Festa De San Joan ( or John or Juon or ...)

This is the biggest festival of the summer.  Mid summer pagan festival with partying on the beach until 5 am, fireworks, dancing, and a saint of course.

We did it with the Catalans in Vilanova. Thanks Paul and Jen for the invite.  We made it to midnight which was amazing.

More Stuff In Rome

Saw the usual tourist stuff but none is really stroller friendly.  Phil and Ted were not aware of the via appia.  We took a taxi to Trevi and the driver actually drove us to the fountain, like 5 feet away!!! The guy was nuts.

Yo quiero cocinar

It's on...

La Piscina

Vamos a la piscina casi cada dia.

By the way, we went to Rome

We convinced Roman to go to the airport by telling him we were going to the city they named after him...ROME!  At first, we were happy to see familiar food and family.  But then it was like 5000 degrees so we couldn't wait to leave.

But we were able to all go to Dalia's wedding.  We had a great time.  Roman and JonCarlo met Danielle, and the battle royal began.  Actually, they just ignoted each other because of the language barrier.

Aunt Majida and Uncle Pierro were kind enough to take us to the mountains near Rome to an agriturismo, near  Castel Gandolfo, a tiny hilltop village overlooking Lake Albano. This is near where the Pope chills out during the summer. Let me just say that His Holiness has it made!!!!!!!!!!

Tibidabo and Parc Guell

We hit up some musts in Barca.  First the carnival on the mountain, Tibidabo.  To get there, a train, a cab, a bus, and a funnucular.  The view of the city was giant.  There's a huge old church on top, but who goes there?  I don't think there's a neighborhood nearby.

We also visited Parc Guell, where Gaudi was his Gaudiest.  So crowded!  The kid's parks were practically empty, though. 

Lo sentimos

Estamos muy ocupados aprendiendo español!

Tarragona

Not far from Sitges is the really quaint town of Tarragona, a relic of Spain's days as the vacation destination of the Roman Empire of the west. Relatively devoid of tourists, but full of lots of cool stuff. Before we visited the town cathedral, we hit up the local playground. The kids loved it of course. Tarragona is like a transplanted piece of Italy lodged in the middle of Catalunya.

Vosotros

Ustedes is overrated.  I'm using vosotros.

Descent upon Barcelona

The Burkes hosted us on a daytrip to the big city. The boys split off to visit the aquarium. Most of it was pretty garden variety with two exceptions. The Spaniards like to show off their cuttlefish. And there was a really cool submarine! A great place to lose a child in a foreign country...the Aquarium. That should be their slogan. The church pics are from Santa Maria del Mar, which used to be right on the water a long time ago. We were all starving, so we hit up a great restaurant in Plaza Cataluyna for what else...cuttlefish!

Sant Bartomeu i Santa Tecla

Bored at home so we took a cab to town to visit the iconic church on the hill for which Sitges is known, Sant Bartomeu i Santa Tecla. Although it looks older, it's only from the 18th century. Mass was actually taking place. Very nice service in Catalan.   As always, Roman and JonCarlo were able to find the only weapon within 10 square km.  They tried to declare war on Menorca. The Attisha boys also got to watch some rugby on the beach. Let's just say it, Sitges kicks ass!!!