Take a Walk on the Wild Side

Basketball sized lion fish.

Jess made friends with peacock!

Brown bear...my spirit animal.

Elephant (Duh)

Hippos doing what hippos do....nothing.

Peacock.

Stop, Drop, & Roll.

Rhino

Statue/Water fountain at the zoo.

Timon

Don't know what this is, just thought it looked cool.

Same basketball sized lion fish, but in color.

Yellow Frog

Wiz Khalifa

Nemo

Bizzaro Nemo

Dori

Fake Dori

Chameleon that finally figured out how cam works, kinda.

Hello everyone, Cole here. I decided to polish up this update and put it up instead of watching the Cavaliers vs. Celtics game (which I am glad do say I can stream while in Spain, GO CAVS!!!), but I have decided to mute the game, as currently those who have been appointed to Defend the Land, have apparently forgotten how to do so, and have decided to give game 1 to a team who has two of their best (one which is definitely their best) out for the rest of the season with injuries!!!

But I digress.

It's been a day or two since Jessica and I have checked in with you all, mainly due to our bodies inability and/or unwillingness to adjust to the 8-hour time difference between Barcelona & Boise. In case you were wondering, I went to bed last night at 10:30 after watching "The Campaign", which is a hilarious movie, to sleep for 4 hours before my body decided that I had forgotten to log my nightly PUBG hours and woke me up. Since I am without my XBOX at the moment I decided to put on a terrible movie to fall asleep to, one that I wouldnt mind missing big chunks of. I fired up Netflix again and was elated to find "Point Break". No not the amazing 1991 Keanu Reeves/Patrick Swayze/Gary Busey/Anthony Kiedis masterpiece, but the 2017 remake that stars.........who cares. Long story short, I stayed up to watch the whole thing, only to fall asleep at 5:00am local time, to then wake up at 7:00 to begin the day (which just so happened to be Jessica's 30th birthday!!)

Happy Birthday baby!! And I digress......again. Credit that to lack of sleep and too many cafe con leche's.

Time for the real update. Since we last spoke Jessica and I have had time to do some more exploring around the city. Friday was a busy day spent exploring the zoo as well as scratching the surface of the city's Gothic Quarter, which was a sight unlike anything I have ever seen before. The zoo itself was quite spectacular as well. They had an amazing approach to the animal enclosures, wherein most of them were open/without cages, but instead had a large moat/ditch separating the animals from the patrons. This seems to be quite wonderful as the animals are not "caged" in the usual sense, and allow them to feel more open and free. Well as much as they can be for being trapped in a gigantic park full of animals they would normally never run into, but it seemed to work for them.

Like any other zoo we have visited, the brown bear exhibit was my favorite, but unfortunately we did not get to see any of the otters, which are Jessica's favorites. The most amazing part however was the layout of the zoo. Unlike any of the other Zoo's we have been to thus far, this one follows a logical path, forming a large loop that is easy to explore without zig-zagging allover and walking double-time to see all the animals.

The gothic quarter was truly amazing and will be privy to it's own exclusive write-up as we will have to go back 2-3 more times to experience even half of what it has to offer as far as sights, sounds, and experiences.

Saturday was a rest day. After walking 10+ miles on Friday, we decided to take it easy and walk around our hotel, exploring the nearby supermercat to pick up a few groceries, and replenish our snack supply. We walked to a nearby burger joint for dinner. I know what you're thinking, "Cole, Jessica! You guys are in Spain! Don't waste your time eating hamburgers! You can get those at home!" But you know what? Burgers and Pizza seem to be two of the most popular restaurant offerings here, and they're delicious, so don't judge me!!

Anyways, after a relaxing day of rest, hamburgers, and the best $2 bottle of wine I have ever had (make that one of the better wines I have had, period.) We decided to tackle breakfast, the aquarium, gothic quarter, and boardwalk on Sunday. All these sights are located within the Gothic Quarter, which is about a 25-minute train ride from our hotel.

The aquarium was quite a sight, albeit crowded and overflowing with children who would scream for their parents at every corner, pound on the glass at each exhibit, and inadvertently/intentionally step on our feet at every stop (are we sure we want to bring a screaming, noisy, toe-smasher into this world to join the ranks of all the others that already exist?!?! Well, of course we're sure, I mean that's why we're here after all, but until I have one of my own I feel like I can still curse under my breath and mourn for the 10 little piggies that live in the end of my shoes.)

The aquarium was filled with a variety of fish, many of which we had not gotten to see at any of the other aquariums we have visited. It was also home to the largest lion fish either of us has ever seen. There are some pictures in this post, but trust me when I say they don't do this thing justice. I would have estimated the size of the biggest one to be close to that of a regulation basketball. It was, in the words of Trump, "YYUUUGE!". They had an octopus, who had misplaced one of his tentacles. A chameleon who couldn't figure out his camouflage. Bro, you're red an yellow, perched against a green wall, of course I can see you! They had the shark tank that you can ride a conveyor belt through, so that when they swim over you they get big and distorted, like you're in a carnival funhouse full of mirrors.....and sharks. And so many other amazing exhibits.

Between the zoo, aquarium, and gothic quarter we have taken +1,000 photos, and we're not even a week into our trip. So my thought is that after a bunch of deleting blurry photos and editing the good ones, we will make a post with a large photo dump for everyone to see.

During all of the traveling that Jessica and I have done, we always make it a point to see the zoo and aquarium of every city we visit. To be able to check off the first international zoo & aquarium was truly special, and I am glad we got to do part of it on her birthday, you know, to distract her from the fact that she's 30 now.

This might be the longest post yet, so thank you so much for sticking with me on this one, enjoy the pictures, and we will be back in a few days!

P.S. - I am sure you are all wondering when the updates on the IVF procedure will be coming, and I can assure you that they will be here soon. Jessica and I leave our hotel on Tuesday to move into the apartment we rented. On that day, she will begin her medication protocol, which calls for injections of Gonal-F into her belly, every night, for 5 days. After that we will meet with our doctor for the first time, at which point things have the potential to move fairly quickly. So again, thank you all for sticking this one out. Thank you for all of the love and support, and a Happy Mother's day to all of you mom's out there!

With love,

Cole.