La Sagrada Familia

The amazing ceiling that they tried to make look like a forest roof.


We finally got to go see La Sagrada Familia. It's a huge unfinished temple that has been being built since 1882. It was worked on for many years by Gaudi and since he died, new architects keep changing it and adding things. They think it will not be finished for at least another 50-80 years because of the hard work and tons of money needed.




The more modern side of the temple with different fruits at the tips.

La Rambla Market

We took Martina to La Rambla and found this giant produce and meat market. This street is always crazy with different types of stands to buy things and people painting themselves and posing for money. You could find any type of fruit, vegetable, or even dried fruit and nut you wanted! And on the street that leads to the market there were tons of stands where people were selling animals. They had tons of cute little rabbits, turtles, birds, parrots, hamsters, ducks, and the greatest of all...chipmunks! We could not believe they were actually selling chipmunks as a pet, (for $18 a piece too). They were even running around in those mouse wheels. Clearly we are not in the US! I had to take a picture just so you could see.

A visit from a friend

My friend Martina, who I actually just met last summer at Chris's basketball training, came to Barcelona to stay with us this week. We had lots of fun and took her to see lots of different things. One thing we have definitely learned about Barcelona is that it has one of the best nightlifes of any city. There are so many fun clubs, restaurants, and things to see late in to the night (or morning). When you go in to the city at midnight, the streets are still filled with people! Here are a few pictures of us at a club called the Pacha that the team goes to a lot. http://www.clubpachabcn.com/flash/index.html

Jose, a teammate, with Martina and me -Xavi, another teammate and his girlfriend

The Season Finally Begins

So we finally had our first season game, Chris wearing his new lucky number 13! The team won after a very close second half. It was a fairly good game to watch. After the game this weekend, I will be sure to have Chris write a little for you. We have kept very busy the past two weeks, Chris with practice, and me with going to interviews. I still havent found a job, but I found out that i can not work here until I have this special number sort of like a SSN. That's why some of the companies didn't want to talk to me yet. I have to go wait in like tomorrow morning at 6 am so that i can be sure to get a time slot ticket for tomorrow when the doors open at 8. I heard it takes several hours of waiting, but after tomorrow I will be able to work here and call back some of the people I had interviews with.

Parc de la Ciutadella

The Arc de Triumf outside of the park. They built it for the world fair that Spain hosted a long time ago.
The Museum of Zoology in the park.
The really pretty Gaudi Fountain/Statue that everyone goes here to see. Definitely worth going to. There are also tons of really pretty trees and flowers and fountains all throughout the park.
The pretty lake in the middle of the park that you can rent rowboats for

Placa Espana and the Magic Fountain

This is Placa Espana (Plaza Spain), it has the big museum of art which you can see behind us. We went this past weekend with our friends Nichy (Dionisio) and his wife, Morgan who are leaving this week. The museum, fountains, landscaping, and architecture are really beautiful.


At night, we went to the magic fountain in this plaza. it has performances every half an hour where it does a routine of water and lights to classical music. Click on the video below to see it in action. It was soo crowded, the people were lined up all the way up the steps to the museum. You can see a picture below of other fountains leading from the museum down this big stairway to the main fountain.

Las Ramblas

The Harbor at the end of Las Ramblas




Morgan, Chris, and me with the lions at the Christopher Columbus Statue

Las Ramblas is a really long street that runs all through the city. It has tons of sites to see and shopping. It also connects to the harbor where the aquarium, mall, and movie theatre are.

Almost a month...

It's hard to believe we have already been here almost a month. At first it wasn't easy, but it is slowly getting much better. Barcelona is a big, great city. There are tons of things to see and people to meet. Chris and I are settled in to our apartment, and we have lots of decorations and things from home. The apartment is really big, and ready for visitors! His team manager said he has never seen someone bring so much stuff with them!


Chris's basketball is going well. It took some time for him to get used to the new players, a new language, and a new coach of course. He has been playing okay, and the team is improving a lot. We have a young team with a lot of guys that are only 18 or 19. Pre season two-a-day practices and scrimmages are almost over, so we are excited for the real thing to start. I will post his schedule on here somehow for you to see it, and I will try to keep it updated with how it's going. the team website is www.cbhospitalet.com but it isn't much help when they don't update it much and it's in spanish! Chris's number is 13, and his team colors are blue and white.


I have had four job interviews, and am waiting back to hear from my latest one. I haven't found a lot of jobs that are right for me, and when I do, they are worried that I do not know enough spanish. So hopefully that will change soon!


We became friends with a guy on the team and his wife who was also from the US. She and I were the only wives, so we were happy to have each other! Unfortunately, we found out this week that they are leaving. He was released from the team, because we can only have two foreign players and they chose not to keep him. I met another girlfriend of a player name Ainara this weekend and she loves to travel to the games and stuff. She is the same age as me and very nice. We are hoping to be able to go together to some of the games. She knows some english, but wants to learn more so we decided we would teach each other.

Here are a few pics. of our apartment.





Our living/dining room which we decorated in teal and fuschia.

Our bathroom, small but nice. The other bathroom below is pretty much the same but done with white tiles instead of tan.





Here is the view down our street. Tons of apartments!