Birthday trip to Banff National Park!

 Last weekend we celebrated my birthday by heading to the mountains for a hike in Banff National Park! It was our first time seeing the Rockies, and these mountains are enormous - the feeling of being among them is something the pictures can't capture. A bald eagle flew by us at eye level when we were standing at the summit of Tunnel Mountain (one of the "small" peaks). 

Made it up Tunnel Mountain!

View from the summit, this is where the eagle flew by!

View from the other side of the summit.

Very happy with bellies full of ice cream!

The Perdue Family Adventure to Canada: Michigan to North Dakota

We've been off the grid for the past few days, in the forests of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, then driving across Minnesota and North Dakota. We did some (real) camping on the UP - Charlotte was excited about sleeping in a tent and having a campfire. We spent 2 nights camping, so we got a day off from driving to visit the shore of Lake Superior and see Pictured Rocks and Miners Falls. The views were beautiful! Charlotte was a great camper, she even helped us set up the tent! Callie, on the other hand, was not into it - she prefers a couch with pillows and blankets, and wanted to be inside the tent snuggled up in our sleeping bags.

After our camping trip, we travelled on to Duluth, MN for a night, there were beautiful lake views along the ride. Next was on to Grand Forks, ND, and today we drove all the way across North Dakota through miles and miles of farmland, prairies, and into oil country.

The Perdue Family Adventure to Canada: Day 2

 We took a break from driving today to explore Niagara Falls - the waterfalls are "humongous!"

Checking out the American Falls

Nice mist to cool off!

The Horseshoe Falls

What a big river!

That's Canada right behind us - so close, and yet so far!

Tourists!

We'll be back on the road tomorrow bright and early heading to Michigan!

The Perdue Family Adventure to Canada!

 Yesterday, Ben, Charlotte, Callie and I set off on our road trip to Calgary! It's been bittersweet, but we're excited to be on our big adventure. 

Day 1 took us from South Hadley to Niagara Falls, NY.

how it started:                                                                

                                            how it ended:

What we learned: Markers are for paper. Just because Daddy has pictures on his arms doesn't mean you should write on your body. (and we'll be sticking with the "no mess" markers for the rest of the trip).

Our last day

We took advantage of a sunny morning in Barcelona yesterday to pay a visit to Parc Guell. The park overlooks the city from a hilltop vantage point with beautiful views looking out toward the Mediterranean. Many paths wind through the exterior of the park among many trees and plants. The architectural designs by Gaudi are found in the Monumental Zone at the center, where the famous broken-tile mosaic patterns cover many surfaces. At the entry staircase, a colorful tile lizard greets visitors on their way through the park. The area was originally created as an estate for the Guell family and other high class families at the turn of the 20th century. The Guell family offered it as a public park in the 1920s and it is now a UNESCO Cultural Heritage site. 

We also spotted a man making a giant pan of paella from one of the higher level trails:

We spent the afternoon at the beach despite some scattered showers, and rounded out our trip with dinner at an Irish pub by the port. Had to go full-circle! And now we're back in Dublin on our layover waiting to fly back to Boston!

When it rains, eat chocolate!

We woke up to the sound of driving rain this morning, disappointed that our plan to visit Parc Guell was dampened. But we decided to hope for sun tomorrow, and looked up some rainy day activities for Barcelona. We scratched a few options from the list right away (a feet-nibbling-fish spa? Not appealing), but soon found the ideal place to go, the Barcelona Museum of Chocolate. Sounded like the perfect place to escape the drizzle and enjoy one of life's simple pleasures. 

However, the museum showed us that, in fact, chocolate is not so simple. The complicated process of chocolate production is what made it a royal delicacy when it was first introduced in Europe (through Barcelona!) The museum included a fairly small exhibit explaining the history and making of chocolate, as well as some impressive

chocolate sculptures. My favorite part was eating my ticket - it was a delicious bar of dark chocolate!

The sun was beginning to peek through as we left the museum, so we had a dry afternoon to wander the Gothic quarter. Before heading back to the apartment, we stopped for chocolate con churros - just couldn't get chocolate my mind after our museum visit!

Next stop in a tapas dinner in the Gracia neighborhood - said to be a trendy area for the locals. 

La Sagrada Familia

We arrived to a rainy afternoon in Barcelona yesterday, so we really did nothing but eat and relax. We're in full vacation mode now for sure!

Today we visited the Sagrada Familia basilica designed by Antoni Gaudi. Construction began at the turn of the 20th century and is ongoing today. We visited there when we were first in Barcelona, and we noticed that they've made some progress these past two years. This time, we got tickets to go inside the cathedral. When we stepped through the doorway, I was overcome with a sense of sacredness. Light of many colors penetrate the stained glass windows and filled the vast open space. Columns stretch up to branch at the ceiling as supports of the many high bell towers above. We stopped in a small chapel designated for silent prayer that was free of the bustle and picture taking outside. Our tickets also allowed us to  closely view the two facades of the building: one ornately carved and representing the nativity, and the opposite geometrically structured with straight lines and representing the  passion. Gaudi designed the basilica with detailed intention to convey symbols of the sacred family and the gospel throughout. Below the cathedral, we walked through an exhibit showing models of the various stages of design and construction, as well as a peek into the workshop where architects are rebuilding models that were destroyed by a mob during the Spanish Civil War.