A Good Place for Kids

What has it been like for Kodiak in Barcelona, I can hear you asking...

Well, on the whole, it's a pretty awesome place for kids.

Here's the handsome little fella at our "home" metro stop (Liceu), wearing his school uniform. He has taken very quickly to the idea of wearing a uniform, with basically no protest!

Kodiak and I playing futbol at our local playground, just down the block. I haven't played this much futbol since high school. It's really the national sport here (as it is in most of the rest of the world, I think), so if you bring your own soccer ball to the park and start playing, pretty soon you have a bunch of new friends. 

Awesome playground in Gracia. We meet our old friend Carla here from time to time so Kodiak can play with her kids, Bruno and Leo.

Speaking of playgrounds, they are pretty much everywhere. We went out of town for the day a while ago to this cute little spot down the coast called Sitges. We did quite well for ourselves, I'd say, by finding a little restaurant nestled into a little plaza (which was really just the space between these ridiculously picturesque buildings), with a playground right alongside. I took this picture while sitting at the outdoor table, eating smoked salmon and drinking beer. And this little "plaza" even has it's own street lights! Yes, people here do know how to live.

"El Mamut". The Mammoth. Ciutadella Park. Every town needs one!

Certainly one of the best science museums I have been to in a while is the spectacular CosmoCaixa. Caixa is the biggest bank in Barcelona (maybe in Spain?) and this is what they did with all that money. Situated up at the north end of town, near Tibidabo and the Collserola mountains that border Barcelona, this museum is a real treat. And with a €4 entry fee, or absolutely free if you are a Caixa client (which we now are), there's little reason not to go. Here, Kodiak compares himself to the skeleton of a juvenile cave bear.

Still at CosmoCaixa, Christina and Kodiak peer into the "Flooded Rain Forest". They've built a small, but very complete section of Amazonian rain forest inside the building. Below the waterline are tons of fish, above are trees, plants, turtles, birds, and a capibara. 

When I was occasionally asked, before departing Taos, what it was that I was hoping to do in Barcelona, one of my answers was that I wanted to avail myself of the resources of a world-class city. In other words, I wanted for me and Christina and Kodiak to be able to do things that you just can't do in small town America. CosmoCaixa is a shining example, but we have also taken Kodiak to the zoo, the aquarium, the beach, walked down winding medieval streets and through real castles, and even introduced him to the opera.  So far, so good. 

And just to show that Barcelona offers resources for all ages, here we have a large nice toy store right next to a large nice sex shop. 

Toys for everyone!