Mom, Gregg, and Zach visit!

In April, Mom, Gregg, and Zach came to visit us for almost a week. We got to do a lot of different things with them. We went to a beach on the Costa Brava called Blanes and saw the beautiful Marimurtra botanical gardens. We went to all of the sites in the city like Montjuic, Parc Guell, Sagrada Familia, and la Rambla, and we also took Zach to a soccer game! It was a fun week, and we were sad to see them go. They were our last visitors for the rest of the season here.

Easter with Flo and Eva

After a week with Dad, Karen, and Lindsey, we had some more visitors! Flo and Eva flew from Germany to spend a long weekend with us. We had a lot of fun taking them through the city. Eva and I went shopping, and we all went to dinner at the Hardrock Cafe. We got to go to Tibidabo - which is the highest point in Barcelona. It is a moutain with a big cathedral on top with a huge statue of Jesus on top overlooking the city. There is also an amusement park on top of the mountain! We spent Easter walking on the beach and having desserts at one of our favorite restaurants. We missed seeing our families, but it was really nice to have friends with us for the holiday.

Tibidabo----------------------

Montserrat with Dad, Karen, and Linds

A gandola going up the mountain (the tiny yellow dot!)



We took a little road trip to Montserrat (Jagged Mountain), a big mountain with a convent on the top. To get to the top we road a gandola that went really high (and was definitely a little scary. The buildings and view on the mountain are pretty, and it was definitely worth the trip.

Dad, Karen, and Lindsey visit!

Us on top of Montjuic & Chris and me in a dwarf hole

Lindsey, Naima, and me at Sutton

They came to visit us for a week , so look above to see all of the different places we went to together!

Our first FCBarcelona game

Ivana got us tickets to go to the soccer game, so we finally got to see one. We had great seats close to the field and Barcelona won, so it couldn't have been better!

Trip to Seville

The girls finally got to go to a road game! Once a year the team arranges for all of the wives/girlfriends to go on a trip with the guys, so we got to go to Seville with the team in the first week of March. The weather was amazing - 80 degrees the whole time (in March)! The guys won their game so we had a fun night out to dinner and in the city, and the next two days we spent our time doing tourist stuff and seeing the city. We both thought Seville was by far one of the best cities we have seen. There are so many pretty things to see, and the weather is great - although summer might not be so fun if it is that hot. We saw the Cathedral, a royal palace, Placa Espana, and the bull fighting ring. The Cathedral is one of the largest in the world and is really beautiful. It was definitely a nice trip and good to get away from Barcelona for a little bit.

Fun with friends at Sutton

After the game this weekend we went out with some of the teammates and my friend Szilvia who I used to work with. She and I still keep in touch even though we do not work together anymore, and she was finally able to come to a game with me. She is from Hungary, but moved to Barcelona to get some work experience. We have learned a lot from each other about our different cultures, and I have also learned I speak way too fast for non-native english speakers!!! We always have fun together though!

A close game!

This weekend we had a home game against a pretty good team. The score was close the whole game! We went in to overtime and were still close, but just seemed to lose the edge we had. Overall, the team played a lot better than some games in the past. They did a much better job of getting the ball in to Chris. He had one of his best games since we have been here with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and two dunks! Unfortunately we just couldn't win it though. It was a great game to watch though, and the atmosphere in the gym is crazy when it gets close!




My new job is going well so far. My boss is really nice and fun. We hired three people in my first two weeks, so that's a good start anyway! Unfortunately this week was a little slow though. We are hoping to hire ten people together in my first month, so 7 more to go. I get to see Chris a lot more, because I now usually work evenings when he is at practice as that is a better time to call candidates when they are home from work and available to interview. We are now hiring people for companies in Valencia, Barcelona, and in Costa Rica, so we have a little more to do.

A day at the park

We had a day without work or practice and wanted to find something new to do in the city. We decided to test out a new park we read about in our Barcelona books. It is called the Industrial park, because it used to be a big industrial site and they changed it in to a big park. They made a lake and added lots of other things to make it nice. The best part is a huge steel sculpture that has two big slides coming out of it. So of course we tested the slides out, and they are actually really fast! It was a nice place to relax in the middle of the city.

A Weekend Away

This weekend Chris had a vacation so we decided to take a little trip together. We heard about this spa called Caldea that everyone said is really great. It is in the little country of Andorra in the Pyrenees mountains between Spain and France. So we spent the weekend in a big ski town. We had a lot of fun at the spa and on the way home, we decided to take the long way home over the mountains so that we could really see them. Our car barely made it, but we drove all the way to the top - 7,890 feet high! We finally got to see lots of snow and big ski slopes, much different than Barcelona! It was really pretty and nice to finally get out of the city and see some more places.

Chris taking a shot!

The home game last weekend against a team from nearby Barcelona was an exciting close one, but we won 68-55! Chris had a decent game with 9 points, 6 rebounds, and a nice block. He got the ball more and was able to take some more shots, but he just wasn't making as many as he hoped he would. Now that the team is finally getting the ball in to him, things will get better for sure.