Mel, Brad, Avery, and Montserrat...

Well, we've had kind of a whirlwind couple of weeks, from Mark finishing up all of his exams for school (hooray! The first year is done!!!), to having Mel, Brad, and Avery visit for a few days, all of the basketball celebration dinners, the schools out celebration dinners, and a trip to Montserrat! Through out all of these activities, Tricia was also able to successfully find us a flat in London for the summer.

Here are a couple of pics to show what we've been up to...

The Basketball Team Celebration... We went out for Brazilian Barbeque at a Rodizio grill in Barcelona, mmmmmmm!

Tricia and Eve sharing a victory milkshake after lasting the first year of the mba.

Montserrat is about a 1 hour train ride outside of Barcelona and is basically a Monastery that is at the top of a mountain. You need to take a cable car right to the top. The views are amazing! Montserrat also has a famous escolia boys choir which sings daily inside the basilica. It was very nice. We enjoyed walking around the trails and Eve enjoyed dancing around the pavilion.

MBAT @ HEC

Our little Evie, enjoying everything that she saw and did. She was the star of MBAT!!! We went to HEC (just outside of Versailles) for their annual MBA tournament. The top 15 business schools in Europe are invited to participate in the sporting events and we had a great time! There were a few other kids, but I have to admit that our little cutie was a hit! She danced, sang, clapped, and cheered the entire time.


We had a little ESADE shirt made for Eve, and I am hoping that others from the program got some good shots of her in it, because this is the only good shot I got.


Just in the valley beside the school is their football feilds, track, and tennis courts. It was so beautiful and the weather was perfect the entire time.


The Basketball team relaxing in-between games, probably talking strategy.


The ESADE wives. We had a great time not only watching our spouses play sports, but participating ourselves. From L-R, first row: Adriana, Norina; second row: Mafer, Ursula; Back: Me, Heather.

The Game

The final game was between RSM (in Rotterdam) and ESADE. The two children with Eve were cheering for RSM, we were trying to create good relations between the two teams;)


Let the games begin!!!! Mark put the first 2 points on the board and we were ahead the rest of the game. Usually by about 4 points, but that didn't stop them from working hard, anyone can come back from a 4 points deficit.


From the side-lines the rest of the team is so into the game. Besides the final two games, the referee was almost determined that ESADE wasn't going to make it through, HEC was playing in the same group, and before they could advance they had to beet ESADE, it didn't happen despite all that the ref called on our team. YEAH!


The Winning Team!!! 27/21 was the final score and everyone played so well, everyone contributed, and everyone CELEBRATED!


The Captain with his biggest fans!!!

Italy with Tricia's Parents

So we will begin our little adventure with Eve waiting patiently at the airport for her lovely Grandparents to come. Unfortunately, they came out a different exit then they were supposed to so they didn't see their little Eve.



OUr first stop was Florence: beautiful, old, and cold. I love the city, but am unlucky enough to go there only during extreme weather conditions. This is Piazza Croce.


We headed off to the Museum next. It was perfect, not so large that you couldn't see everything in a couple of hours. THe rules of the museums are, if you have a baby you don't have to wait in line. Eve saved us a good 2-3 hour wait. This ceiling in in the hallway of the museum and is the "Grotesque" style (or something like that). We actually were not allowed to take pictures, but got a few before they stopped us and told us the rules.





Eve enjoying her freedom as she walks and sings down the large corridors of the museum.


This is the Piazza de Rebublica (or something close to that)


We enjoyed every part of Florence. Great shopping, great food, great buildings.


It was freezing cold the entire time we were there.


View from the top of the Bell Tower. It is 414 steps to the top.

Happy Valentines Day

We have had a wonderful time with Mark now that he is not so busy with school. For Valentines we went to the beach and spent the late afternoon taking pictures of the beautiful scenery and cute Eve.






Eve loves the ocean, but even more, she loves to play with and eat the sand. We spent most of the time trying to keep it out of her mouth.






This final picture is of the sail boat we can only assume won the world race. Our earlier blogs have some of the photos taken before it started.

Andorra

A few days after the new year began we headed off to Andorra, a small beautiful country in between Spain and France. Some good friends of ours live their and played hosts to us, taking us around Andorra La Vella, Encamp, Escaldes, and some of the ski hills. The country really is only one or two valleys in the middle of the mountains and is known for its skiing, spas, and tax-free shopping.
Tricia spent the morning in Caldea, one of the spas, which has multiple mineral baths that are famous for their therapeutic effects. While she was being pampered, the rest of us headed up a mountain to another spa and ski hill, absolutely breathtaking. This is a jewel of a country that most North Americans never really visit.


Eve and Mark on one of the streets in Andorra La Vella (the main city in Andorra)


This is the view outside of the Muir's window (they were the friends we stayed with). How lucky they are to wake up to that every morning.


One of the interesting parts of the area are the many churches that are built with a Lombard Tower which were built in Romanesque times. This is a famous type of tower from England and their are over 40 of these very old churches in Andorra. (All the information I got from the Muirs)


We took a gondola up the ski hill and checked out the breathtaking view; unfortunately, there was no view due to the heavy but beautiful snow fall. It was freezing and we didn't bring any of our winter clothes to Spain. I didn't think I was going to see snow here.

Sagrada Familia

A Roman Catholic Temple, this building was started in 1882 and is still under construction. The building is in Barcelona and we waited until some family came before we went and found that it was amazing and interesting.


The inside is definitely under construction. It is full of scaffolding and plaster moulds. I found that the outside was more beautiful.


The dove is not part of the statue (just is case you were wondering).


The outside of the building is decorated with a variety of nativity scenes: Mary riding the donkey, Mary and Joseph with Jesus at the manger, Mary and Jesus when he is an older baby. We loved the outside.


This is my favorite picture. This is the main window and what I would guess will be the main entrance is just below.