The best shower in Europe

Today was our third day in Barcelona.  We are having a fabulous time during the day, but our nights have been challenging.  Theo has not adapted to the 6 hour time difference and has his days & nights mixed up.  We've been putting him to bed exhausted at around 7pm (same as at home), but instead of sleeping roughly through the night, he wakes up a few hours later (right about the time we are ready to pass out for the night) ready to play.  He thinks he's just had a nap, rather than being put down for the night.  The first night we tried to force it without success.  Last night we just got him up and played with him until after midnight and then put him down again, but he was hard to settle and kept waking all night.  Exhausting for us.  I'm hoping surely tonight he will get the hang of it.  Especially since we left our place at noon and walked around until dinnertime, not stopping for naps- he has only had about a 1/2 hour of sleep today.   Naps here have been non-existent or in strollers or carriers.  If you know me at all, you know how this goes against my beliefs.  My boys are never allowed to miss a nap.  But hey, I've said it once and I'll say it again: when in Rome!  Joseph has actually been better without his nap.  His behavior is so unpredictable even when he is well-rested that when he's super tired it works like a sedative.  He's been going to bed at a reasonable time and sleeping in until 9 or so.   By the time we get out the door in the morning it's close to noon.  I guess Theo isn't the only one having trouble with the time difference!  We head out on foot to explore and the boys have been troopers so far!  We usually do something we want to do and then something for the boys, repeat.  Today we took the subway to the Castle Montjuic.  Joseph was so excited to be going to a real castle and couldnt wait to see the princess and king.  We rode on the cable car from the train station up to the castle.  What a sweet view of the entire city and Sea!  From the castle we strolled back down to a playground where the boys had a ball for over an hour.  Then we checked out the Joan Miro art museum, walked past the Olympic stadium, then visited the Catalan Art Museum.   Having a stroller is a mixed blessing.  It beats carrying a 30 pound 3 year old around all day and provides a place for naps on the go, but the city is full of stairs and the train stations in particular are tricky with a stroller.  We end up carrying him chariot-style a lot or we have to make him constantly get in and out of the stroller and walk down the stairs while one of us carries the stroller.  The first two days we left the stroller at home and he walked (or we carried him intermittently).  But that's a lot of walking for a little guy (and back breaking for us) so today we tried the stroller.  Theo can ride in the stroller too which is good because I'm sure riding in the ergo carrier all day can't be comfortable, even with playground breaks.  Thankfully there is no shortage of playgrounds and quick food is also easy to find.  What are we going to do when we get back home and Joseph wants a croissant every morning for breakfast?  The croissants here are fabulous!  Plain, or cheese-filled, or ham & cheese filled....   The people here are very nice to our children.  Theo flirts with whoever sits next to us on the subway and gets called things like "preciosa" and "simpatico" (nice).  Joseph has been given lollipops on two separate occasions by strangers.   I was looking forward to speaking Spanish once in Spain but they mostly speak Catalan here so I haven't been getting much practice.  I have also noticed a fashion trend here where the women wear dark colored tights with very short skirts. Cute!  But too wintry for me to attempt in Houston.   Yesterday we visited the Barri Gotik which was a very cool neighborhood of shops & restaurants, the Catedral de Barcelona, & Parc ciutadella where we had a pic-nic at a playground.  The first day we arrived it was raining but we still walked to the Sagrada Familia but decided not to go in until we had more time. We are staying in an apartment rather than a hotel room for many reasons.  Mostly to save money cooking our own meals but also to have separate sleeping spaces for our kids since they have a tendency to wake each other up.  Our place in Barcelona is perfect!  We have the best shower in Europe (according to Joe).  We can do laundry which is also a plus with two small ones.