Spain was fantastic if you ignore the fact that we hit Barcelona and Madrid during a heat wave. I love some nice sunny weather in fact I have been longing for it since about November when it cooled off in The Netherlands. But 35*C weather while site seeing in a country where most places do not have AC was a bit much. Gelato 3 times a day is healthy if it keeps you from heatstroke right?
We didn’t let it stop us though we still loved Spain. The food was delicious or as they say in Dutch, LEKKER,LEKKER. Since my mom is Cuban and I cook quite a few Cuban dishes my kids were pretty familiar with lots of the foods we tried. One of there favorite things to eat is tortilla not the flat doughy ones most people are think of but egg and potato tortilla. If you haven’t ever had find a Spanish restaurant near you or come visit me and I will make it for you. So just a quick summary of both places and then we can get to the good stuff–photos

Barcelona
1. Poble Espanyol for a walk through history and a flamenco dancing show. Just a tip the dancers are so loud nobody can hear your kids so feel free to take them and nobody will know if they get bored. My kids LOVED it.
2. La Sagrada Familia one of the coolest cathedrals that we have visited yet and huge!
3. A beach day–FYI if on vacation to get some sun and its too hot because of a heat wave just plan a beach day and then the clouds will come rolling in
4. Open top bus tours are the way to go for sure all the history none of the walking
5. Gaudi’s Park Guell is amazing and worth the walk up the hill
6. Food–tortilla, paella, tapas, gelato……
7. Magic Fountains lights,water,and music show
8. Don’t forget the Chocolate Museum– it was very well air conditioned
Madrid
1. Street performers- the kids were fascinated by them
2. Vodafone slide in the Metro station
3. Teleferico cable car above Madrid–my kids favorite part were the real Oscar Mayer hot dogs at the other end.
4. Plaza Major for shopping and great people watching one of my favorite sports
5. Royal Palace–the best armory we have seen yet
6. No trip to Spain would be complete without Churros and Chocolate a plate of hot fresh Churros served alongside a mug of melted chocolate to dip them in LEKKER
7. Fashion and Costume Museum–it was interesting just don’t go on the free day they don’t turn on the AC that day