Barcelona, Day Twenty-One: WE. HATE. STAIRS.

We have lived for the last two and a half weeks in a wonderful apartment in downtown Barcelona. We love our little piso! The flat is owned and run by another ministry based here in Barcelona and because of the short notice of our stay here, they had a team booked in the apartment from the 30th of June through the 5th of July. 
This meant that we had to move out for a week. We were actually very excited at the opportunity to stay with a few of the new friends we have made here, and since we both packed light (be proud of us), we weren't too worried about making the short move. 

Unfortunately, our 'light' packing did not include the fridge and cabinet full of groceries we have accumulated over the last two weeks. And friends, those suitcases look small, but we know how to pack efficiently and they are HEAVY. But still, not that much stuff. We can do it! We are in Spain! We love adventure!

Did we mention that we used the metro as our mode of transportation for the move? Oh, and that Europe is not particularly handicap-friendly, so when it comes to metro stations, the escalators and elevators are in short supply? In case you were wondering, Europeans who travel on the metro are calm, cool, collected, and impeccably dressed. Needless to say, we didn't blend in so well that morning.

Ask us if we care.

What we're trying to say: there were A LOT of stairs. And every staircase meant taking the bag of groceries you see perched so gracefully on Maddi's suitcase and shouldering it, the suitcase, and each of our two smaller bags up and down. Each. and. every. staircase. Unfortunately, we don't have documentation of the stairs in the actual metro stations because, well, we were dying.  But hopefully you get the idea. At one point, probably to keep from crying, Anna was laughing so hard she physically could not make it up the stairs. Maddi quickly solved this problem: "Come on Anna! Think about your muscles! Arms! Legs! Butt!" By solved, we mean Anna then had to sit down. "Maddi! STOP making me laugh! Seriously."

By the time we got to our metro stop (a mere hour and a half later) even this little trip DOWN the stairs felt impossible. Maddi's comment at the top of this last metro stop was: "Well, want to get a taxi?" Yes, for the 20 steps to our new apartment. Yes.

"Maddi...I can't. I can't do it. Don't make me."

Success! Take that stairs! We showed you! Done and Done.

No matter how you cut it, we looked rough and probably smelled rougher. BUT. We did it! We navigated those metro stations and those stairs (God bless their hearts) and when we got to that apartment, we felt a little bit like we had run a marathon, which gave us the justified excuse to bring on the Gelato and dark chocolate. 

We have to do this again in four days.