The Christmas misadventures of the Spitzer family:

Four days before we were to leave for Christmas Vacation, Airbnb canceled our cabin in Røros, a snowy village with lots of skiing and sledding. So we had to make a plan B and we ended up going to Barcelona, Spain. We flew to Amsterdam and then to Barcelona. On the first night, we went to a flamenco dance show ( see below). We first dined in a warm and little claustrophobic restaurant. They had traditional foods such as kinds of Paella, fruit salads, cured ham, warm dishes, and churros! (Dipped in chocolate!). Then we watched the amazing and dramatic show. It took about an hour but it was really cool and fun. we were so close that we could feel the wind from there skirts. It was especially cool that it was on my dads birthday!

Streetlife

Streetlife in Barcelona smells good, looks good and sounds good.  Las Ramblas is a famous walking street where people ramble along, watch street performers, eat and shop, etc. The side streets are narrow, made of cobblestone and dark and dank. They were filled with people during the day, but at night they were kind of spooky.

The Boqueria Market was a cool experience. It is filled with little shops that sell fresh fruit spices, meats, salts, and candy! (the candy was good ! see below). The colors of all the exotic foods and the variety of things was amazing! You can basically find anything fresh from around the world.

We spent a lot of time in a square called Placa Real. We ate dinner here a few times and were entertained by musicians playing the accordion, guitar and a little drum (See video). This is where I got to buy some glowing helicopters that you shoot into the air like a slingshot. They fly about 40 feet up and the air.

 

Food

in Spain they have a big brunch, an afternoon snack, then eat dinner at about 22:00. they also eat something called tapas. its where you go to different restaurants and eat “small plates”. its history is that when English travelers came in the 19th century, they would offer small servings of food, like ham and cheese and bread, or fried baby octopus. the reason why they would give so small portions is that few innkeepers could write and few travelers could read, so they gave them little amounts in case they didn’t like it, and could go on to the next plate. it probably can still be used today in foreign languages and countries. My favorite is the potatoes bravas (fried potatoes with spicy sauce) and Churros of course!

Christmas 

Christmas in Spain is very different than in North America. It is hot, sunny and beautiful (not to say North America is not beautiful). We went to the Basilica of Barcelona on Christmas Eve and a group of teenagers sang Feliz Navidad and other songs in Spanish (see below). after the little concert, we found a little tree in front of the Basilica and pulled a twig off it. we called Christmas twig because it was our little Christmas tree (see below). On Christmas morning I got a haircut (as you can see from the photos) and we also spent Christmas day in Park Guell. it had a lookout and 2 houses. It was made with smashed tiles. We had Christmas dinner at a French/Italian Restaurant.

I discovered that Spain has monk parrots! They are awesome green birds that live in the palm trees. I was so excited when this guy had one on his shoulder and was selling photos with it that I got duped!! I paid 5 euros to hold it, only to realize it was just a pigeon painted green. Oh well, I still liked the pigeon.

 

Architecture

There are a lot of beautiful buildings and there is a famous architect from Barcelona named Antoni Gaudi, and he made designed beautiful houses, cathedrals etc. (see below).  On Christmas Eve we went to see one of Antoni Gaudi’s buildings called Casa Batllo. It was made of broken tile and people think that some of it is supposed to look like animals like the windows were turtles and vents were fish gills. It was very beautiful and interesting (see below). he also created the cathedral Sagrada Familia, which has been under construction for 100 years and still isn’t finished!

Other observations… 

On Christmas day, I was picking out some earrings for my mom, and the people beside me was speaking Norwegian, so I talked to them, and they were shocked! I don’t think they expected someone to understand them. Another day, a street vendor came and we told him we were from Canada. He asked if I spoke French…  he spoke Catalan, and I found out that the two languages are pretty similar. Also, one night while playing with my glowing helicopters in the square, I met some French kids. We spoke French the entire time and they didn’t even know I spoke English. I was very proud. It makes me want to learn Spanish now so I can know four languages.

Orange trees!! This is the first time I’ve seen real oranges growing on trees. I wanted to pick one so badly but they were all out of reach. I could tell the oranges at breakfast were freshly picked. They were almost crunchy and so juicy and sweet. YUM!!!!!

Supermercats! hehe. In Spain, the supermarkets are called supermercats! I want to open a store that has a logo of a Mercat wearing a cape!!

Sights

We took a train to a place called Girona. It was beautiful and sunny. we toured around the town for a bit and saw the colorful waterfront along the river. We had some tapas in a little restaurant and then walked along the old fortress walls. Apparently, Girona has been under siege 23 times, but it has only been conquered about 9 times. they built the huge wall (see photos). The wall extended across the entire city and had gun holes in the wall and lookouts all over the place. It was built in the 1st century and then rebuilt in the 14th century under the reign of Peter III.

At night we explored the old Jewish quarters. It’s very sad, but in the 1400s they were exiled from there home. :-(. The Jewish quarters were well preserved and interesting to explore. Everything was made of stone.

 

On our last day, we explored Barcelona Beach and saw the worlds largest yacht! I got to collect some sand for grandma Wanda see the Mediterranian. I also found a funny looking palm tree that looked like I pineapple!

We finally arrived home after our great adventure in Spain and got to have a real Christmas celebration. I have been missing egg nog and they don’t have it here so I decided that we would make some ourselves, it was fun to make and tasted pretty good. As you can see, in the background of these photos, we didn’t have a real Christmas tree. My mom and I made one out of twigs and rope. We also made a Norwegian Christmas dinner: Ribbe, with mashed potatoes and vegetables.

God Jul og Godt Nytt ar!!

I hope you enjoyed this! Thanks for reading.

Thé íñtęrñātįöñāł Mõöśë