I just got back from a week in Madrid with the kids. I had a wedding to go in the city so we decided to go and visit my mom and family. If any of you have ever been to Madrid in August you know what to expect.. Everyone in Madrid takes off for vacation the same month.. August.. I never quite understood that, I mean who is left? who takes care of business????? Let’s just say there are several mom and pop stores that just simply put up a sign that stated “Vacation, will be back in September” as simple as that….hahaha.. Pretty funny..

Anyway, one nice thing about August  in Madrid is that you get to go to all the museums and sightseeing places with no lines or people hovering over you.. bad part… it is very hot.. But we had a great time, the kids loved playing in the Retiro park which is right across the street from my moms house and got to play with their cousins and hang out.

I also had a great time seeing old friends and taking advantage of some of the night life there.. I do love Madrid and the city feel, since it is my natal city, I always feel right at home there.. The wedding was beautiful you can see some pictures HERE I still have to upload the rest which are in my dad’s camera.

Overall it was a great trip full of surprises….

And you can see more trip pics HERE, again I’m waiting for some more from dad..

And so we are on to part III of my awesome Barcelona trip. In part one I talked about the U2 concert which was awesome and part two explains our tour of the city of Barcelona.. so on to this part and the tale of Girona and Figueres.

Girona is a beautiful city north of Barcelona which is really enchanting.  It is a small town but full of history.. We took a tour bus from Barcelona and in a couple of hours we were there. We had a guided walking tour of the city and its sites. the Cathedral, Arab baths, the Wall, Jewish town… I feel in love with this city and would love to go back.. It was extremely hot and had to do a lot of walking must uphill.. but it was worth every minute and every site..

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From there we jumped on the bus and headed to Figueres Dali’s home town.  Another very quaint town that offers the wonderful Dali museum with its very strange architecture and very interesting sites…. One of my favorite was the exhibition of Dali’s jewlelry.. awesome..

On the way back to Barcelona just leaving Figueres a motorcycle that decided to pass us hit head on an incoming car and we witnessed everything.. A young man and a woman were splattered on the cement while we watched how the paramedics tried to save their lives….We watched in horror as they finally placed a white sheet over the girl..It was very sad and made us realize how fragile life is..

The bus finally was allowed to continue but 10 kilometers from Barcelona we got a flat tire!! (we think it might have been from the debree left over from the motorcycle accident). We had to wait over an hour for another bus to come and pick us up..Overall, it was a very interesting experience..

You can view all the pics HERE.

to be continued…..

As I told you in Part One of this series of posts I spent 3 days in Barcelona with my friend Ana Marie. On our second day there we decided to go take the tour bus and visit the city.. There is so much to see in Barcelona that it is important to plan ahead (something we didn’t do). That is why the double decker tour bus is the best option.

You buy a ticket for one or two days and you can hop on and off at any stop you like. We decided to first do the entire tour and see what we liked to see and then started stopping at all the great sites.. We stoped by the Museum of Catalunia,then  took the cable cars up to the Castle Montjuïc then off to the port and the Ice Bar... very very cool.. and very very cold….

Once we had completed the tour we decided to get changed and go out to the gothic part of Barcelona for a nice dinner and drinks.. We went to a great tapas restaurant and had a great meal, then off to a couple local bars in which we found they make great mojitos!! then off to sleep because the next morning we were off to see the Dali museum…

To be continued…….

You can view all the pics HERE.

My very great friend Ana Marie otherwise known to some as “Muffy” flew from Miami to visit me in Alicante and invited me to the U2 concert in Barcelona... We decided to stay a couple of days in the city of Barcelona since neither of us had ever been. We left by train on the morning of June 30th and arrived to our hotel to find out that there was a problem with our rooms and had to be transfered to another hotel room..

Once settled in we got ready for the concert and our adventure began on the metro full of thousands of fans who also headed to the Camp Nou stadium. Once there the excitement was obious and there were more people than you would think would fit in this stadium.. We finally got in and sat down with beer in hand to watch the concert.

The last time I had seen U2 in concert was about 20 years ago in Madrid when it was my brother who was supposed to go with my cousin but got sick at the last minute and gave me his ticket..And let me tell you they rocked this time as much as back then. They played a lot of their new songs and many of their oldies..

The stadium was completely sold out and there were people everywhere. On the way out we had to find our way to the metro with a million people trying to get in.. a great adventure I will never forget.. Thanks Ana Marie!!!!

You can view all the pics HERE. 

To be continued………..

Today is the kids last day of Spring Break and they start school tomorrow , but that wont last long because they are off again Thursday and Friday due to another holiday here in the Valencian Community. I’m not 100% sure but I think on Thursday April 3rd (of this year, I think it falls on different dates every year, always after Easter) is a local Alicante holiday called La Mona de Pascua: It is a day where families gather and it the typical Easter cake called La Mona (yes, the monkey, don’t ask).

In the end it just means another day off from work, school, another day to relax and since it falls on a Thursday then, hey what the hell as they call it here “puente” (bridge) to Friday and that day now too becomes a Holiday. See how easy it is.. You guys must come to Spain where between the local, national and pretty soon International holidays will be part of your everyday.

photo flickr happy outcast

We are very sad, it has gone by so fast..We have done so much, yet it seems like so little..We will miss all our friends and family. I would like to thank all the following people for their kindness and gifts to the kids..

My dad and M.T. who took us to Disney !! bought the kids gifts and let them destroy their beautiful beach apartment..we love you and we will miss you..

To my brother and Cristina for their hospitality, their beautiful son and the honor they have giving me by making me a Godmother.. we will miss you guys and hope that you will visit us soon…

To Margie and Chris, Minna, as she is called by the kids went to Disney with us and showered the kids with gifts and love, the poor thing had to sleep with Bella and had the patience not to kill her..Chris took Marco and Bella to Chuckey Cheese, an event Marco will never forget..we will miss you very much..

To Alex and Cindy for their gifts and love to the kids.. Alex we can´t wait to see you guys in Madrid very soon..Cindy, keep the Skype on girl, and we will chat..

To Alberto and Patricia for the wonderful lunch and company. We will see you in Madrid very soon..

To aunt AnaMarie, Marco is reading up a storm his Harry Potter collection and Isabella will not take the princess dress off.. thanks for the dinner and getaway, that I really needed.. love you and hope to see you in Spain soon.

To Mark and Maruchi and little Mark for the fun times.. Marco and Bella said.. we liked that boy he was very nice..hahaha… take care and keep in touch..

To Alex and Cucu and the kids.. Marco and Isabella wanted to stay in your house and live forever..you have a beautiful family and we wish you the best..

Tom and Wanda, it was great seeing you, You have a beautiful daughter, love to you and with luck with the new business venture..

If I forgot someone, I´m sure you will let me know..

Again, thank you to all.. We will miss you but we will stay in touch through this blog..

On Sunday February 10th, I became the proud Godmother of my nephew Tristan. The ceremony was celebrated in the same church that my brother and sister in law were married. It was beautiful and Tristan was a very good boy. He did not cry when the holy water covered him and smiled happily for all the pictures.

The entire family was there and we celebrated the reception at my brothers house with lots of Cuban food and drinks. I was able to see all my stepbrothers and sisters and their kids as well as old friends. My dad took lots of pictures that I will post on our online photo album as soon as I get back.

Everyone looked great! We had a lot of fun, we ate and talked about old times. I´m blessed with so many friends, family members and now a new Godson..

Pictured are Tristan, Arianna, Isabella and Anissa!

My dad and M.T invited us to Disney for two days. We drove up on Wednesday (an almost 4 hour car ride) to Orlando, where we stayed in an awesome apartment very close to the Disney parks. We woke up early on Friday morning and headed to Disney World. They said it was going to thunder storm but we had a wonderful sunny day.

The kids were in awe! They didn´t know where to look first.. Isabella got to see all the princesses up close, we even saw Cinderella’s stepmother and ugly stepsisters!! Bella was a little afraid of them and decided not to take a picture with them. Marco loved the pirate ride, and the haunted house! We also got to see Minnie’s house and waited over 20 minutes to take a picture with her because Bella insisted and when it was our turn, Isabella decided she was scared of Minnie and guess who took a picture with her…..

The second day we went to MGM where we saw all the playhouse characters, we saw little mermaid on stage singing, and we even went to an animation drawing class, where they teach you how to draw and when the teacher came around to see our drawings, he couldn’t tell which one was mine and which one was Isabellas, I was quite embarrassed that she already draws better than me..

Overall, we had an amazing time and we all thank my dad and M.T !! As soon as I get back home I will post all the pictures in our photo album..

Ok, this is the last post from Spain. We are leaving tomorrow morning to Madrid then on Monday off to Miami!! packing almost done..check…tickets in hand..check..passports…check…kids medicine to knock them out in the plane…check!!!!!

Once in the U.S I will write a couple of blogs in Spanish for my Spain friends we leave behind and want to hear all about our trip..

Nothing left to say here..

pick thanks to Djo’s in flckr

I don’t even really have time to write this post and it will be short at that. I’m freaking out, I have sooooooo much to do and no time to do it in.. I need to finish the laundry, figure out what to pack for Madrid (freezing cold) and Miami (probably nice and warmer).

The kids are so excited they don’t even know what to do…Isabella tried to help me pack and took all her clothes and put them in the suitcase!!! I’M NO KIDDING!! ALL HER CLOTHES!! (SHOES INCLUDED), guess I don’t need to pack for her now…

Ok, I will try to post tomorrow if not i will when we get to Miami..

picture thanks to flckr