Round Two...

It was difficult to say goodbye to my family and see them whisked away in a taxi, knowing I wouldn't see them in person again until March. But at the same time, it was good to be able to say, "See you in 3 months!" We are already a third of the way done with our time in Cambridge! And that first third flew by unbelievably fast, so I can only imagine how quickly the second and third thirds will come and go. Plus, there wasn't much time for mourning. The Grant side of the family was fast approaching. In fact, the two families passed each other in the air somewhere between Tulsa and Chicago. Matthew and I had just enough time to churn out a couple loads of laundry and repack our bags for the quick turnaround. Back to London we went! (I wish London had a nickname like other big cities do. "Her Majesty's Backyard?" "The Jewel of England?" Maybe one does exist I just don't know it yet.)

Anyway, with Matt's family we stayed right down the same street that our original Radisson hotel was located on. Luckily, or maybe unluckily, the water had been restored to the area. Again, we visited all the tourist traps. Again, (for us, but the first time for our guests) we ate in the basement of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, where the likes of Charles Dickens and Billy Shakespeare often threw back a few pints in their day. We stood in awe of a really stinkin' tall guard. We browsed Portabello Road market after having the serendipitous chance to watch the movie Notting Hill on TV the night before. And, though Matthew and Scotty will vehemently deny it, they actually enjoyed the chick flick. We ate some delicious pastries and took the opportunity to pet a sweet chocolate lab doggie who made us miss Bullitt immensely.

This guy had to have been at least 7 feet tall, not including the hat. 

Notting Hill neighborhood is so scenic.

I love all the different colors. It brings life to the gray winter.

Poor guy was waiting outside the pastry shop licking his chops. I think he wanted a croissant.

Delicious. Scrumptious. I will undoubtedly return to Ottolenghi on my next trip to Portobello Road. Thanks, Scotty, for finding out about this place!

I wish I had more pictures of people in this London segment, but I'm afraid my mother-in-law took most of those on her camera. So if I get some from her, I'll be sure to add them. When we came back to Cambridge for New Year's Eve, we faced much the same situation of lockdown that occurred when my family was here. This time, we opted for a self-hire punting extravaganza. With the exception of the two minutes that I was driving the punt, Matthew powered our boat along and I did my best to reenact the tour we had taken the week before. And I only drove for two minutes because in that small time span I managed to turn the boat backwards and actually go the opposite way that I was aiming for. I have officially lost my touch.

We didn't do any massive partying to ring in 2012 because we had a 4:30am cab ride to the airport. A few hours later, we touched down in SUNNY Barcelona! It was slightly pathetic to see how squinty my eyes were when I stepped off the plane into a normal day's rays. It was comparable to snow blindness. I truly did not realize how gloomy England weather was until I saw its antithesis in Spain. 60 degrees, bright blue skies, and this strange light/heat-emitting orb blazing over our heads during the day. Dare I say I'm looking forward to spending four years in Houston sunshine? Barcelona treated us well. We got to bust out our rusty Spanish vocabulary. We ate a ton of delicious sea food. (Seriously, we probably consumed a ton of food between the five of us during our last supper together. Had we been any closer to the Mediterranean we would have been swimming in it; had we eaten any more food our bellies would have exploded; and, had we laughed any louder with our hilarious Ecuadorian waiter Noel, we would have caused even more of a scene.) We marveled at several Gaudí architectural masterpieces. We climbed a hill to a castle and another one to three crosses. Era magnífico.

Plaza in the Gothic quarter of Old Town.

Mont Juic cable cars. We took the hardcore way up - stairs. Note that the sign says stop in English. Come on, you crazy Catalans, really? You'd rather put English on a street sign than Spanish? 

Castle wall looking over the Mediterranean.

Brothers. They love having their picture taken.

Parc Guell. Kind of makes me think of Hansel and Gretel's gingerbread house. Geez, check out that blue sky.

A bench in Parc Guell. Every available square inch is covered in mosaic tiles.

The Land of Far Far Away. This castle was on a faraway hill, but thanks to the telephoto lens, it looks so close! Also, I think Jesus is on top of the tallest tower.

Panorama shot taken from the hill of the three crosses. You're the God of this city. You're the King of these people. You're the Lord of this nation. You are. You're the Light in this darkness. You're the Hope to the hopeless. You're the Peace for the restless. You are. There is no one like our God.

So crazy. We were standing in this same spot in 2009, and never in a million years would I have guessed we would get to stand there again.

Quick! Family portrait before the rain clouds get any closer.

How about a little ambient music from a man in leopard tights? And I quote, "I'm singin' in the rain... I'm singin' in the *bleeper bleepin'* rain... <cue incoherent screaming and scratching of the guitar strings> THAT'S *BLEEPER BLEEPIN* ROCK AND ROLL!!! <purring noises>" Interesting.

Aforementioned rain clouds making their way over the mountains.

And for the grand finale - the brightest rainbow ever. How's that for a reminder of His promises? Amazing. Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city.

As memorable as all these things were, they weren't my favorite things about Barcelona. Next post will reveal why La Sagrada Familia cathedral is the single most breathtaking thing in the Catalan capitol. In my opinion, it is the most unique and overwhelming church in the world. It beats St. Peter's in the Vatican. That's the scale of astonishment I'm talking here. Don't miss its treasures. Next time.