The Soares Family Takes Spain

Holy toro, Espana! I honestly don't know where to start telling you about all of the amazing things we saw last week in Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo, Segovia and Salamanca. It was 7 days packed full of winding cobble stone streets, soaring cathedral buttresses, emotional stained glass windows, priceless artwork and ridiculously lavish palaces. You know you've been in Europe for more than a few days when you start getting blaze about seeing yet another chapel built in the 1400s. We stuffed ourselves full of piaya and indulged in the best sangria we've ever had every single night. And, man, did we have a lot of laughs.

Barcelona blew my mind. I couldn't get enough of Gaudi's crazy, colorful buildings. I don't even have the words to properly describe his still-unfinished Sagrada Familia. Seeing it was one of the highlights of the trip for me. Along with the Magic Fountain of Montjuic, which surprised us all by actually being a pretty magical experience. For real! And don't even get me started on Toledo, Segovia and Salamanca. We enjoyed getting lost in their small streets, touring cathedrals and castles, buying handmade jewelry and pashminas and cookies made by the nuns at convents dating back to 1533. (Just to be clear, the convent was old...not the cookies. They were delicioso).

Then there was Madrid. Three words: World Youth Disaster. Er, Day. It only happens once every three years in different cities around the world. And, as Soares family luck would have it...well, Bogey famously said it best: "Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine." We honestly had no idea, our first day in town, a day before the events officially kicked off, how huge this gathering would be. Not trusting the very little bit of Spanish that any of us knew, we thought we simply misunderstood the signs and newspapers we saw all decked out with the Pope's photo. He couldn't possibly be coming to town the very same week we would be in Madrid...right? Oh, yes. He sure did. And you, Chicagoans, think things get a little nutty downtown whenever President Obama makes an appearance and a road or two gets blocked off? Try trying to push your way through a completely disorganized 1.5 million (stinky) teenagers waving flags, clapping, singing and beating drums at 2:30AM just trying to cross the street to get back into your hotel. The city was completely unprepared. Seeing police in riot gear on TV is one thing. Seeing them up close and personal on a dark street corner in Madrid is another. The JMJ certainly added some additional flavor to our trip.

Perhaps the best part of the trip was that my entire family -- me and Mike, Mom and Dad, Becky and Adam -- were able to experience Spain together. It was a whirlwind of epic proportions and we are all still recovering from the necessary exhaustion that ensued. But we had an absolute blast and I am sure none of us will ever forget it.