168 hours in Barcelona

I got back Sunday night from a week in Barcelona. My husband had a work event there, and so I tagged along, with the goal of using some of this time to be a tourist, and some for a writing retreat of sorts (working my way through my book manuscript). This is by far the longest the two of us have been away together (without kids) since the little guy was born 5 years ago. But our nanny and two other of our long time caregivers were able to stay with the kids in shifts and keep things running, so we took advantage of the opportunity.

The weekend before we left did not leave a ton of space for packing or worrying about details — this was the weekend with two dress rehearsals and two concerts. I’m happy to report that both went well. But it was a bit of a whirlwind. I came home from concert #2 at 5:30 p.m. Sunday March 16th, our sitter came at 6 p.m., and Michael and I were out the door a few minutes after 6.

I actually slept reasonably on the flight, maybe 3.5 hours of the 7. Spain welcomed us with a 1.25 hour custom line but I eventually made it to my hotel (Hotel Nobu near Sants) where I could take a brief nap (feeling a little guilty that my husband headed into 7 hours of meetings but…)

That afternoon I went on a tour of the Alta Alella winery. The sun was shining and I could see the Mediterranean. We had a slightly different sort of wine tasting/pairing, where a chef had us try various wildflowers that grew in the area alongside the Cavas and other wines from the winery. This was certainly memorable (fennel, plus a flower that tasted like wasabi…) but let me just say that wildflowers don’t really absorb much, especially if you are jet lagged, but I only took a few sips of each of the 5 (!) glasses of wine they poured, so I survived, made it back to the hotel, and took another brief nap before meeting my husband for one of his work dinners.

The next day I mostly worked, except for a brief foray to buy lunch from a nearby grocery store (Iberian ham, an orange, and an excellent loaf of fresh bread that cost like 60 cents — I love Europe that way). Then that afternoon my husband and I got on a tour to see the Sagrada Familia, the famous Gaudi designed, half-finished cathedral. The outside was a little surreal, like all the pictures, and I liked the varied sculptures (you rarely see a stone turtle as a cathedral decoration) but it was the inside that was really special. When I walked inside, I just gasped. I have never seen stained glass windows like that before. They were so vibrant and bright, and colorful, somewhat like sunlight filtering through trees in a forest. I took pictures and videos, but it just doesn’t capture the effect, and this was on a cloudy day! I can’t even imagine if the sun was shining.

(Last year’s trip to Spain was very rainy too! Barcelona is supposed to have excellent weather next week — oh well…)

Wednesday was another work day for me, followed by yet another long dinner. I somehow wound up at a club after this — not what I would have chosen but I guess it was memorable. Full on DJ, lights, dancing, lots of 20-year-olds in tight clothing and me feeling very old — especially the case when I went to bed at 2 a.m. Yikes.

The next day I went to the Joan Miró foundation and saw all that artist’s work. I have seen a lot of individual works (or 2-3) in other collections but this was my first time seeing a lot of them. My favorite was a giant tapestry that he created with a textile artist. Some of his triptychs were very conceptual (like a single black line across a white canvas) but arranged in a room designed for them they do have a visual effect.

We had to move hotels at this point (to the Grand Hyatt near the University of Barcelona), so I spent some time getting to know the new neighborhood. At night a few of us went to dinner at Cocina Hermanos Torres, which is a 3 Michelin star restaurant. The food was of course amazing, with many many courses. I lost track of all of them, and the net result was not going to bed until 1 a.m. again — maybe the jet lag won’t be so bad if I was going to bed at the US equivalent of 8 or 9 p.m.!

Friday was a very low key day. My husband was in meetings much of the time. I did a very long workout, relaxed and read for a while, and walked around seeing the sights. Then he and I went to dinner with just the two of us and got to sit outside — a casual little cafe type place. This was our shortest dinner by far of the week! We had paella, olives, tomatoes, beer.

Saturday, after another long workout, I went to the Picasso Museum. I particularly enjoyed his early works (he did an amazing self-portrait, and a portrait of his father, when he was 15). I also loved his series capturing the pigeons on his windowsill in Cannes. These canvases were done during a short break from his studies of Las Meninas that he was copying (in a very Picasso way) from the Velazquez painting. We had seen that painting in Madrid last year so I enjoyed seeing these interpretations, but the pigeons just made me happy.

Miraculously, the sun finally came out, and the Picasso Museum is right in the middle of the old city part of Barcelona, so I spent some time just wandering around the very narrow alleys and stone streets, not entirely getting lost but coming close.

We flew back Sunday — the flight was long, but I used it to work and then PHL greeted me with an hour-long customs line. My husband has Global Entry so he went through and just worked on the other side while he waited for me. I’m debating if it’s worth getting Global Entry. I don’t travel internationally that often, and sometimes the line is long but sometimes it’s non-existent (and Global Entry involves some effort), and my kids can’t go through with us anyway without their own Global Entry so…hard to know.

I will do a shout out to my travel shoes. I bought a pair of Skechers loafers in order to have some cool weather shoes that were walkable but weren’t sneakers. I hadn’t really worn them more than a day or two before the trip, so this was something of a risk, but they were comfortable, and held up to the miles of walking that tend to happen on a European city vacation. I also managed to get everything for a week in my carry-on, and this included bringing a formal dress plus heels for one of the dinners, so I was pretty proud of my packing.

I am also happy to report that I read through my entire book manuscript — twice — which was my goal for this time I had away from the kids and my usual responsibilities. I did some editing, and while it does need a bit more work, it is coming together. Now back to a busy week — but hopefully not too many bedtime battles as I am tired. The kids made very cute signs for us welcoming us home!