*tHe KeNnEdY kLaN*: Trip to the A&E, Barcelona and the Costly Bathroom Trip

Less than 24 hours after we got home from Paris we headed off to Barcelona. Reece was still sick and we all hadn’t slept in 3 days. 2 hours after we got home I decided to take her to the A&E (ER) to see a Dr. just to make sure she was okay before we left on our trip. She was not sleeping, eating or peeing and had a horrible cough that was getting worse; she was also running high fevers. We got our first experience at the hospital with the NHS and it was HORRIBLE. We were greeted and taken back within 10 minutes which was great, but then waited 90 minutes just to see the Dr. who came in touched Reece on the head and said “she seems ok, there is nothing we can do, it’s probably viral. Just take her home and come back if she gets worse.” I did inform him of her fevers, not eating sleeping and peeing, her horrible couching. When we checked in her temp was at 101.6 and her fever had been at 102 + the night before. He was not at all concerned, I was furious after waiting that long. I even asked can I give her her something for her coughing or can you give me something? I was hoping we could get a breathing treatment to help her break up the mucus but NOPE. He kept saying “we don’t recommend anything.” Clinton and I walked out furious. This was actually the second time I had taken Reece to see a Dr here and I got the same results with 2 different Dr’s. Both times they didn’t even check her out and just said she is ok. That night she didn’t sleep again and still wasn’t eating well. I was almost temped to stay home from our trip but decided to go and hope she would get better.

We took the train in Kemble to the airport in London to catch our flight to Barcelona. It was a long journey but we made it safe and with no problems. We got to our hotel checked in and went straight to bed. The next day we got up bright and early and headed into the town center. Our friends Irvin & Amber (living here with us) came and we all decided to do a 2 day bus tour, it’s a best way to see the entire city and get the history of all the sites. You can hop on and off as many times and it’s a great ride! The first 2 days we were on the bus tour and stopped at the places we wanted to visit.

Friday we spent walking down the main strip off central which was FULL of vendors, painters, artists and yummy food! There was this HUGE outdoor market that had everything from fruit, pasta, bread, chocolates, meats of all kind and you name it. Clinton and I really enjoyed looking around and found some great pasta salad and bread; we loved it so much we went back the next day. We later walked down to the beach and walked about a mile down the strip just enjoying the beautiful sunny weather, later to realize i was getting a nice sunburn on my arms and face.

Reece was such a trooper, she was still sick. She coughed so hard she threw up 3 times while we were there. It was miserable to watch her suffer and I felt so helpless. Clinton gave her a blessing the day after we arrived and she was slowing improving. Many times she was sick of being in the stroller and wanted me to hold her. The sun was so hot that day we had to stop at the pharmacy (farmacia) and buy some sun block (cost me 12euro, about $15) but you do what you have to, to protect your baby’s skin. By the end of the day my arms and face was a little red and that night I was on FIRE, I didn’t sleep much.

Saturday we had a little time before our flight home. We went back into town to shop for souvenirs. We planned out to take the train to the airport. We meet up at the train station bought our tickets and had 10 minutes before the train was leaving. Clinton and Amber had to use the toilet, this turned into the “ill timed bathroom trip”. We got off the elevator just to watch the train doors shut and it was GONE! It was 3:15 and the next train wasn’t coming until 4:05, we were to be at check in by 4:20. The train arrived and we got to the airport at 4:25, running as fast as we could, hoping we could still make check in, only to find out we were in the WRONG terminal. The Barcelona airport was HUGE and we had to go outside to another building about ¼ miles away, completely separate from where we were. By then it was 4:45 our flight was leaving at 5pm. We got the counter Clinton used his persuasive Spanish to ask if we could still make the flight but NO GO. So we were led to another window to catch another flight. We had tickets to catch the train back in London at what we thought was 9:30. So we got the next flight leaving and with the time change we would make our train. $144 later we were on our way back to London! We arrived at the airport went through the border check point and off we were to catch our train only to find out we JUST missed it. What are the chances?!? Clinton went to the information desk to ask when the next train was going to Kemble and he later informed us tomorrow a 7am. AAAAAAHHHHHH this day was not going well and I had a sick crying baby who was not happy. We later found out that we could catch the next train to Victoria station and catch the metro to Paddington station and that would take us to Swindon, it wasn’t were are cars were at but it was only 20 minutes from home. We could call Jacqui and see if you would pick us up and take us to Kemble. We made the train with minutes to spare and off we were. Luckily we talked to a man who said we would never make the next train if we got on the metro so we had to take a taxi from Victoria station to Paddington. We crammed our luggage, stroller (Reece safely buckled in and sleeping!) into the traditional British taxi

and made it to the next train station with 2 minutes to spare. We finally made it home by 12:50 and we were exhausted.

At the airport waiting to leave

our plane (easy jet is a SUPER cheap airline but surprisingly very nice airline)

we made it to Barcelona safe and sound

Sagrada Familia (sacred family)
built over 125 years ago by Gaudi who devoted his life to this church

this church was so amazing and there was so much symbolism in it

Gaudi was a big beliver in Christ and he designed the life and history of Jesus in his building

Park Guell
i absolutely loved this park, it was huge and full of so many amazing stone structures, tilling and buildings.

this is the Gaudi dragon very highly admired in Barcelona

the Gothic Cathedral
the first stone was set in the 13th century and work was continued until 1913

The statue of Christopher Columbus (pointing toward the "new world")
is located at the site where Columbus returned to Spain after his first voyage to the Americas. The monument serves as a reminder that Barcelona is where Christopher Columbus reported to Queen Isabella and Ferdinand after Columbus' most famous trip.