we were expecting.

We walked out along the "sides" of the beach to take in the beauty...the wind was also less fierce.

Friends hangin' together at this beautiful spot

Our first night's dinner for Ruri's birthday was so memorable (and convenient) that we ended up going there for the next two nights, even after trying to go to other places (that's another story).  We made friends with this wonderful man (below), Kiko, who was an incredible server and did many special things for us.  We learned that he is a year-round free diver (diving up to 18 meters) and spear fishes mostly for octopus.  He even invited us to fish with him, but we had to leave that next morning.  Wouldn't it be nice to come back...

We reluctantly headed back to Barcelona, not wanting our beach time to end.  

After getting off the plane, Jacob watched the baggage while we all used the restrooms.  

We returned to find him securing the bags.

We spent several more days with Ruri and Kenzie in Barcelona before they headed back to begin their exciting summer!

Dance Competitions & Visiting Friends

Can you see the boys in the alleyway?  I am standing on our balcony taking the photo of them at the door to the apartment building.  They have just come home from dance, as they do 5 days each week, after 2-3 hours of dancing.  As you may know, dancing is a passion of theirs.  At the end of September they auditioned for and were accepted into a newly formed hip hop dance crew with Bea Villabol (their instructor).  Throughout the year they prepared for several competitions this spring, two of which were in May and are included in this blog post.  

The first competition was called Urban Display (held just outside Barcelona) and is the largest one in Spain.  Here the boys are getting ready for a pre-performance photo with their crew.

Here are a couple photos of the Urban Display venue.

Their crew competed with 26 other groups in the Junior A category (up to 9 people, ages 12-15), and they were oh-so-surprised when they were announced the winner!  :)

Here is the video of the performance, which I posted on YouTube.  I continued recording after the dance was over, so you can stop watching once they go off stage.  (I am not tech-y enough to figure out how to edit the video!)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSHZsP7DtMU

The next weekend they had another performance, this time with a total of 21 groups competing.  They won first place again!

The parents of the dancers  :)

Along with all the dancing excitement, we had friends visiting from Belgium.  When Ray and I were visiting Barcelona two years ago, we met a young Belgian lady, Julie, and her mom, Christine, when we were out to dinner, since our tables right next to one another and as a result of Ray's outgoing personality.  :)  We got to talking and invited one another to our home countries.  Last June, Julie and her boyfriend, Roel (pronounced "Rule"), visited us in Tahoe during their one month tour of California and some national parks.  So this year we really wanted to visit Belgium, but we literally ran out of time slots for any more trips, with dancing commitments and visitors to Barcelona.  So Julie and Roel came to Barcelona to visit us!  My parents and I went to Park Güell with them and enjoyed its unique architecture.  You may remember the blog about the park from our visit there in the fall.  Nicholas was not enthralled with the place, and Ray had been again recently with a friend from Texas who visited in April, so the three boys opted out of the excursion.

Here are some photos of the two buildings at the entrance to the park.

(This may be a bit of a repeat about Park Güell, so skip if you'd like.)

From these two main buildings you walk up the stairs...

...where each tile along the walls is unique...

 ...past the famous mosaic gecko where everyone stops for a photo...like Mom and Dad...

...and Julie and Roel...

 ...until you reach the top of these staircases and take in the view from a bit higher up...

...and perhaps take another photo there...

...then turn behind you (and up a few more steps, I think) to walk under those huge columns that hold up the terrace above...

Then walk up to the terrace and take in the grand view...

...and take more photos on the terrace bench...

This is a "side" photo of the terrace above and the columns beneath

 Besides the houses, tiles, columns, stairs, mosaics, and terrace, the park is actually park-like in the outer areas, but still has some unique features.

Julie and Roel introduced us to a cool new restaurant.  They are great at finding fun new places!

We had to say goodbye to Julie and Roel way too soon!  Hopefully we can include Belgium on our next international trip.  (I have the travel bug now, so we will be coming back before too long!)  :)

Later that week, we decided to take an excursion (one hour train ride outside of Barcelona) to Monserrat, the first national park in Spain.  The word "monserrat" means "serrated", referring to a group of jagged rocks visible from a distance.  

A few photos on our tram ride to the top

At the top

 Monserrat was a sanctuary for monks and also for nuns, so there are large related buildings up there.  We have seen plenty of these.  :)

There are lots of hiking trails on the mountain, so we chose one explore.

 At the end of the trail there were big rock formations.

The adults being entertained by the kids on the rocks

Posing like his kids

One last view before heading back down

The little tram car that will carry us down again

Resting at the train stop before hopping on the train back to Barcelona.  

It's been a full day!