Summa, summa, summa time!

I can hardly believe how fast this summer is flowing away from us. It seems only a week ago we were so proudly congratulating Sara on finishing the first grade with such excellent marks. And now i already have to start thinking about buying school supplies again.
I feel we haven't done enough yet: not enough trips, not enough summer activities.

Carlos and I managed to have a fabulous 10 day trip to Spain, visiting Barcelona and Madrid. We flew Air Berlin, which was cheaper than other airlines this time of the year, and were quite pleased with the flight. In Barcelona we used as our base for explorations Ella Hostel, which offered comfortable and friendly environment in a convenient location. The room was modest, but comfy,  with a balcony and fresh air. The hosts of the hostel are fun girls from Portugal, they definitely added to our enjoyment of the place with their sunshiny attitude and helpfulness. We decided we would come back there again, when Sara is old enough to appreciate the culture. We found Barcelona to be a very pleasant city to just hand out in, so many cool and hip areas, and a nice waterfront. And, mountains of Montserrat are a train ride away, and offer breathtaking views, hiking opportunities, and nature all in one. We were glad to spend the bulk of our time in Barcelona, before heading to Madrid. Madrid proved to be much different in its nature and vibe. Although it holds all of the major art museums, there is actually much less there to see and do. Its a big city and a business center of the country, with more international options, more malls, more of that gentrification that we try so hard to get away from at home. Two takeaway thoughts about Spain: 1) we needed to visit other places of the country, since the culture there is very regional, the experiences in other cities would be undoubtedly unique 2) we need to be prepared with sightseeing agenda in advance, so that we can correctly identify how many days are needed in each location (on the last day in Madrid we spent the day sitting on a bench at the park drinking beer, which was fun, but we could have planned for a day trip instead).

Upon getting back to reality, we quickly shifted gears and went on a little mini-vacation with Sara to Lake Arrowhead, North Bay resort. The resort is pretty basic, with old furniture and outdated decor, but it has an indoor pool, a tennis court, a ping pong table, and a billiards, which was all quite plenty to occupy our time. The initial draw for me was the beach club membership, that allows you to use the lake (since Lake Arrowhead does not have a public lake access, that's the only was to swim in the lake). We were able to take advantage of it on one of the days, when thunderstorms stopped for a moment, giving way to beautiful warm sunny weather, just enough for us to enjoy the fresh lake water and relaxing beach. The thunderstorms though were not an obstacle, as we enjoyed a little hike in the rain, and then watched the sky light up from our balcony, while sipping wine and/or hot chocolate. Falling asleep to the sounds of rain is one of my most favorite things to do, so i am glad i got that chance again, and was able to share this beautiful experience with my family. Sara was interested in seeing the lightening, she was also curious about the strong rain storm. But i think she enjoyed the most just handing out, playing billiards, swimming, eating random snacks (which we normally do not practice) and just being away from home.