Barcelona, Part I

It's hard to say if it was the magic of Barcelona, a special aligning of the stars, a unique developmental window, copious amounts of wine, or just super awesome parenting skills (I vote for the latter) but our trip to Espana was sans Honey Badger. Yes, we brought the child but he was so amazingly well behaved it was as though someone switched him with an alien twin or something.

Admittedly, I was rather concerned about this trip with HB. He is two and a half and prone to random fits, screaming, tantrums and just plain unpleasantness. Two and a half, however, also appears to be a magical age where bribing and threats combined with what most consider common mundane travel (riding buses, planes and boats) equal an extraordinary, stress free experience.

Ryan Air, in it's quest for efficiency, boards planes by way of staircases on the front and rear entrances to the plane. So for the HB, walking out onto the tarmac and up stairs onto the plane seemed akin to entering a theme park. Actually boarding the plane almost caused a baby heart attack. Apparently he didn't remember ever flying on a plane, and since his favorite activity is riding a bus around town with his babysitter, this was the holy grail. Excitedly he plopped down by the window and busied himself by pointing out all of the other planes, airport transport equipment and "street sweeper" on the tarmac.

Our flight was delayed taking off due to a skirmish between two passengers. I didn't witness the argument but they had to be removed and then their baggage found. HB started getting a a little antsy after 30 minutes so I asked, "Do you want to take a plane ride?" "Yes!" he said. "Well then you'd better find your manners or we will get off the plane" I threatened as we taxied to the runway. "NO!!!!! He said and behaved perfectly the rest of the way. Who knew? That was pretty much how the rest of the trip went. WINNING!


Upon arrival we found our little apartment (a fifth story walk-up, naturally) clean, centrally located near the middle of Las Ramblas and surprisingly well equipped for a last minute rental. Oh, did I forget to mention out first apartment, although confirmed, was cancelled due to "double-booking?" It was a stressful few days until we found a new place but we were pleasantly surprised. Our weather was perfect in mid-March. Sunny and 65 degrees. A perfect time to travel here, especially considering the lack of tourists.

In writing this blog I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the fact that I describe everywhere as beautiful but Barcelona's architecture is especially so.

What else would one expect from the city of Gaudi? 

I really wish I had something witty to say here but I don't, mostly we just walked companionably in silence, when HB wasn't demanding to push his own stroller, and enjoyed the views.

To hopefully give HB some much needed exercise time, we planned a trip to the Barcelona Zoo, which sits within the Parc de la Ciutadella. The park was built atop the remains of a prior citadel. It's a special place to sit and have a picnic lunch, play some Frisbee or people watch.

The zoo itself was pretty underwhelming. The cages were small and the animals looked poorly. Even the farm animals seemed to all be ill or mangy. Only the flamingos were photo ready. But then, they're pretty hard to screw up.

The second landmark we visited was the world famous market off Las Ramblas. It pretty much takes the cake as far as food markets go. It's a shame the place is overrun with tourists who clog the aisles and buy nothing. If you go inside, be a good person and buy a few things, they will be delicious! You can get a decent price on saffron or paella seasonings for sure!


  

This cooler made me seriously consider becoming a vegetarian.







Barcelona boasts it's very own Arc de Triumf from the 1888 World's Fair. Personally, I don't get what the big deal is with random arches everywhere but it was pretty nonetheless. More noteworthy, in my opinon, are the multi-armed light posts that flank the sidewalk leading up to it. Now, I've yet to see the one in France, but I can't imagine anything more splendid than this.

 

Our next blog, hopefully a tad more entertaining than this laaaaaaammee post, will cover our trip to the local art museums, Gaudi cathedral, and other site-seeing adventures that will hopefully further entice you to come to Europe with small children in tow, to visit us and see the world.

Edinburgh, Part 3

If you are a long-time reader of AWHB then it won't surprise you when I say we often make many vacation blunders. In earnest we make every attempt to laugh them off. At worst they serve as a warning for others, at best, you get a chuckle. Our Scotland trip was no exception.

Southeast of Holyrood Palace is Holyrood park, home to Arthur's Seat. Arthur's Seat is the name of a large landmass consisting of hills of varying heights, part of a pre-historic volcano, as is the land that venerates Edinburgh Castle. This ground is speculated to be one of the possible sites of Camelot. From across town it doesn't look like much and in my head I thought, it's a hill within the limits of a city, it can't be that big. Although I brought my hiking shoes, vanity (insanity?) prevailed and instead I chose to wear my chucks. This was my first mistake.

From our apartment we had to walk clear across town to the sacred ground. But on the way we stopped off to view Holyrood Palace from the outside before finally making our way to Arthur's Seat.

Figuring said landmass would be clearly marked with walking paths and entrance signs, we opted against researching how best to reach the pinnacle. Following the slow but stream of people headed from town uphill, we began our ascent. About a half hour, 45 minutes later we began a descent as Arthur's Seat began to come into view. See, there's a crag obscuring the real edifice from nearby onlookers and the best way to traverse the thing is to walk AROUND the first hill and then go up the main one so you don't waste a bunch of energy on nothing. This is the first side.



Guidebooks and travel reviews alike rave about the beautiful views from the top. I wouldn't know because after trekking halfway up the steep rock face I petered out. No, I hadn't started drinking yet... or had I? I can't remember, but it IS Scotland after all so given my shady memories and natural tendencies to drink I suppose I'll have to err on the side of booze.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that on the walk there my child took the term "full honey badger" to new levels? He decided he didn't want to sit in his stroller (what sort of idiot takes a stroller to go hiking?) and flipped the F out, throwing himself nearly out of the damned thing and toppling it over before we let him out and he flung himself dramatically to the ground and proceeded to wail inconsolably in front of a small group of tourists.

Once there our friend make it to the top while carrying HB on his back and the stroller in his hand.Why? because he's crazy like that and what else would make the perfect juxtaposition to my poor choices and lack of muscle tone than him hiking up and back while I huff and puff and curse my poor husband who could have made it to the top but did the right thing and coddled me. But my husband did coddle me so I guess I could say that was the highlight?

I made it high enough to take these photos, about halfway.

 

Also on the fail list for this trip was our visit to Edinburgh Castle. The castle itself is amazing and beautiful and spectacular. We just chose to go there without planning our time accordingly. We viewed the military museum, crown jewels and apartments before HB started melting down for nap time. "We will just head back to the apartment or nap and then come back," we said. And we did that but, although it's not printed on the nearly $50 set of tickets we purchased, there is no re-entry into the castle. Saving it for next time maybe??

We stood in this line to see the Scottish crown jewels. Aaaaaaand it was underwhelming. I suppose if they'd had better jewels they could have afforded to outfit the Jacobites with enough weaponry to defeat the English at Culloden. But they didn't and now it's all British.

Inside one of the apartments.

This concludes the obligatory failure part of the trip. Now on to better things....

Edinburgh, even at high tourist season, was not too crowded. Oh, a random military band parade? Don't mind if we do!

And check out these fine lads. They took street performing to an epic level, and they were pretty good, too.

One of the coolest things, at least we thought after paying an arm and a leg to enter castles here and museums in Italy, is that all of the art museums are FREE-99. Boo-ya! And how cool is it that one of the first paintings we saw in the Scottish National Gallery was one of Niagara Falls.

What's that? Oh, it's a random DaVinci you could basically just walk up and lick if you wanted to.  This room did not have a docent. Not gonna lie, I thought about it.

This painting apparently tells the real life story of Saint Nicholas. I wonder why these images aren't part of the usual Christmas propaganda we usually see in December. The good ole story of St. Nick and three naked boys in a tub...

 
But by far the best part of our trip was our reason for going, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Tattoo is a Scottish word for a pipe and drum performance. Each year throughout the month of August there is a tattoo outside Edinburgh castle. The tickets itself were relatively cheap, especially compared to the high price of admissions to the local castles but the show is quite popular. Our tickets were purchased just after the New Year and we still were limited to the top part of the stadium.

While we were waiting for the show to start I apologized profusely for our "bad seats" but honestly they were not bad at all. The sun was still setting and while the crowd in front of us was blinded by the sinking object, we were not. Bagpipes are also, as one would expect, unreasonably loud. Having HB with us whilst simultaneously valuing my eardrums I am thankful our seats were not at the bottom or we surely would not have enjoyed it as much as we did. The lofty vantage point also gave us the opportunity to see the large formations where a ground level seat would have prevented that.

The Tattoo was the reason we came, Zack's dream vacation experience so when these guys came out, I'm not going to lie, I cried a little bit. Happy tears, of course, just to see Zack so happy and to know I made it happen. Those bagpipes spear you right to your soul, cuz them shits are loud! Holy crap.

Look at all those poor saps having their retinas burned out.



Behind the flags is the peak of Arthur's Seat.



It was just so freaking cool.

Somehow I couldn't help but just be a little bit sad to see the British flag flying here. Reading a fictional story about the people of Scotland has created this odd sense of kinship with the country. Thanks a lot, Diana Gabaldon.

Marching bands came from many of Britain's territories.

 
Present day military forces were honored and represented as well.

You might have noticed the progression of the sky in the photos. First, blue sky, then a bit cloudy. We had a five minute sprinkle followed by a rainbow. 

 Followed immediately by a full moon rising in the pastel sky.
 

HB loved the entire performance. In fact, at just shy of two years old this little guy up way past his bedtime was captivated. He smiled and cheered and danced. It was amazing; a trip we will never forget. 

And now that I've finally blogged about it nine months later I have ensured my feeble elderly mind will be able to recall at least these parts of the trip.

Edinburgh, Part 2

For years Zack has dreamed about going to Scotland. So me, being the most super awesome and best wife ever, decided to make that dream a reality. For Father's Day HB and I presented him with the trip package: airline tickets, apartment reservations and tickets to see the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. I've only seen him cry a few times and made him cry just once when I was really mean (J/K) but this did it... and I was proud.

The UK is by far the most expensive place we have traveled thus far, especially since we chose the month of August whilst the Tattoo was going on. Thus finding suitable and affordable accommodations was challenging. I was able to book a one bedroom apartment called the Rose Street Flats. It was, obviously, off of Rose Street, a busy but quaint street north of the castle. It was decent.

First,  just south of our apartment was Edinburgh Castle!!!

Built on the cap of an ancient volcano, it is believed humans have inhabited the land since the 2^nd century AD. Most of the current structure is from the 16^th century although some is as old as the 12^th.

The apartment:

Unfortunately the carpet was in poor condition and the bathroom fixtures, while nice, were all falling apart. Right outside our bedroom window without blackout shades was a large street lamp. But I can’t really complain because this was the only bad part about the entire trip.

Getting to our apartment was also very simple. From the airport you walk about 10 minutes to the tram station, buy a ticket from the kiosk right there and ride straight into the city in about 25 minutes. The closest stop was just a short 7 minute walk from the apartment.

Unbeknownst to me at the time of booking eight months prior, the apartment is located in a healthy food mecca. Within 10 minutes walking distance were all but two of those wonderful restaurants I mentioned in my last post. Also right by were tons of retail shops- Gap, Antropologie, and Joules to name just a few. It was more than amazing to shop in stores who make clothes for tall, non-anorexic people. Bliss.

Around the neighborhood:

Rose Street:

Our first full day we made our way out into the country via our local friend, Brent, to see Stirling Castle. Still rather new to Europe I continue to be amazed and intrigued by castles. This one is one of the largest and most important in Scotland. Most of the current structure dates from the 15^th and 16^th centuries although the first records of a castle here are from 1110 AD. Mary Queen of Scots was crowned here.

 Here are some pics of the outside and surrounding area:

Looking at the William Wallace memorial.

If I haven’t said it before, castles are excellent places to take honey badgers. There are very few entrances and exits, at least one, usually two, large grassy courtyards to run around in, most displays are sparse or behind glass, and people aren’t as serious about silence as they are in regular museums. HB had a great time here and blew off tons of energy.

I could tell you some more history about these castles and surrounding areas but honestly, the idea of it makes my head spin. Somebody-with-a-number killed or overthrew Somebody-else-with-a-number and a lot of people died. In the end, the bloody English won and stole all the mineral rights. (God save the queen!) I will say that William Wallace died close to here and this is where he won the battle or Stirling Bridge. WW is kind of a big deal 'round these parts in case you didn't pick that up from the giant phallus erected in his honor pictured above.

The interior of the castle was pretty neat. Upstairs there is a military museum and the apartments downstairs are till somewhat furnished. The castle comes complete with period adorned actors/docents who will answer any question you have about the castle or its royal inhabitants King James V and Mary of Guise.

 The queen's throne and bedroom:

 

 

Ceiling of the kind's quarters. Typically after the death of a king all of the furniture is removed and the room is left empty until a new king moves in.

More outside pics:

 

Our second stop was to the 14^th century Doune Castle. You might recognize this one as it was featured in Monty Python and the Holy Grail as well as the new tv series Outlander. In contrast to most of the other castles we have visited, Doune is mostly empty and “bare bones” as well as being markedly more modest in size and construction. It was inhabited by Dukes and the son of a king.

The great hall:

Double fire place in the throne room:

The courtyard:

We were so lucky to have amazing weather on this truly amazing occasion whilst Zack and I got to walk around this castle alone. But it was about this time, actually it was precisely after this photo was taken, I heard the screeching of a little baby honey badger. He was sleeping in the car with our friend, who was nursing a hangover, and woke up a very unhappy boy. He proceeded to wail at the top of his lungs for no less than 15 minutes while I sat just to the left in an attempt to soothe him. So we left.

Our final stop for the day was the William Wallace monument.

Now I'm sure when ol' Willie was getting drawn and quartered he said to himself, "Oh please I hope one day someone erects a giant knob with my face on it." The Johnson itself was pretty anticlimactic, especially after walking all day, then walking up the big hill to get to it only to be told we had to climb the stairs to see the crap that was inside. So we passed on getting all up in Willie's willy and headed home for some grub feeling exhausted yet satisfied.