Barcelona Whirlwind, PM Edition

Back in Plaça de Catalunya, Alisa and I searched for a bench in the shade to continue regrouping our energy after the busy morning.

We sat down and watched an ingenious entrepreneur use two sticks, some rope, and a bucket of soapy water to create some of the biggest bubbles ever.

Joey and Sammy were riveted by these enormous bubbles.  Like moths to the flame, they were quickly chasing after these behemoths, jumping in the air, and celebrating their success whenever they touched one and burst it.

Several other kids were there too and it became a multicultural event.  At one point they were joined by kids from China and India.  No matter where they hailed, these kids all went crazy for bubbles!

Since this trip began, I could think of a few things that are so relaxing and enjoyable to watch.  Now I've found at least two more:  watching kids chase bubbles and watching kids chase pigeons.

This was a double bonus.  After the bubble entrepreneur went to refill his bucket, the boys could focus their attention on Plaça de Catalunya.

It was filled with pigeons.

Now they could avenge their sister's soiled head!  Now they could wreak havoc on the European pigeon consortium!

With vigilante vigor, the rushed into the plaza.  

Their strategy was excellent and they split up to cover more ground.  The pigeons never expected this and they were separated from their precious breadcrumbs for at least 45 seconds, maybe even a full minute as the dynamic duo criss crossed the square.

Finally, their lust for revenge was abated and they sat down for a well deserved snack (ironically creating more crumbs for their nemesis).

We enjoyed relaxing on a shady bench as the warm autumn sun bathed the square in light. The people watching remained excellent amidst the quiet sound of the fountains.

We took a few more pictures of the Plaza before getting on the second route of Barcelona's Double Decker.

This route took us up into the hills and to Montjuic and the Olympic Stadium.  

Since 1992, the place has been holding up pretty well.  It was an impressive stadium and the boys enjoyed the views.

We walked outside the stadium and down into an expansive area with an arena and open area.

The arena was humming with activity.  The bass could be heard thumping from where we stood.  Unfortunately it wasn't the second coming of the 1992 Dream Team (and sadly this wasn't the arena they played in).  It was Herbalife!  

http://www.herbalifeextravaganza.com/2015/barcelona/en/

Apparently they wanted to create an Olympic type event for their many sponsors.  We caught the exact tail end of the festivities.

Prior to the arena opening up and disgorging and the Herbalifers, we enjoyed some quiet time in this impressive open space.

And then Herbalife exploded out with French, Swiss, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, and Germans streaming out of the arena.  A majority of them stopped quickly to light up cigarettes (which did seem oxymoronic based off Herbalife's purported goal of global nutrition and weight loss).  

We were swept up in the rush and went out to the main street near the Olympic Stadium. 

As our second wind from watching the boys chase bubbles and pigeons, we decided it would be best not to get on the double decker since it would go for another hour away from the harbor and the ferris wheel.

We decided to try our luck with cabs.  This failed on two fronts.  The first was due to the Herbalife invasion and the second was due to the fact most cabs only take 4 people.  Little Lanna is certainly a person with a fiery personality but we thought the cabbies wouldn't consider her a person just yet.  Unfortunately, they did.

We did wave down a cab and Alisa, Sammy, and Lanna headed out.  Joey and I waved at other cabs, we showed off our legs, we tried to look desperate.  No dice.

So we walked down and stumbled across the funicular! 

http://barcelonando.com/transport/barcelona-funiculars-cable-cars

Joey was ecstatic.  We got our tickets and watched the funicular come in!

The trip back was amazing. The windows were open so we had a panoramic view of Barcelona with the fresh sea air breezing through.  Joey loved it!

Once back on the ground, we were near the Ferris Wheel and hurried over to catch up.

The Ferris Wheel was in full swing and the carnival was popping!  

We jumped on the Ferris Wheel and everyone had a blast.  Sammy enjoyed it more than anyone else (after enjoying a hot dog leaving some ketchup war paint).  The view, although not as impressive as the funicular, still gave us a great perspective on the carnival down below.

The boys then drove some bumper cars (which Sammy emphatically hated) and rode the carousel.  They had a second helping of hamburgers and fries to top it all off.

Before leaving the carnival they did some monster poses with the Ferris Wheel.

We decided to walk back and look for some popsicles.  We wanted to enjoy the full Rambla experience.

It was such a joy to walk in the warm Barcelona night as darkness started to fall.  The marina was lit up and the boys were so happy running by the water.  

When we hit the Rambla, it was awash in activity.  People were everywhere and the restaurants were in full swing.  We did find some popsicles and the boys enjoyed them on the long walk back.

Walking through the Rambla is something I hope everyone has a chance to experience.  It's so vibrant, full of artists (several more statue artists were there, though none as good as the one we saw at Guell Park), musicians, and people trying to sell the latest gadget.  This season's gadget was an object they tossed 20-30 feet in the air and then lit up as it came down.  It had a propeller to slow the fall so this multicolored thing would slowly float back.  

As we walked the Rambla, I took a picture looking back.  It captures a small part of the activity but none of the noises or scents from the numerous restaurants. (It does have a tiny blue light in the sky which is one of those crazy gadgets).

As the Rambla ended, we again walked through Plaça de Catalunya and waved good bye to Barcelona's Double Decker.

The day felt like it was a week long.  We were exhausted but so thrilled with what we were able to experience in Barcelona that day.

Working in Madrid

Sorry for the delay in this post! I was trying to make my way through 2 proposal deadlines in late September/early October. Now I'm trying to catch up on everything else!

So while we certainly enjoyed life in Madrid, the real reason we were there was so that I could work with my colleague, Andres Diaz Lantada at ETSI, on some new microfluidic device designs. Yes, Mom, pretty much every day I went to work at ETSI, arriving by a respectable 9:30 and often staying until 6:00. Of course, many of those days also included several coffee breaks and a crazy long Spanish lunch. But I was there to do work, and work I did.

My visit was funded by the EAGLES (Engineers as Global Leaders for Energy Sustainability) Faculty Mobility Award. For those of you who know my research, you are quite aware that it has absolutely nothing to do with Energy Sustainability. Unless you count having a healthy heart as Energy Sustainability, which apparently Drexel does because they approved my application! A colleague in mechanical engineering from ETSI, Andres Diaz Lantada, visited my lab at Drexel in June 2013. Over the past two years, we worked on several microfluidic devices for biological research together. At last, I found the time to come visit him in Madrid.

Here is the front of the ETSI building, which is actually shared with the Natural Sciences Museum in Madrid. This was taken on my first day, which coincidentally was also the first day of classes for the students!

Also in the first main hall when you enter is a giant Watt machine. Andres and I are posed next to it for scale.

We got to work right away. After an initial brainstorming session, Andres designed some microfluidic devices for my research. Then they rapid prototyped them using a stereolithography machine, and finally made some PDMS molds. Here are Andres and Pedro working to make the molds, while I helpfully watched. And took pictures.

And here is an epoxy master and some molds. We are going to use these devices to create 3D vascularized tissues, specifically fat and breast. Which I suppose are in many ways the same thing, but in our case, different. Let's hope that they work (or that my new post-doc can get them to work!). The needle in the bottom image is showing how we are going to incorporate the initial blood vessel. For size scale, these devices are about the same size as a microscope slide.

I gave a seminar on my cell mechanobiology work in English to a group of Spanish mechanical engineering faculty. Not my best work in tailoring a talk to the audience, but at least they all stayed awake.

Afterwards, we went for a traditional (aka 4 hour) Spanish lunch at a restaurant called La Hortensia in the Chueca neighborhood of Madrid. They featured bread with blue cheese (yes, even I tried the pungent blue cheese), white (Fava?) bean stews with seafood or meat, and then fried haddock. All was delicious! Here is the whole crew (faculty and students) outside La Hortensia. Andres is right next to me in the blue sweater, and there are three other faculty members and three students. See if you can figure it out!

I also taught a class on "Organ-on-a-chip" to Andres' class of 35 students. They were quite patient as they listened to my English lecture and then participated in several interactive activities (although they did at one point give me a horrified collective look as I asked them to do something completely impossible. Nothing like a challenge!). They did quite well at deciphering complex biomedical engineering papers and presenting their results to the class (again, in English). I look tall here because in Spain the lecturer is up about 2 feet on a stage!

My last commitment was an engineering fair for high school students. It was quite a production, putting our engineering fairs to shame! There were all sorts of displays there, from a falcon (which I think related to agricultural engineering) to the front part of a military jet (not sure what kind of engineering that was, but definitely cool) to a race car track. There were also quite a few 3D printers, but even still, Andres rose above the other displays and made it onto Spanish TV!

http://www.telemadrid.es/noticias/madrid/noticia/el-aprendiz-de-ingeniero-una-feria-en-upm-para-experimentar-con-tecnologia

I had a wonderful time working with Andres. He is an intelligent and kind person, who truly cares about engineering research, his students, and other people in general. I am so glad to have found him as a collaborator, and I really hope we can get one of these devices to work well so that we can keep working together!

Barcelona Whirlwind, AM edition

At this point, we have discovered a vital fact about most of the major European cities.

They all have a DOUBLER DECKER BUS tour!

Yes, it was time again to board the double decker to explore as much of Barcelona as we could in one day.

The team mobilized pretty quickly on Sunday morning and the roads were pretty empty up to Barcelona.  I was concerned about parking which proved to be groundless as we swiftly and easily found a place right near Plaça de Catalunya, considered by many to be the true city center and ultimate pigeon hang out.

We got the bus tickets and made our way to the top!  The boys got new headsets and were very impressed that this bus had 16 languages to choose from.  Again, their faces lit up with the joy of the DOUBLE DECKER BUS!

The bus rumbled off and we went by an amazing Gothic Cathedral, the focus of Barcelona's Gothic Quarter (where there was virtually no one wearing all black or excessive mascara).

From there we rolled past the aquarium and into the beach area.  The boys were mesmerized by the giant ferris wheel.  We got off at Barceloneta, the trendy beach area, and walked over to the ferris wheel.

Unfortunately, the carnival was just waking up and the ferris wheel was not open.  We consoled the boys with some delicious local pastries at one of the stands lining the street.

All was well after that chocolate infusion and we walked back to the closest bus stop.  We were relegated to the lower deck given the sheer volume of people.

The next stop was Gaudi's Sagrada Familia Cathedral.  

On the way, the boys began announcing the bus versus trolley battle that ensued as we made our way up from the beaches into the hills of Barcelona.

It started off well for the bus, storming ahead of the trolley!

But then the trolley made its move...

The track and road separated and each vehicle went its own way after that.  

"That's good." Joey explained, "We're each winners this way."

Shortly after that we arrived at Sagrada Familia.

Having seen so many pictures and hearing so much about this famous Gaudi masterpiece, I wasn't sure what to expect when we joined the hundreds of people across the street from the cathedral.

It's crazy.  It's inspiring.  It's so much bigger and quirkier in person.  It soars above you and its overwhelming to see those four towers rise up with all the intricate detailing in seemingly random places.  When you add the tumultuous crowd waving dozens of selfie sticks or lining up in certain areas to take the best picture of the cathedral, it's an experience that everyone should enjoy first hand.

Most of the pictures I took of the cathedral itself don't do it justice. Alisa and the boys did have a nice moment:

The wait was too long to go in the main entrance, but the crypts were open.  We went inside and underneath the west side there was a chapel.  A service was being held as we, along with hundreds of others, walked the periphery of the chapel. 

The attendees of the mass were receiving communion, which was interesting.  It made me think about the larger sense of communion as we all were experiencing this amazing testament to God in our own way, yet all together in this subterranean chapel.

We walked back into the mid-morning sunshine.  I was walking with Sammy and he immediately went to a gravel covered area where some trees were planted.  He seemed more fascinated with throwing rocks in this little garden than anything else he'd seen.

We dragged Sammy away from his beloved rocks and boarded the bus.  

Top deck!  Next stop, Guell Park, another Gaudi creation.

I would have loved to sit in a room with Dr. Suess and Antoni Gaudi and have them describe their idea of art.  There seem to be some similarities in the physical world Seuss drew and the actual architecture Gaudi created.

Guell Park exuded whimsy and beauty.  It also gave you excellent views of Barcelona as it was high up in the hills and had multiple terraced levels.

We went up to some of the higher areas which were winding, hard packed pedestrian dirt roads.  Vendors lined the areas with scarves and trinkets while pigeons flitted from tree to tree.  

The pigeons gave some pay back for all the harassment Joey and Sammy had provided their Madrid brethren.  One of them pooped on Lanna's head.  She took it in stride and the problem was quickly solved.  Her brothers vowed revenge.

We made the slow walk back down the hill to the bus.

Along the way, we saw a very life-like statue of a man in mid-stride.  As it turns out, this was a living, breathing person who has been near Guell Park for the past few months!

This link is amazing as it has video of this guy in exactly the position we saw him.  During the video he does actually move.  It's incredible:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3131583/Shocked-tourists-amazed-discover-new-Barcelona-statue-fact-flesh-blood-VIDEO.html

This style of performance art is apparently pretty popular in many European cities and very much in Barcelona.

The morning had been pretty exhilarating and exhausting.  We got back on the bus and gratefully relaxed in the lower deck.  Joey charmed some ladies from Missouri who were sitting next to us.

The bus rolled back to Plaça de Catalunya.  We had completed the full eastern route of the DOUBLE DECKER BUS.  

Now was time for the western route which will be discussed in our next post!

A day of rest

Saturday was a day of recovery. 

After quickly vacating the prior apartment with no functional toilet, we were now 20-30 minutes south of Barcelona at the beach.

The view out of the apartment was calming and there was a pool and kids playground on site.

The beach was only a few blocks away and Saturday morning I went out with the kids to enjoy the sand and sea air.

Castelldefels has a large esplanade that stretches for several miles which probably boasts the largest roller blading population in Europe.  We strolled along with groups of roller bladers cruising by.

We stopped and enjoyed the playgrounds in the sand.  The boys worked their upper bodies on the monkey bars.  Lanna passed out to the soothing sounds of the waves.

We had some lunch back at the apartment and returned in the evening.

After the rough day before, this was a much needed day of recuperation.

The boys loved running on the beach.  Sammy went crazy collecting shells!

We watched the sun set as we walked the beach in Castelldefels.  The sea air and breathtaking views gave us the restful break we needed before our last full day in Barcelona.  

The things you take for granted

Our new host in Barcelona and I walked through her apartment as she gave me the tour and house rules.

When we reached the only bathroom in the house, she got a pained look on her face.

"Prior guests broke the toilet, which we found out earlier today. We have ordered a new part but it will not be here until tomorrow. I hope this will not be a problem."

The pained look in her face intensified.  I think she knew this would be a problem.

I asked what options there were for facilities.  She offered a red mop bucket.  Then, I asked where were the closest facilities if there was an emergency at night?  Again, she indicated the red mop bucket.

We had arrived around 7pm and were pretty much locked in to this place for the night.  She had given us no warning about this problem, nor had she prepared any back-up options.

Now that we knew there was no working toilet, everyone immediately felt as if they needed one (except Lanna, of course, who continued to joyfully fill her diaper at will).

We decided to go out for dinner (which had been the original plan anyway) and avail ourselves to the facilities there and hope the rest of the night was uneventful.

The apartment was near the eastern part of Barcelona near the beaches.  We walked down the little Rambla, a wide walkway in the center of the street crammed with people at tables for the plethora of restaurants in the area.

It was a lively scene and we settled on a very good restaurant focused on fresh, sustainable produce.  The waiter appeared to be very new, so we had quite some time to sit and enjoy the atmosphere.

Lanna found their display of pumpkins, cabbage, pineapples and carrots amazing!

As a side note, this was also the last night of Barcelona's Le Merce festival.  This is an entertaining annual event that spans 5 days and culminates with an amazing fireworks show!
http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/events/la-merce/barcelona-la-merce.html

We walked down to the beach to see the fireworks.  They were mostly obscured since they were closer to the city center but we heard the reverberating blasts clearly.  We had talked up the fireworks on the drive to Barcelona but after the initial salvos, the boys were pretty uninterested.

Fortunately the night was uneventful beyond that and the next morning our host arrived promptly 15 minutes late.

She and her colleague struggled with the toilet as we sat in the apartment, waiting to find out if things could be salvaged.  We told her that if the toilet could not be fixed, then we could not stay there.

After an hour and some frequent muttering Spanish echoing down the hallway, our host called another person in to help.

At this time, nature called, and we had to leave the apartment.  Our host let me know she would call when the issue was resolved.

The morning was crisp and a bit chilly with the Mediterranean Sea air blowing up the Rambla.  The beach had some vendors out and some veteran beach goers enjoying the sun and sand.  The views up towards the city and out to the sea were beautiful.

After noon, I got a call from our host.  The toilet was fixed!  Huzzah!

We headed back and stocked up at the supermarket.

Once we got back, Joey immediately tested the toilet.

It failed the test.

Now I'm no plumber, but I feel I know enough about toilets to try to fix this myself.  That was brought to a screeching halt when the top lid could not be removed.  The button to flush the toilet (the one that didn't work at all) was tightly locked to the top.  I didn't force it for fear of making it worse.

Immediately that sickening sensation of a broken home washed over us.  It's similar to the feeling you have when you see a friend who came back from some travels, give them a big hug and ask, "So how was the trip?"  And they answer, "It was amazing!  Aside from the last hotel when we all got bedbugs."

The crawling, uncomfortable sensation returned.  With it came anger and a bit of worry.

I called our host.  She was shocked to hear the toilet was not working.  She regretfully told me she would not be able to return until tomorrow to fix it.  She asked if I had tried.  I told her I had.  She offered nothing else, not even an apology.

Alisa immediately launched into action!

She checked multiple sites and multiple listings.  She fired off emails faster than a Nigerian Prince asking for money.

While Alisa focused on finding new housing, I took the kids down to the pool.  Joey and Sammy enjoyed running through the kiddie pool while Lanna crawled all over the pool deck.

Within a few hours Alisa had found several options but none really close to Barcelona and we settled on a little beach town called Castelldefels, about 25 minutes south of Barcelona.

I let our host know that we had to leave given the lack of a functional toilet.

The car was again packed up (no small undertaking) and we left.

As we walked into the new apartment, Alisa walked right into the bathroom, pushed the button, and was rewarded with the beautiful sound of water flushing.

EPILOGUE:  We did inform AirBnB about this situation once we were settled in Castelldefels.  We requested a full refund.  They were prompt and thorough, calling both me and the host to obtain our reports.

This episode eroded our faith in humanity a bit.  When I talked with the AirBnB representative a second time, he said, "Do you have any documentation?  Your story and the host's story are quite different.  She tells us the toilet was working when you arrived and that it broke this morning.  She says you left before she had a chance to come and fix it.  She also refuses to give you any refund for your 4 day booking."

Fortunately, Alisa had reminded me to get documentation.  I had extensive video of the toilet, inability to fix it ourselves, and the red mop bucket.

This documentation was vital.  AirBnB sided with us.  Not only did they provide us a full refund but they also gave us a credit for the next time we booked with AirBnB.

Hasta luego Madrid. Hola Barcelona!

The packing was done.  The car was loaded.  The kids were in.

We were off!

The drive itself was fine.  Driving in Madrid was not nearly as tumultuous as I had feared and we were able to navigate swiftly out of the city.

Within minutes, Sammy and Joey announced they were "starving."  It seems being in a car is the best appetite stimulant ever.  We should have given them breakfast in there while we were packing.  Fortunately we've unlocked the secret to sated their insatiable car driven hunger:  honey pops!

As they enjoyed fistfuls of this delectable breakfast cereal, we made our way to Barcelona.

Once outside Madrid, the arid desert embraced us.

It was a beautiful scene as we went up into some of the hills with the off white limestone, light greens, and that ruddy iron soil everywhere.

The scene was very reminiscent of Canyonlands in Utah and was a beautiful drive.

We sped past Ariza, looking at an ancient red tower rising out of the desert like a rusty nail glinting in the sunlight.  We saw Santa Maria de Las Huertas nestled in a valley looking like a scattered doll house left in the sand.

After the vibrant Madrid scene, it was easy to forget how much of Spain is actually dry and rugged.

We made our way to Zaragoza for a mid-trip break.  The honey pops had done the job and the kids were doing pretty well.

The main reason to swing by Zaragoza was to see the Basilica-Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar.  It's an impressive building.  More on its history can be found over here:
http://www.thousandwonders.net/Basilica+of+Our+Lady+of+the+Pillar

It was a hot day and we enjoyed the stroll by the river, taking some pictures and stretching our legs.  The boys found a great playground and enjoyed that more than the cathedral.

We walked further along to the bridge, looking across the Ebro River at the beautiful vista.

The boys posed for a quick photo before spying a snake slithering by, which quickly eclipsed any interest in anything else.

After a brief jaunt on the bridge, we got back in the car and made our way to Barcelona.

We met with our new host of the apartment we had found via AirBnB.  Everything seemed fine in the cozy apartment with one important exception...

TO BE CONTINUED!