Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Barcelona and Baby Boys



so many of you know, we managed to get to Barcelona, Spain for Jeff's 33rd birthday. we spent 4 days in a fabulous hotel near Playa Catalunya. the weather for the first 2 days was incredible... it was such a treat to leave the airport and start peeling off the layers. the first full day in barcelona we spent most of the day even without jackets. quite a nice break from the grey, cold gothenburg winter. the last 2 days were much cooler, and misty (even though there was only a 10% chance of rain.)

we did a bus tour, saw lots of the city sights, and ate LOTS AND LOTS of tapas. yum, yum, yum. for jeff's birthday dinner we went to a nice tapas restaurant. tapas (i think) translates to "small plates". the tapas menus had around 80 items to choose from, and most people choose 3 tapas. they come as appetizer portions on small plates, and in courses. they also have tapas dessert menus. there are some pics of our tapas plates in the slideshow.

the highlights were LA PADRERA, one of architecht Gaudi's apartment buildings. if tim burton and dr. suess had a child, and that child grew to become an architect, it would be Gaudi. he's famous for organic curves, and no straight lines. at the top of the building is an amazing sculpture garden with great views of the city. we also made a trip to LA SAGRIDA FAMILIA, a church started by Gaudi, and still under construction. unfortunately, we got there too late to go in, but the outside is incredible. i've never seen a church so big! the third big thing we saw was LAS RAMBLAS. it's a shopping street that leads to the harbor, and it's full of very "colorful people". people selling everything from birds to artwork on the streets. also lots of street performers. the noisiest spot was definately the drag parlor. so fun.

when we got back, we had our mid-pregnancy ultrasound. the pediatric cardiologist checked the babies heart and found that it is perfectly normal. great news! the dr. performing the rest of the ultrasound also said that the rest of the baby's anatomy looks absolutely perfect. the biggest news: IT'S A BOY!!!! we're mid-way thru the pregnancy now, and can't wait to meet our son.