Barcelona Adventures

Cameron was off snowboarding in the Pyrenees with his school, which left Kate and me with a rare open week and a short flight's worth of options. Malta won, mostly because neither of us had been there and someone had recently mentioned it on…

Tanzania & Kenya: Even When You Know Africa, She Still Surprises You Between Kate, Lilly, Cameron, and me, Africa has been a recurring chapter in our family story the past few years—different countries, different camps, different eras…

This post is a bit for me, actually. This city immerses you in art, and I'm always curious to learn more. So I did a little research project to highlight some of the main influential artists who were touched by Barcelona. Then I realized it…

An August getaway to Poland to (try to) escape the heat turned into a wonderful patchwork of family history, sightseeing, card games, and at least one questionable negotiation strategy. In Żywiec, we found the church where my great-grandfather…

Family visits, vermut in hand, and Barça winning basically everything except the ones stolen by refs. Copa del Rey, Supercopa, La Liga—what a fun season to be a fan! 400,000 fans showed up for the parade, which felt about right. The Vuelta…

For Christmas 2024, Kate gave me a spiral-bound book and a yearlong reservation. Not to one place, but fifty-two to be visited throughout 2025. The gift was a plan—her plan for us—to explore a new corner of Barcelona every week…

Winter in Barcelona with Paquito Homie—walks around the city, some light FCB brainwashing, and encouragement of his street art tendencies. Quick trip to the U.S. to give my dad some love. A Superbowl weekend in Costa Brava with the boys.…

What a great time with family in Barcelona! First-time visitors, repeat visitors, and long-term visitors! Absolutely amazing. We were so excited to have Anna and her family become locals along with us for a while, and hopefully, just the start…

When you're walking around Barcelona, first, make sure to look up. The architecture is amazing and it is easy to miss a beautiful building or view. But don't forget to look down too. Barcelona sidewalks are created with different tiles in different…

Spring was full of festivals and visitors-- it was amazing seeing so many of our friends. Oh, and we bought an apartment! Always a random festival somewhere in town.

We were lucky enough to visit the Living Table (Chef's Table) at Disfrutar twice in the fall of 2023 -- with two sets of amazing friends. Barcelona is home to countless great restaurants and lots of Michelin stars, but Disfrutar is something…

Priorat, boating and watching the America's Cup practices, a quick trip to Minnesota, a rental on the Costa Brava, and wonderfully long visits from family and friends.

The Beach, F1, Barça wins La Liga!

An amazing wedding a a trip up the PCH to see family & friends.

A last little trip before returning to Southern Pines... Paris, London & Amsterdam.

Some color photos and a couple videos from our trip to Cape Town and Safari. Lions on the hunt Our Hyena friend Elephants at the pool

A quick trip to Belgium to see the old house, and show the kiddos where the Petsolt clan spent a few great years so many years ago. Lots of Waffles & beer, the Manneken Pis & a bit more of Christmas decorations.

My sisters join us in Turkey for an incredible trip in a stunning country. Sharing our experiences in Istanbul & Cappadocia was perfect. We can not wait to go back!

With Kate's Dad in tow, we hit the road to visit Normandy--which is incredible. We make lots of stops in France along the way, but the most unbelievable are cave paintings from 17,000 BC. However, we were NOT allowed to take photos of thos…

Lilly joined the Madrid Osas for the Lisboa Cub Lacrosse Tournament in Lisbon--she was AMAZING! Then we rented an RV and camped along the Southern Portugal coast to celebrate Cameron's 13th birthday. The go-ahead goal on the broadcast…

Lots to see and do... Paella, Priorat and events around town. Vamos Rafa! (It was fun seeing him win a tournament on his home court.)

I'm on a roll - two posts in one day! Had some thoughts so going somewhat stream of consciousness on my Wednesday. Had class from 9 - 1. Four hours is a lot each day but still loving it thanks to an amazingly patient, kind, dedicated and…

Cooler days in Barcelona. Lockdowns aren't so bad here.

While many people stay at home or go to school in this crazy pandemic, we instead went to a couple places in Italy. It has been my dream since the 6th grade to travel to Rome and see the ancient ruins. We drove 12 hours to Florence on a Wednesday…

Our first summer in Barcelona.

I can’t believe we’ve been here almost a month already! Wow, it is speeding by faster than I even imagined. We don’t even have a well working shower yet—ours is like a combination of getting hit with a fire hose while someone simultaneously…

Our first road trip in Europe did not disappoint. Note: long post ahead - these blogs are to fill in family and friends and will serve as a bit of a journal for us so will include many details. We are most certainly counting our blessings…

Where do I even start with our first several days living in Barcelona? I swore I would get online and post all the goodness that happened to us as it happened. Then we just went and enjoyed all that was thrown our way…. so here I finally…

Today, with the best weather of our trip, we ventured out to the Pénedes wine region. Another auspicious start to the day as we came across MORE CLOSED ROADS - this time thanks to the Barcelona marathon. After getting over my disappointment…

It’s no surprise that Barcelona is a culinary delight, but the dinner David and I had last night at Niño Viejo was further proof. Owned by the same chef as Bodega 1900 (remember our 14 courses from two nights ago?) and no less amazing. The…

Today was a FULL day to say the least. We took a lovely walking tour of our neighborhood thanks to travel writer Rick Steves. I narrated and led the crew through churches, markets, alleyways, and finished at a quaint lunch spot where…

After a long but relatively straightforward day of travel we found our apartments in the middle of town. After a quick freshening up we hit the streets in search of our first local flavor. El Born (our neighborhood) did not disappoint. Since…

This post is just a little side story that gave me a good chuckle. My Dad wanted to make sure his United number is attached to the flight. (This is one of the things we talked about during our aforementioned meeting.) He didn't have the…