Breakfast in Barcelona

In Barcelona, hot chocolate takes on a new dimension, almost as thick as pudding.  Served with hot churros for dipping, it can be a very tasty treat, so that's what I ordered at one of the many sidewalk cafés on La Rambla.

Julie went with chocolate croissant and coffee, something I associate more with Paris, but that proved to be the better choice this particular morning.

My churros were good, but the hot chocolate wasn't on par with the first time I tried it a few years back.  It wasn't as thick or as delicious, and I admit feeling a little guilty for straying from my usual alternating breakfasts of eggs with multi-grain toast and oatmeal, which are much healthier in my mind.  Perhaps the difference in quality was more based on my subjective observation than the chocolate itself.

How did we find ourselves having breakfast in Barcelona on a beautiful October morning?

When we saw a terrific deal on Regal Princess visiting Malta, which is near the top of our bucket list, Julie and I decided to book it, despite having an already full autumn calendar.

We skipped spending extra days exploring in Barcelona and the adjacent region, despite knowing how fantastic that can be from recent personal experience.

Non-stop air from Philadelphia made for a very easy redeye flight.  Before falling asleep, I watched the highly entertaining Nicholas Cage movie, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.  When our itinerary later took an unexpected turn and we found ourselves on a Game of Thrones excursion in Dubrovnik, Croatia, we discovered that flick had been partially filmed in that gorgeous port city.

Upon arrival in Barcelona, we had intended to tour the inside of La Sagrada Familia, the famous unfinished Gaudi-designed Cathedral, but we decided to book it once there rather than in advance, just in case something came up, like a late flight.

Note to self: if you don't have it booked, it becomes much easier to talk yourself out of doing something you really want to do once you are in proximity.

We took an Uber to the cruise ship port when we arrived in Barcelona rather early in the morning.  As expected, the ship was still debarking passengers.  

Our gamble that we might be allowed to check bags early paid off, but not until an hour or so passed with us cooling our heels along with another dozen or so early birds waiting for staff to arrive to throw our bags on a conveyor belt to be delivered to our rooms.

All in all, it had gone smoothly, and we soon boarded a shuttle bus (5 euro roundtrip per person) to take us back to the edge of town.

We walked up La Rambla, enjoying the ambiance and scanning breakfast menus, finally selecting one with a view of the gorgeous Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona's opera theater.

While coffee is a stimulant, we found ourselves increasingly relaxed.  Still, we eventually started walking in the right general direction to La Sagrada Familia. 

We hadn't gotten a full night of sleep, and we decided to turn around after a mile or so to start back to the bus drop-off point to board the ship.

It had nonetheless been a nice start to what turned out to be one of the best cruises ever, partly because we didn't try to do it all but rather gone with the flow.

Fall Reflections On Life's Blessings

"May this birthday and the year to come bring many bloggable and joyful memories."

Let me just say, we're off to a great start!  What a gorgeous time of year fall can be.  Our youngest daughter's wedding in upstate New York avoided threatened rain and proved to be picture perfect in autumn hues.  In the more southern Philadelphia area, the leaves change a few weeks later, but they're also gorgeous.  That being said, you may find it surprising that Julie and I went on some great cruises rather than simply spending time hiking favorite trails like Haverford College, featured in the first three photos, and lovely neighborhood streets in the area.

Coming off of two years being shut out of international travel by Covid-19 restrictions, we took advantage of what looked like once-in-a-lifetime values on European cruises to fascinating destinations that took us away from home, but that doesn't mean we haven't been packing lots of "bloggable and joyful" experiences when we're residing in Haverford Township.

We returned to the Ridley Creek Orange Trail where we found ourselves Lost in the Woods last fall.  It was once again gorgeous, and this time we followed the advice of an experience Orange Trail hiker who said to stay along the water, making it even more pleasant.  Here are a few photos from that day, but note that the narrative continues below.  

We've also tried out a few new trails.  Gina, Laszlo and Emma have continued to welcome us to their home area by spending lots of time with us.  We enjoy getting to see Emma a few days a week after school, a time when she sometimes whips up fresh, healthy meals for her parents as pleasant surprises when they return from work.  She's begun growing herbs, veggies and mushrooms that she works into her recipes.

Emma's parents treated Julie and I to a delightful day at the Barnes Museum in Philadelphia, which has a superb collection of impressionist and post-impressionist art, including lots of French works by Van Gogh, Matisse and Cezanne, which tied in nicely with our cruise itineraries as well as our personal artistic tastes.  It was a gorgeous day to walk the scenic Philadelphia streets that Laszlo and Gina selected to stroll on the way to the Barnes.

Afterwards, we stopped at Federal Donuts, where Gina said their regular donuts are great, but the smart play is to buy hot and fresh, which are the ultimate donuts.  It took a little longer, but they were indeed thoroughly delicious.  I went more traditional with a Cinnamon Donut, but Julie went along with Gina's top recommendation of Strawberry Lavender, which Gina also got to split with Laszlo.  Both flavors were very tasty.

I quoted their birthday card to start this blog, and yes, we had a birthday party.  We went to McSorley's Ale House where we played foosball and ate some good pub food with drinks.  The roast beef sandwich might not have been a Philly Cheesesteak, but it was fresh and hot.  Gina and Laszlo picked up a German Chocolate Cake --- my favorite --- while Emma and Nana kept me busy playing foosball.  We enjoyed that back at our house.

On another day, Emma and I actually sought out Sorrntino's Grocery, touted by some as the best cheesesteak in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia, but they were closed on Mondays, so we went to a pizza place across the street, Fanzone's, that made a very good cheesesteak, too.  It looked like a good place to get a pizza too.  A local woman I asked on the street about another cheesesteak restaurant said this is where she goes for pizza.  With a diner vibe, with counters by the grill and the window being the only places to sit.  This one-man operation has a very good vibe, and the number of locals picking up to-go orders was testament to its value.

  

Most recently, Julie, Gina, Emma and I built a Spooky Gingerbread House from a kit that Gina's Aunt Darlene sent.  It didn't turn out like it looked on the box, but we had a lot of laughs trying to figure out how to get it to stay together while the sugar icing that doubled as glue set up.  We never could understand why the side walls would be in an inverted slant, but we finally got it to stand up while we put on the roof and decorated it.  Unable to get the chimney to stay, we went "Wizard of Oz" by putting the witch that was supposed to be going in the chimney instead smashed beneath the house.  Gruesome but effective, and no actual witches were killed in the making of this gingerbread house.

Halloween Day Addendum

We returned to the Haverford College Trail today, and the trees looked considerably different from a month earlier as pictured at the top of this post.  Walking around there is like being a college professor without the hassles of reporting for work in an office or classroom.

What Gina calls an elephant that sucks up leaves was scheduled to come around on Halloween, so we've been raking the colorful leaves and dropping them in the allocated curbside spot.  The still look pretty for now, but of course left on the ground, they would become brown and slimy by Thanksgiving.  There will be a return of the elephant later in the month, because leaves continue to fall.  I think it also is probably good to aerate the soil with this raking before winter arrives for a healthy lawn in the spring.  As the family of Ned Stark liked to say in Game of Thrones, "Winter is coming."  That was Laszlo's opening line upon arriving on Halloween, and quite appropriately so.

Emma came over in the afternoon, and we were all set up for Trick Or Treaters well before 6 PM.  As you can see, everyone found it quite amusing when I put a Royal Caribbean hat on the pumpkin. 

While Emma opted out of a costume this year, her parents put on costumes to wear at work, and they came over afterwards.  Unfortunately, rain started to fall as the sun set, so we didn't see many costumed kids before we left a bowl of Reese's Bars in front and went inside to have dinner, with Julie returning once to replenish the bowl.  The Dread Pirate Gina and Jon Snow from Game of Thrones clashed movie genres in our living room.  Laszlo temporarily died his hair black for his role, and for photos added an effective warrior's grimace and occasional haughtiness.  Emma also died her hair blue, though it is hard to see the blue tint in these photos due to low lighting.