The Ocean Beckons

This trip has seen us continually moving to new and exciting destinations. It has been full of adventure and has taken us to places we have never been. However, doing so with two children is getting quite exhausting. We haven't seen nearly enough of Barcelona which is sad, but the Tom Schipilliti "follow me even though I have no idea where I am going" tour yesterday was great, and we saw many of the top tourist attractions by accident.

Today we need to be on an 11am train. The kids were sleeping in which I didn't mind as I could scurry around packing and cleaning and Tom went to get croissants and baguettes for breakfast.

When Sammy woke up he was excited to see that the tooth fairy had found him even though he was from Australia, had lost his tooth in France and was in Spain.(talk about a jet setter) And he was impressed that he received both an Australian dollar and an euro coin!

I was ready to depart at 9:30. Unfortunately no one else was. By 10:30 we were only just leaving our room and we had admitted defeat. We could not make it to the train station in half an hour.
But then Tom's "we're not late until the train doors are closed and even then I'll barge them open" mentality kicked in and we were abandoning our subway plans and searching frantically for a taxi.
Even with a taxi I wasn't sure we would make it in time. At the station I raced to buy tickets while Tom strolled along. I frantically ran around looking for the platform while Tom moseyed to the information screens. Yes we bought the tickets in time, yes Tom found the right platform, but a little more panic from him may have lessened mine!
We made the train with one minute to spare, and ran to the back of the train where there were less people sardining themselves in. Apparently there was a pick pocket aboard the train, thankfully I didn't notice him and he didn't notice my wallet!

The taxi driver that drove us to our hotel was so much like Tom's Italian relative Nunsia. She was hilarious, wanting to chat with us in basic Spanglish. My favourite line was that if she were in Australia for 40 degree heat she would go caput!

We arrived at the hotel but couldn't check in for another hour, so we sat in the lounge area watching the tour, using the free wifi and consoling Adalia who was teary at the thought of me dying (I don't know why she is thinking such thoughts, but nice to know she loves me)

Once we had our room keys, the afternoon was spent with the kids and Tom in the pool, I did some washing, then a couple of hours at the beach. At the beach there are paddle boats for hire that have a slide into the water! Sammy thinks we might need to hire one. Adalia meanwhile entertains herself by giving me a salt scrub; completely covering my skin in sand!

As usual our good intentions for an early night evaporate, as we found ourselves dining at 8pm in an Oz family restaurant/ Top one style dining room that is included with our accommodation. The kids are happy, there are hot chips, pizza and watermelon with ice cream for dessert. And I don't mind that my kids have eaten nearly an entire watermelon as it has been days since they have eaten any fruit!Read more