My Biggest Blog Fans Join Me

We left our hotel this morning in dismay and arrived at Orly airport via Suntransfers. Conveniently, Vueling and British Airways were in the same terminal and we headed back to the Vueling luggage service desk. The two women there were confused by the notes they were seeing in their system as it was inconsistent. I had described the same thing where it said the delivery was in progress and we were told our luggage would be delivered yesterday. She also noted that the ticket said "closed", so she called the delivery company who said they didn't have our luggage. 

So she left and returned, posing with my suitcase saying, "is this yours?" I had a delayed reaction and my mom screamed with excitement. We went to the back room where all our luggage was and all tagged ready to go to Newark later today, and then scheduled to be delivered at my parents' house. We were thrilled to have our luggage back. 

My mom and I immediately went to the family restroom where we swapped clothing as we had been wearing the same outfit for 2 days. We were so thrilled and a weight had been lifted from our shoulders that had plagued us on our last day of our trip. 

So we checked in with British Airways, went through security, and got breakfast by the gate. Our flight was uneventful and we arrived 45 minutes early. We picked up the car from offsite long term parking and headed to Flushing. We always seem to eat Korean or Chinese food when we are coming home from the airport. Here's a collage of our Korean-Chinese late lunch / early dinner: 

I was dropped off at my apartment and rested the rest of the day. The whole family regaled in stories from the trip throughout the day, but were happy to be home. 

Several years ago when I started traveling sometimes alone, I promised my mom that I would email everyday so she would know I was alive. Through the years, I moved the emails to a blog, and "Leading A Life of Cyn" was born.

After 6 years of blogging, and typically receiving as much as 30 hits a day when traveling, my parents have been my biggest blog fans. 

This trip was really special because my biggest blog fans joined me and we got to live the moments together! My favorite memories were the little things: every time my brother turned on the signal in the rental car, it turned on the windshield wipers, the funny statements my dad would say that were always a few steps behind, or when I was tired one morning and kept waving my hand in front of the door thinking it was automatic, and my brother pushing through the door. 

These memories were incredible and so special. My parents would say, "make sure this gets in the blog". I'm so glad we traveled safely and so well (we only had one real meltdown) and that my parents enjoyed celebrating their milestone birthdays in Europe!

Sans Luggage

As mentioned last night, our luggage along with many others, did not arrive in Paris. With the advice we should have in the afternoon, we headed out to the Montmartre neighborhood where we had overpriced crepes. Despite the disappointing breakfast, my mom was delighted as she made contact with a long lost friend who lives in southern France. And despite the delayed luggage, everyone was in good spirits. 

After our breakfast, we walked by the Moulin Rouge which I had never seen before and pictured below: 

The point of today was to visit the Sacred Heart Basilica, or Sacré-Coeur in Montmartre. My mother is super proud that she went to Sacred Heart high school and college of Korea, and there is a real sisterhood with all the alumna around the world. We took the bus from the Moulin Rouge, walked uphill a little, and then the funicular for the remainder of the hill. 

After we went through security, we noticed a crowd around a few singers, who harmonized perfectly, to the point where several tourists sang along and another played his harmonica. It really got the group going as we all clapped and sang "Stand By Me". It really made us all smile:

You can't take photos inside, and although several did, I chose to abide by the rules. We lost my mom at one point, but we enjoyed our visit to this beautiful basilica on top of the hill and took the selfie below:

Here's a photo of Paris which was quite a chilly day. It was very warm in Spain, and although I brought warmer clothing, it was in my luggage. I had to borrow my mom's wrap to cover my shoulders to enter the basilica too to cover my shoulders. 

A nice Korean tourist was kind enough to take this photo of us. I'm glad it's not too close as we're without makeup and wearing the same clothes as yesterday:

So we no longer have the museum pass, and I suggested a few things we hadn't done, one of which was visit the Rodin Museum that had been closed for a fashion show last week. So we took the metro and made our way there. Here's a fun photo of all us in front of The Thinker:

I didn't take many photos inside, but I remember being here in high school and very impressed with the work of his mistress, Camille Claudel. This is such a wonderful museum. I enjoyed this Edvard Munch painting of The Thinker:

When we were outside, I pointed out to my mom you could see the Eiffle Tower. Here's a photo of Mama Kim trying to take the shot:

Here's the actual shot with Rodin's "Three Shades":

The Kims got into the fun too:

Here's my mom in front of the Gates of Hell, where she sprinted to be in the shot in between tourists who were trying to take a photo with it:

You can see Invalides where Napoleon is entombed, with The Thinker:

And the museum, a former hotel, with Invalides:

After the museum, we headed back to our hotel to rest before our dinner. We were hopeful the luggage would have arrived, but we were advised after calling the hotline, that the luggage had arrived around 4 pm and we should expect in a few hours. 

Our dinner reservations were at L'Atelier du Joël Robuchon where I had eaten with my friend, Mike in 2014. We had our hotel call in advance to see if it's okay to still go despite our casual dress and we were still welcomed. The service was great as we enjoyed a hearty tasting menu. Here's a picture of our wine and menu:

Here are a few shots of our dining experience that was counter seating looking into the kitchen:

And here's a collage of the wonderful meal:

After our dinner, we were hopeful to have our luggage waiting for us at our hotel which it was not. When calling the hotline, they said they were in the process of delivering throughout Paris. We didn't sleep at all throughout the night, waiting and hoping for our luggage to arrive. I jumped at every sound of a truck outside. Alas, we had a wonderful trip, but the luggage weighed heavy on our minds. 

Goodbye Gaudi

Our last day in Barcelona and we say goodbye to Gaudi! This morning, we packed up and cleaned our amazing apartment hotel, and headed out to the Picasso Museum. I missed this the last time I was here and it showcases his early works. You couldn't take any photos inside, but the highlight was his extensive study of Velasquez's Las Meninas. Here's a few photos of the museum's exterior:

We walked around the old city center and Gothic quarter and stumbled upon the Cathedral, pictured below:

We then hopped into a cab to go to Mercado Boqueria on Las Ramblas. Although walkable, my dad was struggling and I wanted to make sure he saved his energy for later. We found a great stall that specialized in seafood and had a grilled seafood platter, vegetable platter, and ordered more razor claims and different types of calamari, as shown in a few photos below:

We had fun walking off our lunch and observing this amazing market. My dad asked why we didn't stay at a hotel closer and we could have eaten here everyday. I responded, "no one actually stays in Times Square", plus the space and laundry machine in our apartment hotel was definitely needed. Here's a collage of the meat, various eggs, rainbow of juices, and a Korean stall!

Outside of the Mercado, we hopped on the green line to Fontana. We could have taken it further, but then you would have to walk longer to Parc Güell where we had 1:30 pm entry reservations. I researched that by stopping at Gaudi's Casa Vicens, we could transfer to the #24 bus that drops you off at the top of Parc Güell. As such, here's a picture of Casa Vicens, the first house Gaudi designed and started in 1883. It appears to be undergoing some work as there are plans to open the house to the public:

We hopped on the #24 bus that meandered throughout the city and up the hill. We had to wait a bit for our entry, which was okay as I wanted to not rush my dad in the sun. We finally entered and here are a few pictures below:

Upon leaving the park, the bus was arriving and we took it to Passeig de Gracia and Diagonal, where we walked by Casa Milà and Casa Batlló - to show my family from my walk with Amanda the other day. Some photos below:

After observing several Korean tour groups, we hailed a cab back to our apartment hotel where we enjoyed the pool terrace, rested and washed up. We headed out for an early dinner before our flight, but as it was during siesta time, our options were a bit limited. We ate around the corner and had some pastas and pizza. 

Suntransfers picked us for the airport and we flew Vueling back to Orly Paris. However, this was not without adventure, as the queue for baggage drop was super long, and our flight was delayed 30 minutes. But the worst part is our luggage didn't make it on the flight. They said it should be here on Friday and dropped off at our hotel, but we are obviously a little anxious as we leave Saturday for home.

Not sure if it was the delays (flight and baggage claim queue), but we couldn't find our Suntransfers pickup and therefore took a taxi to our hotel, Mercure Notre Dame St. Germain de Près. The clerk took pity on us and gave us dental kits and water bottles. In all my years of travel, I've never had any luggage issues, so let's hope this is a blip and we get them quickly on Friday.

Sagrada Familia Con Mi Familia

We woke up early to maximize our 2 days here in Barcelona, since the strike yesterday impinged us a bit. Across the street from our hotel is a very conventional Gaudi building, but Gaudi nonetheless called Casa Calvet and pictured below:



We walked over to the metro for 2 stops to the Sagrada Familia. I had purchased a full package with a trip up to the towers and audio guide weeks ago and was hoping to beg them to let us in. However, we quickly learned they were not honoring the tickets from yesterday (but will be refunding us in due time), and the only tickets available had to be purchased on the web for tomorrow. So Justin used his phone and we bought tickets for 5:45 pm and although a bit tight with our airport transfer pickup, doable. I was also thinking I would have the transfer meet us at a hotel closer to the church.

We circled the church in dismay and pondered what to do, and I obviously regretted not buying Thursday tickets yesterday when there were more available. Here are some photos from around the church:





Then we stumbled upon, or he found us, a travel agent selling tickets for entry at noon and obviously marked up. We decided this was the best route as this included an in-depth tour guide. We walked over a block and made our purchases along with many others who were frustrated with the lack of accommodation and backed into a corner with their flight plans. Justin and I decided to ask the travel agent to print our tickets that we purchased for tomorrow and he did (even in color); and we decided to try to sell them. We sold 2 almost immediately to 2 British tourists who were here for a few days, but at this point tomorrow and Friday were already sold out. You really have to plan ahead, as these Gaudi sites get increasingly popular.

The real struggle was finding 2 senior citizens and I approached many pairs trying not to insult them and assume they were over 65. Indeed, the challenge was finding a twosome and several would have taken them, but the time was inconvenient for them tomorrow or they would have left already. Curiously enough, several were grateful and even purchased themselves the same overpriced tour for today and were even on our tour. Finally, we found 2 Korean senior citizens from Seattle who took the tickets off our hands. To be honest, if you're in Barcelona for only a few days and you don't have this set, we were doing them a favor.

So we waited in McDonald's for our noon tour and our guide was passionate and insisted on telling us every detail. There were many tourists who just wanted to get inside and only had 30 minutes, but they bought the tickets just for the access. He didn't seem to enjoy being rushed and finally allowed them to be dismissed.

We spent a lot of time on the Passion facade as shown in the next few photos which have very expressive faces:









Here are a few selfies of us using those tour headsets:

 

He led us through the museum which had many models, like the one below that was a recreated with 3D technology scans and from a broken model:



Some inspiration for Gaudi who tried to understand the architecture of a spider to create the structure:



The workshop for the continued work - over 200 people continue to work to finish the basilica:



Here are some photos of the Nativity facade which tells the story of Christmas and even has a Christmas tree in the middle - many local people apparently sat for Gaudi as he made his sculptures to create this facade:









And finally we were inside with columns that were not truly vertical. Gaudi believed nature was his inspiration and always noticed trees were never really straight.

















My mom and brother next to the granite columns in an otherwise sandstone structure:



Mama Kim was finally eager to be inside as the guide had belabored many points. There are so many tourists and apparently the extended time to finish the structure had been due to insufficient funding. Supposedly, the Spaniards really didn't care for it, but because so many tourists want to see this structure, they have even worked to expedite its completion, targeted for 2022 now up from 2026. This is the reason why we came to Barcelona and my mom, I'm sure at points wished we had just done our tour tomorrow at our pace. But now, a bucket list has been completed and we have the photo of our family below, outside and inside:



At this point we were a bit hungry, but did not want to eat that much before our dinner tonight. So we shared a few tapas plates at Casa de Angela nearby, and hopped on the metro and transferred to the Funicular to go up to Montjuïc Park. Here we were visiting the Miró museum, which was really great. Here are a few photos:

A view of Barcelona from top of the museum (the tent from the private party is kind of in the way) and a photo of the family standing on the ramp leading to the top floor:



After the museum, we took the #150 bus to Plaza España, and on the way, saw the Olympic stadium, park, and torch. At the metro, Justin and my dad opted to go back to the hotel, and my mom and I were in search for espadrilles from a Korean tv program she saw.

When we exited, we walked along Las Ramblas, the Times Square of Barcelona, in my opinion:



And walked by Palau Güell, another Gaudi building:



We stopped in Plaza Reial, to see the Gaudi lamps which have the Barcelona seal and a Hermes helmet on top:



We found the espadrilles store where they make shoes by hand and was filled with tourists and many Koreans. The store workers could speak basic Korean and we enjoyed the sharing of shoes in trying to try different pairs as quickly as possible. Here's a photo of my mom in front and then inside, a worker making a pair:



We met my brother and dad back at the hotel, where we rested about 3 hours before our meal at Disfrutar, known for deconstructing their dishes and owned by Mateu Casañas, Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch, who had all worked under Ferran Adrià of El Bulli fame.

Here's a collage of some of our drinks: Rioja, a salad deconstructed, and cider made with dry ice.



Our meal included 20 or so dishes and was beautiful. My mom said she was feeling like she was eating art. My favorites were the olives, ceviche, foie gras, razor clams.



Anna was our thoughtful and thorough waitress. Here's a collage of her preparing a few of the dishes:



And finally our desserts. Mango sorbet in apple merengue, cheesecake cornet, chocolate peppers, and cotton of coca and mint. The presentation was amazing - you could easily confuse the edible cotton and the decoration.



Copies of our menu which are the same except for half of us got duck and the other got pork in lieu of the usual pigeon (for the record, I've had pigeon and it's fine, but my brother was not as inclined):

So an adventurous day and in trying to make up for yesterday. I leave you with this photo of Papa Kim sucking on a "mandarin flower for its essence" at Disfrutar: