It's a Railey great life!: Barcelona and Setting Sail- Maycation at Last!

On May 29th, we flew out of Saudi and headed toward Barcelona via Amsterdam. Our first plane was supposed to take off at 12:20am, but that's when the adventure began. As our flight was leaving the terminal, the crew discovered that a passenger who had boarded the plane was missing and couldn't be found. We ended up having to go back to the airport, only to discover that the missing man had moved seats and was chatting with a friend the entire time. After an hour delay, we were finally off. Let's just say that traveling with Savannah is a whole new game now that she is moving so much! We'd put her to bed at 8 before we left, and she had slept for two hours before we left- just enough time for a full reboot. She was ready to play, and didn't fall asleep until about 3:30 am! She just didn't want to miss any of the excitement, but needless to say, we were exhausted! :)

Our second flight proved to be an adventure as well. When we boarded the plane, we realized that we were on the very last row with the seats that wouldn't recline, ugh! The fun really began when we took turns going to the bathroom. When it was Brent's turn to go to the bathroom, he had an unexpected surprise. The door to the lavatory broke- literally- locking him inside. Since we were sitting on the back row, I was standing by the door and noticed that he was trying to open it. After trying for a few minutes, I went and got a flight attendant and she had to literally take the door of the hinges to get Brent out! It did make us feel better when she told us that the door had been broken, but that they thought they had fixed it while the plane was on the ground. Savannah was again in fine form, ready to play the entire flight, and finally fell asleep while we were landing. Brent and I had a good laugh about it all!

Once we landed in Barcelona we headed to the hotel and then immediately got outside and headed toward the famous "Ramblas."

The very beginning of the Ramblas.

Square at the top of the Ramblas.

Like Daddy, like daughter?

Daddy and Savy- she loved the water!

Mommy and Savy- love that tongue!

We loved the atmosphere and feel of this area and ended up spending most of our time there! Next, we hopped on the subway and headed to the famous Sagrada Familia. It is a Catholic cathedral that was started by Gaudi over 100 years ago and is still under construction. It is definitely one of a kind and unlike any other cathedral we've been to.

Waiting for the metro to arrive.

Keeping busy with her book.

Partial view of the Sagrada Familia.

Inside

Gaudi Facade of the Sagrada Familia

Mommy and Savy.

Daddy and Savy.

You can't tell from the picture, but these are actually the huge doors at the future main entrance.
The inscription is a line from the Lords prayer in many different languages.

Massive organ pipes.

After viewing spending a few hours at Sagrada, we headed back to the Ramblas and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering down the little streets and taking in the sights and sounds. We found a wonderful little quad of buildings and ate dinner watching the people walk by. It was enchanting!

Charming square we ate lunch in.

Beautiful side street.

During our stroll, we ended up stumbling upon the Barcelona cathedral which we were planning to visit the next day. It was everything you'd imagine an old cathedral to be, and it had the most beautiful garden cloister! It was our favorite site of the city!

Barcelona Cathedral

Ceiling inside.

Garden Cloister

Cutie pie!

Looking at the geese in the cloister.

The next day was boarding day, but we didn't have to be on the ship util 2 pm, so we went back to the Ramblas and continued meandering down its marvelous streets. We ended up finding another very tiny Catholic church and a beautiful fountain.