Barcelona (Part 1)

SO. Having three sets of unedited vacation pictures is stressing me out a lot more than it maybe should. I so want to start with our Scotland pictures but I still have an entire cruise to finish. Not to mention the rest (and best part) of our Ireland trip which was almost three MONTHS ago. I just haven't had time to edit what with planning and taking all these trips.

Life is tough.

Anyway, here is a post about the first full day of our cruise: Barcelona!

Barcelona is so much more beautiful than I was expecting. Actually, all of Spain was more beautiful than I was expecting and clean! I honestly did not do one bit of planning for any of the cities we stopped at (except for Rome but we had already been there, so). That was all on Fofo and he did a swell job.

As soon as we stepped off the cruise's charter bus in the middle of the city, we hopped right onto a hop-on hop-off tour bus. We normally stay as far away from those things as we can because they sort of make me cringe. But we only had around 8 hours in the city and Barcelona is big. Plus, we were trying to minimal walking for the sake of Forrest's poor head (he has a really bad headache all the time for those of you who didn't know).

So we took the bus all over and had a grand old time. We hopped off a few times to see the best things and were generally glad that the buses had padded seats and stylish blue earphones. The only complaint I have is that the bus wouldn't stop when I wanted to take a picture. It was very rude. If some of my pictures are blurry, that's why.

 

  

 

 

 

Our first stop was the Barcelona Cathedral. It was free to enter but I did drop a few Euro into the alms box. The inside seemed like it was covered in gold and the outside was gorgeous. This cathedral doesn't really compare to La Sagrada Familia (coming up next post) but it was pretty in a much smaller way. 

The magnificent buildings were designed by Antoni Gaudi. Casa Batlló is the house above. It has skulls for balconies, the roof was designed to look like dragon scales, and most of the house is covered in mosaic tiles. I wish I had been able to take pictures earlier or later in the day because the sun's glare makes it really hard to see all the different colors. They were gorgeous. You'll just have to take my word for it. Or go see it yourself.

Home again!

We're back!

I feel like I have said those words a lot lately. But can one really have too many vacations? I meant to do some photo editing on the trip but that pretty much flew out the window once we started the fun-having. Some things you can't stop and one of those things is how much fun the Hayleys have. 

Probably because we are so fun.

One more sentence with the word fun.

So this was basically our trip: we saw lots of mountains and stayed in a few manor houses and camped and and now I have at least 37 bug bites to scratch. Those bug bites are just the gift that keeps giving, aren't they? We got a lot of relaxing in and I managed to wear my rain boots at least six days in a row. Scotland is a very rainy place for those of you who didn't know. It's kind of like Washington (state) except with shorter mountains and people play bagpipes in the middle of nowhere and you see a lot of kilts.

I would say it was a pretty good trip.

If you ever get to visit the UK, go to Scotland. We've been at least four times and I still haven't been able to get enough.

Troy Hall

Troy Hall is the place we stayed after our long day on the Antrim Coast (Seriously, that was only one day. Three posts.) It was dreamy, you guys. And sort of magical. We had our own little garden too. And if it hadn't been 10 degrees outside, we may have used it. Also, the view. Just look at it!

Our room had a sitting room which was in the turret on the left! I have never wanted a turret more in my life. Really. Turrets are the best thing ever. Especially when they are used solely for drinking tea and eating biscuits (those are cookies, Americans).

Troy Hall is in Londonderry which is also called just "Derry." I can't tell you how confusing this is when the guidebook says one thing and the GPS says another.

Londonderry is a great city. It has these huge walls that are at least 20 feet across in places that you can walk on and see the whole city from above. The only reason I know this is because we drove downtown to find a pub for dinner but wouldn't you know it, all the pubs stopped serving food at 6:00. All of them. So we were left to walk on the walls and eat Subway for dinner. Plus I forgot my camera. So this was a pretty useless story.

But this was my favorite place to stay!

Happy Birthday, M!

This is my favorite little sister, Megan. Today she is 20! 

This is the most recent picture I have of the two of us and it is six months old. I don't know about you, Meg, but that is way too old for me.

Megan and I are exactly the same and completely opposite. Simultaneously. She's the prettiest, smartest, and snarkiest lady I know. And she's not a teenager anymore. I'm pretty sure you know what you mean to me, but just in case you don't, you should remember how I let you borrow my favorite shoes even though I know that your big feet stretch them out. If that's not true love, I don't know what is.

Welcome to your twenties, Meg! Happy birthday and I can't wait to see you in a month or two (I hope!). Next year we'll spend it together and it will be the best.

Dunluce Castle

It seems to me that Friday is a good day to post about a castle. 

One time, part of this castle fell off into the ocean. During dinnertime. Oh, and it was the kitchen that fell so it was kind of a big deal.

Dunluce Castle is yet another wonderful Antrim Coast site. It has been owned by the same family since the 13th century! As with any proper stone structure in Antrim, it wouldn't be complete without pieces of the Giant's Causeway used as building material. I mean, what kind of noble would you be without some of that famous hexagonal stone?

 

I really loved that we were basically the only people at this castle. We were the only people on the guided tour once again and we all know how I feel about that. The tour guide seemed kind of lost as far as things to tell us because we had no questions. Either that or I am just reeeeally intimidating. 

The only thing I really remember was when he told us about how the castle is haunted. The Lord of Dunluce locked his daughter into a tower because he found out she was going to marry a servant. They gave her a broom so that she could sweep to keep herself occupied, which I guess is better than nothing. Except who likes sweeping?

She was finally rescued one stormy night by her love in a small boat but, whoops, they got caught in the rushing tide, crashed into the rocks, and died. It was tragic. So now she haunts her tower and people hear the sound of her sweeping. Because doing household chores is the best way to spend your afterlife, apparently.

There was also a cave underneath the castle that led out to the ocean (that may have been how she escaped!). But it turns out that pictures of a dark cave aren't very exciting. And they don't really look like pictures of a cave either. So I found a photo somewhere else and this is what it really looks like.

via

Cool, right? We weren't able to go in because the ocean was too high and there was a sign telling us not to. 

But I did go in a little.

SO, I am finally done with Antrim and we are now moving south into County Clare and the Cliffs of Moher.. eventually.

Ahoy!

We're back!

We just got in last night and this vacation was so relaxing that I wasn't even tired! 

I've already unpacked (applause), done one load of laundry (double applause), and I have the best sandal tan. 

In an unlikely turn of events, Forrest came back from the cruise with a sunburn and I came back like a bronze goddess. Seeing as how Fofo is at least five shades darker than my porcelain self, we were quite confused and/or shocked at his bright red skin whilst I had only the tiniest tinge of burn. 

This is some type of a miracle. 

And some responsible use of sunscreen. 

SPF 45, to be exact.

Our port of call was Marseille, France. We didn't get a chance to see the city the day we got there because we were a little more concerned with boarding the ship on time. We shared a cab to the docks with some delightful Irish ladies and spent the rest of the day lounging on deck in the perfect weather. Ah, sun.

I don't think I can properly express the great joy I experienced upon stepping out of the airport. It's a wonderful feeling, this not wearing layers. As I type this, I am wrapped in a blanket with a dying fire on the hearth trying with all my might to recall the warm rays. It's still early spring in England, it seems. 

At least Forrest has his sunburn to warm him up! All I have are my warm memories. 

 

And the first night was formal. So there we are!