Tenerife.....

The beautiful volcanic beaches even had mermaids! The cutest one I've ever seen!
The day we had to escape the rain from the north forced us to travel south on the eastern coast. On the way we read that there was a town that had Mayan pyramids. I remember traveling in Mexico and being so fascinated with the Mayan ruins that I knew we had to go. Well, here's a photo. Pyramid? Hmmmm. The cafe had nice ice cream and we even saw a white bunny rabbit. There was an incredible garden there, but as for the ruins....seems that the landowners in the country have the same types of walls built throughout the countryside. We felt a bit cheated as it was so expensive. Whether it really was legit is up in the air. The "proof" or scientific evidence is only 10 years old. The beach might have been a more productive stop.......
A huge cactus and this was one of the only blooms seen. Beautiful!
Not a bad spot for tapas! Em is down at the water as she ran back and forth. Have I mentioned that a beer was half the price of a Coca Cola? Fun!

Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain)

A little geography lesson: Tenerife is one of the islands that make up the Canary Islands. They are a part of Spain, but are off the West coast of Africa. I was torn between which one of the islands to go to. Philip and I read and researched and then settled on Tenerife. I couldn't be happier about our decision! This first photograph is from our drive at the top of the Northeastern section. It was amazing driving in the clouds! It was beautiful and a "long way down."
This is the road down.......and down and down. But, we ended up at a sunny beach so I can't complain too much!
Absolutely not the most beautiful beach we went to.....but it had sand and sun.
Now, this is "the" beach. We actually went here 3 times (which is something for people who want to see something new). The first time we followed the rules and parked in a funky spot that required 3 euros. The second time we parked where the locals parked and paid nothing. The second time we also hiked and hiked along various trails thinking we'd find another beach Philip had read about. NO SUCH LUCK! The third trip to the beach we even drove around up top before reluctantly admitting defeat: we could not find the other beach.
The road to get to this beach was crazy. It definitely felt safer if you followed someone as it's a one lane road, incredibly twisty and steep. Thankfully, Philip worked up the courage the third time and drove. That's a whole different story though!

Barcelona II

Can you beat the two thumbs up in front of the Gaudi cathedral? She's "damn cute!"

On our walk through the city to the beach. This one is right near where the Olympics were.

Just cruising the streets.....

This is at the brewery/tapas bar I mentioned previously. Smart trick for the 2nd night was to use Emma's name again withe the hostess.....1 hour wait was only about 15 minutes! Nice to have a cute blonde 5 year old saying "gracias" "como estas" and "por favor" as it really seems to go over big!

Barcelona!!!!

This was a beautiful cathedral in Barcelona. They were in the middle of a service (inside and out...huge gathering of people outside) when we went inside so we were only able to see parts of the church. It was beautiful. This was on Palm Sunday and when Emma and I lit a candle for my cousin Robynn and Emma's great-grandpa, both of whom died this past year.

This is the front of the same cathedral. Emma is in the white sweater on top of Philip's shoulders (to see of course!). A much better view.

Cleaning off the feet from the city's beach. Emma was sporting her new Barcelona "hand made" hat. Bright blue skies and sun made us squint so much that we bought hats.....hers was of course much cuter than mine!

The front of Gaudi's unfinished Cathedral. Absolutely amazing. It's said that even with the modern technology and $ (I can't remember how much it was to get in, but it was a LOT) that this won't be completed for possibly 30 or more years! It's really hard to even explain the complexity of this cathedral. It's really an amazing thing to see. So you must go! And, if you do, we know the BEST brewery/tapas restaurant in town. We were only there for 3 nights and we ate there twice for dinner!