Utah Trip Christmas 2017 Part 2 - Temple Square and Utah Jazz

What Spencer wanted for Christmas this year was to go see Utah Jazz play. He got his wish! But since the girls and I are also Jazz fans, we made sure his Christmas present included our tickets! That’s how we roll! The game we picked was Utah Jazz vs. San Antonio Spurs on December 21^st.

Since the arena where Jazz plays is just a couple of blocks away from the Temple Square, we decided to go there first to look at the Christmas lights. It was majestic! We had a wonderful time, and as a bonus we ran into our friend Svetlana who is serving a mission there.

With Svetlana (in the blue hat) and her companion Sister Deighton, who happened to be the best friend of Sister Dixon who is serving here in Kazakhstan.

We had a question that we needed to ask Family History workers, so we went to the Family History Center. While we were getting our answers,  the kids spent 30 minutes in this awesome interactive room learning about the origins of their names and other great things.

Here is Nika using an app that takes a picture of your face and tries to figure out your what nationality you belong. It put her in the Russian costume! Ha!

An outdoor Nativity

Salt Lake Temple at night.

Looking into the Reflecting Pool.

So magical!

Lina

Lexa

Nika

Sophie

Papa with the girls.

After visiting the Temple Square, we wanted to go eat at the mall across the street but their food court was just crazy with all of the Christmas shoppers, Jazz goers, and the like, so we decided to go eat at the arena. That one decision cost us a lot of money but fun was had by all! Since we showed up a whole hour before the game, Spencer took us to the gift shop just for fun. A couple of hundred dollars later we came out as fierce Jazz fans! Spurs, beware!!! We decided to eat at Papa John’s pizza which was another $90. It’s a good thing we don’t do this very often, otherwise we would have gone bankrupt. We found our seats, and the game began! It was a very intense game (especially because we were sitting right next to a group of Spurs fans) until about the last 6 minutes of the game when it became obvious that Jazz would win! The victory was sweet and a confirmation to me that we didn’t waste our money earlier in the night. As a bonus, we also got free Chick Fillet sandwiches the next day because one of the Spurs players missed both of his free throws in the 4^th quarter. I have never heard so much noise made by excited fans when it happened! It was an awesome game to witness in person!

Spencer wanted a picture in front of the Jazz Note. 

Armored in our Jazz attire, let the battle begin! 

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After witnessing this beginning, I am a true believer that every show should start with fire! Or at least with a cake and ice cream!

Here are two favorite players: Donovan Mitchell (looking up) and Rudy Gobert in his fancy maroon suit. Both of them had injuries and weren't playing. 

Fan zone in action!

The game is getting too intense! Only biting of ones fingers can help to ease the growing anxiety. 

Will he make the basket?

And of course our Jazz Bear is the best!!!

To be continued...

Summer Trip Days 11-12: Travel to Warsaw and on to Moscow

We had purchased our tickets to take the train to Warsaw from Krakow, and so checked out of our hotels about 9:00 and met the Stices on the square in front of the train station.  We were about an hour early, and spent the time sitting and waiting.  The train arrived a few minutes late, and then there was a mad scramble to get everyone on board.

We were in different cars on the train, but all of our family was in one compartment.  There were eight seats, but the six of us were the only ones, so it was pretty comfortable.  The train trip was pretty similar to the journey that we had taken from Prague to Krakow a few days before. We spent most of the time reading books.  The station in Warsaw was underground, and there wasn't an announcement, and we just sat for a few minutes, until a group of young people came to get in our car and we asked them if we were at the station.

Reading while riding on the train to Warsaw

Lina reading on iPad

We exited the station and found the office of the apartment rental company and got our keys.  The Stices were in a different building right next door, but their room wasn't ready yet.  Ours was, so we walked a few blocks and dropped off all our bags.  We walked back to the mall and ate a lunch/dinner at McDonald's.  The next thing we needed to do was to find out where the bus stop was where we could catch the bus to the airport the next morning.  We wandered around a bit, but then found it, and bought tickets for the next morning.

By this time it was about 5:30 p.m., so we walked back to our apartment and just settled in for the evening.  The apartment was a bit spartan - it didn't have full curtains, just gauzy filmy ones, and the beds were not great.  We had bought some groceries to have breakfast the next morning, so we were up early (5:00 a.m.) to eat and get to the bus stop.  It had rained all night, but it had broken.  It started up again when we started walking, so we were quite wet when we got to the bus stop. The bus came right on time and we got to the Chopin Airport as planned.

We flew Baltic Air to Moscow, with a layover in Riga, Latvia.  The plane from Warsaw to Riga was a turbo-prop with high wings, but a nice airplane and a beautiful view of the Baltic Sea as we landed.  We had to go through passport control and wait for about an hour before boarding our plane to Moscow.

Baltic Sea from up high

 We got through passport control and customs okay and were able to get tickets on the train just in time, so we made good time.  We took the metro from the Belarus train station to our hotel.  The hotel was in an area that had three streets named the same thing, and we had to wander a bit and ask directions before we found it.  It turned out that it was very easy and close to the metro station once we knew how to get there.

The hotel wasn't sure we were coming, so they had given one of our rooms to someone else.  We had a two-room set up with a shared bathroom that was supposed to be just for the girls, but we settled into it okay and the girls bucked up and shared two beds and did okay.  We also saved a bit of money.  The hotel was a standalone building - it was older, but had been remodeled and was very nice, and in a good location.  We were out of the center of the city, but not too far, and very close to the metro.

Cool painting at our hotel

We settled in, and then went across the street to a KFC to have dinner.  It had been a long day of travel, and a long couple of days of travel with the day before's trip to Warsaw, so we settled in for the evening.  The kids were happy because they could watch television and understand it (we watch Russian television at home usually anyway).  We were settled in to our last hotel of the trip, and ready to see the sites of Moscow the next day.

Dinner at KFC

Relaxing at the hotel.

Fall Break Trip to Barcelona Part III

On Monday we dedicated the day to looking at the works of Gaudi, a famous architect whose work is found all throughout the city.

We started the day at Park Güell.  We took the metro and had to walk about a mile to get to the park.  When we found it, we spent about two hours walking through the park, looking at the interesting designs and mosaics that Gaudi was famous for designing.  We ended up at the top of the park on top of a monument with a cross that looked out over the entire city.

Old men playing Bocce Ball just outside the subway.

Park Güell

Portico gallery in Park Güell

Portico gallery in Park Güell

Our little explores

At the top of the park there was this monument with a cross

From the top you there was an amazing view of the city of Barcelona: Sagrada Familia in the middle of the frame.

Trying for a selfie

There was some sort of castle on the top of that hill that looks like the SLC Tempple

The gardens in the park. The park itself is huge!

After we finished at the park, we went back to the Metro and rode downtown.  By the time we got there, it was lunchtime.  The Metro stop was right next to McDonald's so we ate there for lunch.  When we got out we started walking down the street to look at some more Gaudi designed buildings.  We walked past a book store and so we ended up spending some time in there.  We can't resist a good bookstore!

Casa Batllo by Gaudi

Having lunch at McDonalds

At the bookstore downtown Barcelona. The kids really wanted to get some books even though they don't speak Spanish. However, after this trip they decided that they would like to add Spanish to the languages they speak!

Casa Mila "La Pedrera" - one of the buildings designed by Gaudi

Palau Baro de Quadras

Casa Terrades

Taking a little break before walking to the Arc De Triomf 

Another one of amazing buildings in Barcelona

We saw the different buildings, and decided to walk down to the Arc De Triomf because there was a fountain there that we hadn't seen the day before. On our way to the arch, we bought some Spanish churros (xurros) which were filled with different kinds of cream (chocolate, cream, and caramel). They were yummy, and very filling!

xurros are yummy!

We found the park and really enjoyed walking around.  We realized that there were flocks of parrots/parakeets in the city (Sophie had pointed one out on our walk, but we thought it had maybe just escaped from a house).  After we found the fountain, we walked to the Sagrada Familia, a cathedral that has been under construction for over 100 years and which was designed by Gaudi as well.

On our way to the Arc De Triomf we found this cool drinking fountain!

Pond at the Parc de la Ciutadella

feeding geese at the pond

Love these trees. 

Toadstools in the tree 

Wild parrot. There was a big flock of them flying at the park

The girls are trying to figure out if they could climb these trees

We found a mammoth at the park

Fountain of the Waterfall

Fountain of the Waterfall

There was a guy blowing these big bubbles for the kids to run after at the park. Our girls immediately joined in the fun. 

We had bought tickets online for 6:30 pm. We arrived early and stood in line for about fifteen minutes before we went in.  The Sagrada Familia was my favorite part of our visit to Barcelona.  The cathedral was amazing.  The amount of detail was just exquisite - and that was the outside.  The inside is complete in many areas and it is beautiful.  There are hundreds of stained-glass windows and the light is constantly shifting. The entire edifice inspires awe and is truly inspiring.  Yulia and I decided that we want to go back in 2026 when it is supposed to be complete (100 years after Gaudi's death) to see what it looks like when it is completely finished.

Sagrada Familia Basilica

Getting ready to get in line at Sagrada Familia.

Sagrada Familia Basilica - Facade of Birth

The details are incredible!

The entrance - tells the story of Christ's birth

The entrance - tells the story of Christ's birth

Interior of the Basilica

Loved these stained glass windows

Interior of the Basilica

The lighting was amazing even though it was a forecast outside.

The floor right before you exit the Basilica - Christ enters Jerusalem.

This is the exit that tells of Christ's crucifixion and atonement

The exit door

The entrance door

The entrance door

The detail on the entrance door is amazing!

It was a great day

We took the Metro home, stopped and bought some fixings for sandwiches, and had a nice dinner at home.  It was a lovely day.