xorcata

Today I tried a very traditional Spanish drink, xorcata (horchata). You usually find it at ice cream shops and it is a summer drink made from ground tiger nuts and sugar. It's delicious! There's probably only a few days left of summer and then most of the ice cream shops will shut until spring next year.

Parc Guell

On Sunday we visited another famous Gaudi site, called Parc Guell (pronounced 'well'). It is a garden high on a hill overlooking Barcelona so it has amazing views.

It is, like Casa Batllo, filled with ornate tiles and lots of curving round lines. Gaudi was interested in nature and the forms found in nature. To get there we had to take a metro and then walk up a very BIG hill but it was worth it, even though there were lots of people there.

After we left the park we stumbled upon a mini festa in a side street, a festa major. The Spanish often use  big puppets. It was very loud, but all the locals had come out to watch and follow the parade.

by the sea at Sitges

On Saturday we took a train with Adrian and Ingrid and went to Sitges, which is about 30 mins from Barcelona, for a swim at the beach. The weather has been very hot, which is apparently unusual for this time of year. We are making the most of it.

The waves were very small and I had the BEST time. Leo had his first swim ever, and he really liked it. We had lunch there too and ate fideua, a version of paella made with pasta. Delicious!

posting mail in Spain!

A special hello to my prep friends, Mrs Schaefer and Mrs Seeley, all of whom I miss very much! In Spain the letter boxes are YELLOW and BLUE not red. The post is called Correos.

Some postcards are on their way!

casa batllo

Well, we have been offline for a few days so there is a LOT to catch up on! With Adrian and Ingrid we visited one of the most important houses in Barcelona designed by Antoni Gaudi. You can go inside and see all of the rooms and even go on to the roof to see Barcelona.

 It is the kind of house a fairy might have, with no straight lines and curved walls,  lots of colourful tiles and small windows in strange places. It was designed for one family!

 I really liked it, particularly the roof, where you can enjoy a view of Barcelona.

holland comes to spain

Adrian and Ingrid arrived from Amsterdam and they brought us CLOGS! Clogs are wooden shoes they wear in Holland. They look difficult to walk in but they are actually pretty comfortable. They even bought a pair for Leo!

cafe con leche

Another day, another market! The Mercat del Ninot, an undercover market, is very near our apartment.

We went to buy food for dinner because our friends Adrian and Ingrid have come to stay for 5 nights. We bought albondigas, which are little meatballs. pimenton di padron (green peppers) and really delicious figs and strawberries.

It is much more fun than going to the supermarket at home because there are little stalls where you can stop and have coffee and tapas. Mum had cafe con leche (coffee with milk) and we had churros. The market is a good place to see real Spanish people buying food. We go most days and buy fresh bread and cheese. It's our daily routine!