Barcelona part 2

You know we had a schedule of all the sights to see yada yada yada...but after the grind of the regular work week and learning to be parents we are just so tired. We did make it to Park Guell which in all honesty was not that exciting.

However, while at park Guell we were looking out at the top and saw the Mediterranean Sea in the distance.

We both looked at each other and said..lets go to the beach. So we dropped everything for the day and took the metro straight to the beach and it was WONDERFUL! The sun was shining, the water was freezing, and it was perfect. We strolled to the boardwalk and sat down to watch the waves come in. It was so peaceful being by the ocean and relaxing together. When Henri woke up from his nap he was also eager to see what was going on. We popped his shoes off and let him feel the sand between his toes, which he loved.

Yes there were also some people crazy enough to swim, surf, and paddle board in the ocean in november!

We spent a lot of time at the beach, then headed back to La Boqueria to pick up a couple of things for dinner...mainly bread! When in Europe, you get fresh bread every day for dinner.

Saturday - BIRTHDAY DAY!!!

YAY it's my birthday! Adam made sure that today was MY day. Anything I wanted to do, I got to pick. What I wanted was to go back to the beach and relax. So we did. We met our friends Missy and David, whom live in Zurich with us, for lunch. We finally got to try some Paella and it was really good. We took some pictures by the water. I wanted a good family photo that wasn't just one of us holding the camera and trying to fit us all plus our long arm in the photo as we hold the camera =)

After Missy and David headed off to their futbol game we went back to the beach. I put my feet in the Mediterranean Sea. It was REALLY cold but so worth the memory. Adam stuck his feet in too. I  mean when in Barcelona, am I right? We headed back to the gothic quarter to do a little shopping, which we did very poorly at.

We stopped in for a snack of churros and hot chocolate (pudding) that was a great birthday treat. We also wanted to get out of the cold. The weather turned cold and cloudy during the late afternoon and poor Henri was getting chilly.

The best way to entertain a baby...a mirror apparently.

Then we went to La Boqueria once again to pick up this time spanish chocolate for my birthday dessert. Then on the way home we stopped by the bakery around the corner to get cupcakes for my birthday too. Also, delicious!!

It was such a wonderful birthday and trip. Barcelona was lovely in November with the cool air and few tourists.

Happy Birthday to meeee! Barcelona Bound!

It's my birthday and we are off to Barcelona! We took off wednesday night so we could get henri down when we arrived. Then have a fresh start thursday morning to see the city. Ahh traveling with a baby is so different these days.

Our apartment was great. Tons of space, including a very long hallway to run back and forth on to wear out henri crawling after us. It also had a great view of the Segrada Familia.

Thursday we started out walking over to las ramblas. On the way there you run into some very unusual architecture with Casa Batllo.

We walked through the gothic quarter and down las ramblas. We stopped in first at La Boqueria to get some lunch and pick up food to take to our apartment later. We had some great seafood and veggies at a restaurant inside.

After we all ate lunch we kept walking down till we hit water at Port Veil.

After port veil we walked back through the gothic quarter to see the interesting architecture. It's so erie in that section of town. I wish we could have seen it at night but Henri was so tired and crabby by the end of the day.

Our last stop of the night was La Boqueria again, where we picked up the entire 4 days worth of veggies for 3.80 euros. A huge difference from the price of veggies in Switzerland. We got a quick snack at a shop in La Boqueria before heading home. Around the heading home time every night is when Henri would throw a fit and be tired of sitting in his stroller. So we had to carry him a lot on our long walk back.

10 Months!

Henri is now 10 months!

 He has such a great personality. He's so funny! He loves when daddy comes home. He squeals as he walks through the front door and crawls to him. I counted it out and my 10 month old has been to 7 countries so far before his 1st birthday. He is such a great little traveler. I hope it continues since we will be taking him on the long long flight back to St. Louis for Christmas.

He crawls around so much and is walking around holding onto the furniture. He also loves to push the coffee table and walk with it. I don't think he will be walking by christmas but by his 1st birthday he probably will. Thankfully he is back to sleeping though the night. We have finally had a break on teeth coming in for the moment ( total of 8 right now). He loves bath time now that he can sit in the tub and play with the toys.

9 months

Henri is 9 months!

He had to go to the dr. but luckily no shots. The dr. said he is average for everything. His motor skills are great and so is his eating. Henri loves regular food. I steam veggies for him to pick up and munch on and his favorite homemade applesauce is blueberry, apricot, and apple. He loves to help us cook in the kitchen. He grabs all the raw veggies and gnaws on them to make sure they are ok. During his 9 months was Henri's first halloween. The boys dressed up in lederhosen and I wore drindle.

Henri's stats:
Height: 28in
Weight: 20lbs

Continued...Dijon and Pommard, France

Saturday was dedicated to Dijon, France. We of course started our morning off at breakfast in our lovely dining hall with Clochette. She was Henri's bff for the trip.

After breakfast we headed up to Dijon to start our day at Les Halles, the food market, and the antique market around the Les Halles building.

We had some good luck with the back alley antiques. They were much cheaper. We were able to get a couple of things to bring back to the states with us for decorating. After, the market it was time to get Henri a snack so we popped into one of my favorite bakeries, Paul's, for a snack.

After snack time we started exploring the city. They have a Notre Dame Cathedral, and Hotel d' Ville (government building).

While exploring the old town we came across a great place to eat lunch. They only had 5 things on the menu and it was written on a mirror. The waitress just comes over with the mirror and leaves it by you so you  can see what you want. It was very fresh and all bio products so we could share some stuff with Henri. It was off the beaten path, down an alley so it was nice and quiet. Plus the outdoor seating was perfect to enjoy the fall weather.

We headed out to do more walking around after lunch. We mostly strolled through the city just taking in the architecture. We had no set in stone plans so we leisurely enjoyed the city with no agenda. As we walked we picked out snacks from different bakeries to enjoy after Henri went to bed that night, again. France is definitely not the place to go when your still trying to get rid of some baby weight!!!

We made one last stop on our way out of town to the Mille Mustard shop. I mean you  must get mustard when in Dijon. Then we took off for home to tuck the little man in for the night.

Sunday was our return day. We had breakfast one last time in our charming dining hall and said our goodbye's to our gracious hosts and Clochette. We got 4km down the road and ran into a wine festival in Pommard. What to do, what to do? Yeah we stopped. We ended up spending about 3 hours there tasting and having lunch. It was a blast.

Finally, we made our way out of Pommard and onto the highway, back to Zurich! It was a lovely trip during the perfect time of year, Fall! I am already wishing we could go back and stay at La Combotte again.