Barcelona Adventures

Lilly conquered Northeastern University London! That was the reason for the trip and the part worth leading with. We are enormously proud of her. Everything after the ceremony was just us staying away from Spain's summer heat. Or so we thought. So…

We've been maintaining a Barcelona Visitors Guide for friends on this site for a while now — a running list of neighborhoods, restaurants, cafes, bookstores, markets, and things to do for friends and family visiting the city. It was useful.…

This is quite a project Kate took on last Christmas! Wow. You can read all about it here. Have there been any missed citas? Not really. Maybe a few that were a bit more impromptu and didn't make the notebook. And many that happened…

Beyond the other trips, summer and fall were busy. We made it to London a couple of times to see Lilly and catch a Vikings victory, and had visits from both friends and family. We had an amazing Thanksgiving, and were just exploring.

So, during the month of August, just assume Spain is closed. You want to go to your favorite coffee shop? "See you in September!" Need a new outfit? "We return September 1st." The fish market? "We are on vacation." The pharmacy?!?!…

A little Baltic getaway for Kate and me while Cameron was off visiting Lilly in LA. Stops in Riga, Tallinn, and Pärnu—some great meals and cocktails, some medieval streets, some sandy hikes, and more than one topiary elephant. Both Latvia…

While the kids were off in Cali, we snuck in a road trip birthday getaway—first to the Guadalest Valley, then up to Matarraña. Both were quiet, beautiful, and just far enough from real life to feel like we’d gotten away with something. Stayed…

Spring Break in Tenerife, where we all got some much-needed deep breaths & relaxation. Plus I won the Wiki bet on The Canary Islands being Spain, but also Africa. Mostly tennis, beach, pool, and just enough sunburn to feel like we earned…

Some very sad days, but some amazing bonding and celebration. Our trip to Minnesota to celebrate my Dad and Mom was a very bitter-sweet trip. I want to share a little bit about my dad and what it meant to grow up with a man who saw life…

They got engaged in Barcelona and married in Tuscany... that's how you do it! A quick road trip to Florence to see family and celebrate Dan & Ashley. And a little side trip to see some really fast cars.

We got to meet our dear friends and celebrate multiple 50s in Porto and the Douro Valley. The Douro was spectacularly beautiful, and Porto and Gaia is a new destination favorite.

We got to show Kate's Dad his first safari with a celebration of his 80th! I've never heard Happy Birthday more -- people so happy to celebrate Denny's visit. A quick stop in Doha, then starting on the Zambezi River in Zambia (and a sneak across…

Christmas in Barcelona before heading off to Bad Gastein, Austria for some snowboarding, skiing and very Wes Anderson views.

A proposal! Some time in the city before a quick trip to the Costwalds & Wales before dropping Lilly off at school in London. Then back to Barcelona for an exciting proposal! Go away or I shall taunt you a second time

Q plays on U20 Spanish National LAX team, and we all go to Prague to watch!

We love when friends visit -- or ask us to meet them somewhere. We're always game.

Wow! Our first trip to Southeast Asia, and we covered a lot of ground. Thailand, Laos, Vietnam & Cambodia. We saw everything -- Thai Boxing, SO MANY Buddhas, an Elephant Sanctuary, Angkor Wat, a boat trip on The Ginger, crossing the street…

Not just Barcelona. Not just walls. This is a grab bag of finely-tuned spray paint, clever stickers, cryptic stencils, and the occasional pure graffiti with something urgent to say. I take pictures of street art that catches my eye—usually…

Spring break in South Africa, and a little fun with the camera.

Family and Friends keep coming! Beyond Thanksgiving, it was a great time in Barcelona with so many friends from the states and those we've made in Barcelona. Nothing like winning the draw then scoring on the short filed.

Herculaneum & Pompeii with an archeologist guide--what they accomplished 20 centuries ago was jaw-dropping.

Borders open up, and friends and family visit! We are so happy to see everyone! Also catch the Tour d'France again in Andorra this time where an American who lives outside Barcelona wins the day.

Warming up with more events in town, a few small road trips and new friends!

We went to the US for vaccines, then hit Madrid and Toledo on the way back.

I realize the reason I don't post on a regular basis is that uploading photos isn't intuitive, and it's a bit clunky. I want to share what we are doing so I am throwing up my hands on the photos for now. Too many days have passed where I…

This is yet another post I drafted weeks ago. Busy days continue.  Not sure if I mentioned it in an earlier post, but Lilly has started practicing with the only lacrosse team in all of Cataluña, the Barcelona Dracs.  She is the youngest…

Celebrating Lilly's Sweet 16, we road trip to Florence, Rome, Cinque Terre and Lake Ballagio. Everywhere we go we have the place to ourselves.

Yep, France again! This time we're visiting amazing Roman ruins in in amazing French towns.

So, based on this being a blog post about living in Spain, it is now safe to assume that I live in Spain. The day we moved was the day that most people were starting up school so people were posting on Instagram about how they went to school…

Our second weekend in Spain and we decide to go to France. In Eze (one of my Mom's favorite towns) we happen to catch the Tour d'France!

That's what my four year old nephew shouted as we drove away after saying goodbye. Side note: it will also be the last line I use at his wedding toast someday. Love that kid. The last couple days brought with them a lot of sad goodbyes. Sisters,…

We learned today that our fathers had never had craft cocktails. Never. That's part of Kate and I's food triangle. This was something we obviously needed to remedy. Luckily, we have a favorite cocktail bar in Barcelona, the Collage Cocktail…

Quick note: on our way to our paella cooking class our taxi couldn't get through because of the march for International Women’s Day...so he dropped us and told us to hoof it the rest of the way. What made this challenging was the thousands…

Kate always finds us hidden gems. We just watched castellers practice. Denny & Lou watched from above with a beer & brandy and Kate & I hung out by the practice floor. There were over 100 people supporting this design. Amazing! Side…

So while boarding in Munich on our way to Barcelona, my dad was pulled aside by a very rule oriented, strict, authoritative (aka German) Lufthansa employee to weigh his bag. Apparently, it was ONE kilo over the limit. Who would have guessed…

My dad arrived for our pre-trip meeting (scheduled at his request) loaded with questions. We began with updates--hearing about what he's packing, the apps he's downloaded, the nuances of Lufthansa's overhead rules (1" smaller than Delta it turns…