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Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Visiting Parc Guell--"the Tile Park"--with C.C.
This post is co-authored by C.C.
Myron and Raquel (Abuelo and Abuela) left this morning---they were with us here for 10 days and it went super duper fast. We were sad to see them go. After a lazy morning at home, Alec took C.C. and Milo to the park to play basketball, and C.C. made some masterpieces with chalk.
Then, Alec and Milo headed to "Auto Mundia" (auto world) to look at used cars. C.C. and I took the bus to Parc Guell, Gaudi's fabulous park which is about a 10 minute bus ride from our house. C. C. was the trip leader, and we went all the way to the top and then all the way to the bottom. And then we saw the famous lizard fountain---see C.C. in the Photo of the Day, below. We had some ice cream in the big plaza---the park was packed with tourists---and then headed slowly home.
Bye bye!
Myron and Raquel (Abuelo and Abuela) left this morning---they were with us here for 10 days and it went super duper fast. We were sad to see them go. After a lazy morning at home, Alec took C.C. and Milo to the park to play basketball, and C.C. made some masterpieces with chalk.
Then, Alec and Milo headed to "Auto Mundia" (auto world) to look at used cars. C.C. and I took the bus to Parc Guell, Gaudi's fabulous park which is about a 10 minute bus ride from our house. C. C. was the trip leader, and we went all the way to the top and then all the way to the bottom. And then we saw the famous lizard fountain---see C.C. in the Photo of the Day, below. We had some ice cream in the big plaza---the park was packed with tourists---and then headed slowly home.
Bye bye!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Lunch at Il Gallego with Marty and Ruth
After a morning spent dealing with the bank--one last administrative errand while we still have Myron and Raquel here--we met Marty Goldensohn and his wife Ruth for lunch at a Gallician restaurant not far from our house called Il Gallego. Eating Gallician food outside of Gallicia with Raquel is always a risk given that that's where she's from and that she is an excellent cook and fierce critic. Marty and Ruth are very good friend of my very good friend Norm Glickman and his wife Elyse, and we all spent a few lovely hours stuffing ourselves silly. Raquel ordered, and soon plate after plate arrived, starting with a pan tomate (toasted bread rubbed with tomato and garlic), which is actually a typical Catalan starter. Plates of shrimp, clams, mussels octopus, pimentos da padron, sliced ham with potato, and a few other things I can't remember followed. Thanks to the iPad, which comes everywhere with us, along with some markers and paper, the kids behaved great.
Hot today, and humid. After lunch we strolled slowly home through the empty city streets--nearly everyone leaves the city in August
Hot today, and humid. After lunch we strolled slowly home through the empty city streets--nearly everyone leaves the city in August
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Excursion
It seems we have family here that we knew nothing about. Raquel, Alec's stepmother, has five sisters, one brother, and countless cousins, nieces and nephews. Olga is one such cousin---she lives with her husband Bjorg (a Dane) and their dog, Vagabondo, about a half hour outside of Barcelona high up in the hills overlooking the Mediterranean, and below the ruins of a very cool castle. We took the train from Barcelona--it hugged the sea, and the train was full of daytrippers heading to the beach for the day.
Bjorg picked us up at the station and drove us up, up, up a winding road to the house. We arrived moments after both C.C. and Milo informed us that they were about to puke---fortunately we arrived without either of them filling the ziploc bags I keep in my purse for just these situations.
The house is ringed by gardens, full of clematis, allium, and a gardenia that's as big as a tree and perfumes the whole yard.
We were joined by Olga and Bjorg's daughter Lisa, her husband (whose name I can neither pronounce nor spell) and their two children Andrea (5) and Billy (3). From the moment we arrived Bjorg never stopped moving, shuttling from kitchen to grill, cooking up a mountain of chicken, lamb chops and two kinds of sausage. We sat outside at their table and ate and ate, finishing with watermelon and the sweetest honeydew I've ever eaten. When we were finally able to move again, we swam in the neighbor's pool and laid out on the warm terracotta tile to dry.
Bjorg insisted on driving us back to Barcelona even though we had purchased round trip tickets on the train. Most of us were grateful for the ride, which got us home much faster. C.C., who threw up just 5 minutes from home, announced that she would have preferred the train.
Bjorg picked us up at the station and drove us up, up, up a winding road to the house. We arrived moments after both C.C. and Milo informed us that they were about to puke---fortunately we arrived without either of them filling the ziploc bags I keep in my purse for just these situations.
The house is ringed by gardens, full of clematis, allium, and a gardenia that's as big as a tree and perfumes the whole yard.
We were joined by Olga and Bjorg's daughter Lisa, her husband (whose name I can neither pronounce nor spell) and their two children Andrea (5) and Billy (3). From the moment we arrived Bjorg never stopped moving, shuttling from kitchen to grill, cooking up a mountain of chicken, lamb chops and two kinds of sausage. We sat outside at their table and ate and ate, finishing with watermelon and the sweetest honeydew I've ever eaten. When we were finally able to move again, we swam in the neighbor's pool and laid out on the warm terracotta tile to dry.
Bjorg insisted on driving us back to Barcelona even though we had purchased round trip tickets on the train. Most of us were grateful for the ride, which got us home much faster. C.C., who threw up just 5 minutes from home, announced that she would have preferred the train.
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