Nearly 3 years ago I stood in front of these sand statues and thought of coming back here with my kids. I knew they’d love Barcelona, and here we are. 🙂
This time I wanted to stay at the southern end of town, near La Rambla boulevard and the sea.
But even in November hotels in the area were above my budget. The apartments I found on airbnb weren't cheap either…
I kept searching weekly. We had enough time till our flight, the tickets were purchased a couple of months in advance.
3 weeks before the trip I noticed a new apartment was added to airbnb, in my dream location. The price asked was surprising – 25 euros a night for 3 guests.
Could this be real??
I messaged Genesis, the owner of the apartment. She declined our offer, saying she had only place for 3 and we were 4.
When I look for suitable places on airbnb, and write that 3 children are part of the deal, there are people who politely decline, making it sound as if it’s not related to us. I can understand them and don’t push it. Not everyone is prepared to deal with 3 little "devils" (although our reviews say we are excellent guests).
But I wanted this place so much… it’s close to the Columbus Monument, near the sea, situated between La Rambla and Rambla del Raval, a five minute walk from Sant Josep market, ten minutes away from Catalonia Square, a walking distance from Plaza de España and Montjuïc…
For me this was the perfect location in Barcelona.
So despite her decline, I boldly wrote to Genie that we can manage with what's available, the kids can share a double bed…
And it worked!
Genie did ask for 30 euros instead of 25, but that’s small change. We took it! 🙂
Our flight from Milan to Barcelona was a picnic, compared with the adventures of the Tel Aviv-Milan flight.
It was our first time with Rynair and they were great.
From the airport we took an Aerobus to Catalonia Square and continued by foot to Genie’s apartment via La Rambla.
It’s nice to travel with a backpack and no suitcases. We saved money on a cab and enjoyed a tour of the city. 🙂
We turned right from La Rambla and found the building without trouble. I rang the doorbell and Genie opened the door.
Good morning Barcelona… 4th floor, no lift and narrow staircase… and we’re with a stroller weighing 15 kilo’s on its own… Oops!
I first went up with Shira, leaving Tom with Maya with the stroller downstairs. I put my bag down in the flat and went back down with Genie who volunteered to help. I took Maya while she took the stroller.
We’ll be having a challenging week… Each time I’ll have to go up and down twice: with Maya and the stroller separately. 10 flights of stairs, at least two times a day, while carrying a considerable weight…
“Stairs are a great preparation for our ski holiday. After a week my legs will be in perfect shape…” As usual I was trying to lighten the situation. 🙂
The flat was charming and Genie a delight. She moved to Barcelona only weeks earlier, from Granada in Andalusia, located in southern Spain.
“I know someone from your area… Don Quixote”! I laughed.
Genie works as a chemist, she got accepted to work in a lab in Barcelona.
She rented the place for 3 months, because she had to start working. In January she’ll be moving to a cheaper place further away from the city center.
In the meantime, her friends suggested she open a listing on airbnb to help her finance the high rent by hosting tourists such as ourselves.
“I wasn’t aware of airbnb before. I signed up and offered a low price so that the response would be quick. I only want pay the bills, not make a fortune…” Genie told me.
Europe is cold in November, but warm weather awaited us in Barcelona.
After breakfast we were ready to go. I thought that we should start the day at Gaudí park.
But first we had to get through “Mission: Stroller” – 10 flights of stairs to exist the building. I went down to the lobby with the children and went back up again. When I reached the 3rd floor I could hear Maya crying and a moment later an earsplitting scream from Shira – “Mommyyy!! Come quick!! Mommyyy!! Mommyyy!!”
Shira’s cry filled the stairwell and the echo magnified it. There was no point in asking what happened, for I wouldn't be heard over her screams. She sounded utterly hysteric. I just left the stroller and flew down stairs. On the way down I was trying to understand what happened: I didn’t hear any sound to precede the crying, the building was silent, so probably Maya didn’t fall. I didn’t hear someone opening the front door or a flat door… I prepared myself to battle a snake, a person or an alien – I was ready for ANYTHING.
I reached the ground floor. There was no snake or alien. Maya reached out her hand, it had a small cut and a single drop of blood.
“Mommy, hurts…” the little one said with tear filled eyes.
Shira was still in a state. “Mommy, let’s take her to a doctor! Quick”.
I took out a first aid kit from my bag, cleaned the cut and applied Iodine to it, the whole time talking to Shira in an attempt at calming her. She kept sobbing. “Mommy, will Maya be left with a scar? My heart breaks to see her wound”.
My sensitive girl… I sat on the stairs and hugged them both. We slowly calmed down. I asked Shira to tell me what happened.
“Maya played with that mailbox…"
We sat a while longer, the children calmed down. For me the tension turned to tiredness. I felt that if we wouldn't get up now, I would never have the energy.
“Come on, let’s go out. Sit here without moving for 3 minutes while I go get the stroller”.
“Mission: Stroller” was successfully done. Within 10 minutes we were already taking pictures with the living statue’s on La Rambla. The kids looked fine, but I was exhausted. I didn’t have the strength to go to Gaudí park.
We had to find a solution to the stroller.
I was inspired by a bicycle parking – we'll keep the stroller tied down in the lobby.
"Yeah, like we did in Stockholm, near "Pippi Longstocking's house". Shira caught right on to the idea. "Mom, do you still have that pink chain?"
"The chain from Sweden was left at home, but let's find another one here in Barcelona".
I searched TripAdvisor for bicycle rentals. I saw that there's a shop with positive feedback called "El Ciclo" 200 meters from where we stood. Some reviewers said that it's family friendly. Cool!
Even though I wasn't sure they'd rent out chains, the fact that they were family friendly encouraged me to try and find out.
At the shop's entrance we met Ramiro with Annabeth and little Olivia.
And we got a chain for the stroller. 🙂
And even suitable bicycles for a family.
The energy was back.
Ramiro showed me on a map a track to follow and we set out to see Barcelona on wheels.
The bicycle turned out to be very easy to operate.
I could never have planned a trip like this – I didn't know these bicycles existed.
I discovered them thanks to a building lacking in an elevator. 😉
What a wonderful opening to our trip!
In the evening we visited the Sant Josep market (Mercat de Sant Josep).
We had supper while walking around the stalls and finished off with a natural fruit popsicle.
This market is considered to be one of the best and most beautiful in the world. For a food enthusiast such as myself it is a must do when in Barcelona. 🙂
Before entering our building I noticed the Onix Liceo hotel – an idea popped in my head…
We entered the lobby and I asked the clerk if we could keep our stroller in the hotel. He agreed with a smile. We were allowed to keep it there for the rest of the week.
A huge thanks to this wonderful hotel. 🙂
The following morning we returned the bicycle chain to Ramiro. We won't have any more use with it.
Today we'll go to Gaudí park (Park Güell).
At the entrance to the metro the children asked to play a bit. Tom made up a game inside the colored circle in the middle of La Rambla.
Their play attracted the people around, and some even started taking pictures of them. I was even considering placing a hat nearby. 😉
At the entrance to Park Güell we were greeted by souvenirs vendors. Everything for 1 euro.
This kind of stuff is able to attract Shira wherever we go in the world. To avoid arguing over each silly item, I gave her pocket money for the trip so that she will be able to buy whatever she wants. The problem was that she managed to “invest” her entire budget at La Rambla yesterday (even though Tom advised her to keep some for the rest of the trip). So now we couldn't enjoy the park because Shira stopped near each seller.
“But mommy… I want this…”
And then I came up with an idea.
“Sell the stuff you bought yesterday, if they don’t interest you any longer, and buy new ones here.”
My idea challenged Tom as well. The kids got friendly with one of the vendors, sat next to him and placed their “goods” on his mat. Ber seemed pleased with the arrangement. Shira, Maya & Tom attracted the attention of passers-by and business flourished.
After two hours I suggested we continue with our walk through the park.
“Mommy, but no one bought any of our stuff yet… we sold only his.”
Before I managed to say a word, Ber understood the situation and indicated to Shira that she should choose something from his mat as pay for her work. 🙂
Shira beamed with happiness. Now we could enjoy walking around the park, admire Gaudi's design and listen to an improvised musical show.
In the afternoon we found a small playground in the park. It turns out that the residents of Barcelona come here with their children for some fresh air. We happily joined the locals. 😉
In the evening we went again to La Rambla and had supper at Rambla del Raval, the less touristy part of central Barcelona.
Our house sits right in the middle: 3 minutes to the right – La Rambla, where it’s nice to walk around. 3 minutes to the left – Rambla del Raval, where its cheap to eat.
For a day trip outside of town we considered whether we should go to Figueres, the birth place of Salvador Dalí, or Montserrat.
The Montserrat mountains are an hours drive from Barcelona. It is home to the famous abbey, Santa Maria de Montserrat, the holiest place in Catalonia and a magnificent area unto itself.
We took a train from Plaza de España to Montserrat, where we road a cable car to the abbey.
Montserrat literally means “Saw Mountain”, due to its sharp, spiky rocks.
Around the abbey there are different walking paths through a beautiful nature reserve.
You may get lucky and hear the choir singing in the abbey. We weren't lucky this time round, but in my last visit here I did make it on time and got to enjoy their singing.
Next to the abbey there's a cheese and Catalonian sweets market.
On our last day in Barcelona we went to the beach.
In the morning it was chilly, but towards noon the sun shone and we were back in summer.
“Mommy, see, good thing we didn’t pass on going to the beach because of the weather” Shira said joyfully. She wanted to go to the beach since our first day here. Today she insisted.
My beautiful girl, you did great and earned your fun day at the beach, just like you wanted. ❤
In the evening Tom got his fun day – a Euroleague basketball game at Camp Nou. I bought the tickets online, through the official site of FCB (you can also buy there tickets for football games).
How much were the tickets? 12 euros a person.
Yes, turns out it’s very simple to arrange a non expensive sports deal to. 🙂
Tom plays basketball for these past several years. So I had my private commentator, explaining each move. 🙂
The game was great. Full of suspense. In the begging Barcelona took the lead by several points, but during the third quarter things changed and it seemed as if the Russian team would win. But in the end the winners were the Spanish fans, they turned things over by making a huge noise. It drove the Russians “mad” – they weren't able even to sink a single ball out of two penalty shots.
The next day we flew back to Italy with Rynair.
“Mommy, what will be our next trip?” asked the children non stop before we even made it back to Israel.
We spent the night before our flight home in the Moxy hotel, like in the beginning, opposite Terminal 2 at Malpensa airport.
