I'm in Paris!

Hey! I am sitting in my hotel right now in Paris...I know- you are thinking- Eryn, why are you sitting in your hotel writing a blog when you JUST arrived in Paris. My mom gets in tomorrow morning and I want to be sure I'm fully rested and ready for our weeklong adventure. But don't worry, I left the hotel to get dinner- and a yummy pastry. I think France in Disney World is going to be ruined for me now. We would go to France at the end of the night and pick up pastries for breakfast the next day...yeah, I just had one of the pastries we used to get...oh man, soo much better here.

From my last blog...Brady did, in fact, return from Sitges and we had dinner and then he was on his way home Friday morning for a crazy 4th of July weekend. I have to share a very cute story...Cory woke up from his nap Friday afternoon and he and I listened to some music in my room, and he asked me about the pictures of my friends on my wall, like he always does. Then, suddenly he stopped talking, turned to me, put his hand on my arm and said "Eryn, you a little sad your friend go home? I a little sad when my grandma go home". It was the cutest thing...he was telling me he knows how I feel.

I did a little shopping- Barcelona is having all these big sales everywhere for the next month, so I decided I probably needed to experience the "rebaixes" and made a few purchases. Then, stopped in McDonalds to get a McFlurry...I mean, it was the 4th of July- I needed to celebrate America. Then I went out to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, where they had red, white and blue baloons up everywhere and the poor waiters had to wear sparkly red hats.

Last week was a little crazy- we had to pack up EVERYTHING in the apartment...no, we aren't quite done with Barcelona, but when the guys rented the apartment for the 3 months, there was a week that was already reserved...this week. So, our apartment is now totally empty...the guys and kids are in Switzerland for the week....and I am in Paris. Then we return to Barcelona for ten days- with minimal stuff (we had some boxes shipped to our apartment in Paris) and then adios Barcelona.

It is kind of strange to think about leaving already. While I don't think I would ever want to move to Barcelona, it has definitely become familiar...when we were making plans for this trip, I thought 3 months sounded like the perfect amount of time to live in each city. But I think it is actually right in the middle of being too long to just have a vacation but too short to actually feel like you LIVE there. We are all finally feeling comfortable and getting into the groove of things...and now we are leaving.

I'll try to get a blog in during the week- I'm sure there will be lots of pictures. Mom and I are going to be in Disneyland Paris for a few days- we are staying at the Newport Bay Hotel- similar to the Yacht and Beach Club in Disney World. We are spending 2 days in Paris...cramming as much in as we can, and are going to look into a day trip to London- transportation is so expensive right now though, for just a day trip...so we are going to see if we can find a deal.

That's the plan...more to come soon.

I'm a blogging slacker, I know (Part 1)

Hi...I know, I know, I have been a horrible blog writer. In my defense, I had a bit of time there where I hadn't taken any new pics, and I figured none of you care to just read a bunch of words...you want pictures, right?! So then I decided I would take my camera around with me and get photos of all the normal stuff in my day...my room, the apartment, the kids school, etc...so you can see how I'm living on a day to day basis. So that will be part one of the blog. (Part one will also include a little outing I had with a couple of friends and a kids concert). My next excuse for not writing is that I have a friend in town! Very exciting...my first familiar face in 2 months. So Part 2 of this blog (which is actually a separate entry) will be about Brady's visit (although won't be totally complete, because he leaves Friday morning...don't worry, he is out on a sunny beach, not sitting next to me while I write a blog).

Part 1: Eryn's normal Barcelona life: Picture 1 is the entrance to my bedroom- the kids (and dads) made a sign for me when I first arrived. Pic 2 is my bedroom. Any of you that know me (I'm hoping most people reading my blog) might be surprised that my room is a tad messy. That is sarcasm folks. Actually, my room gets cleaned on a very regular basis- we have a housecleaner that comes every Friday, so I always pick up my stuff before she comes (I never understood why my grandma used to clean before the housecleaner arrived, but I get it now). Picture 3 is our living room...lovely white couches for the kiddos to get everything on (we actually got some covers to put on top) The big window on the side is actually a door that opens up to our balcony- there is another one on the other side of the TV...the kids are only allowed on the balconies if one of the grown ups is with them...the kids and I like to sit out there and read sometimes...and look at all the people walking on the street below (we are on the 6th floor...pretty high up). Picture 4 is our kitchen...all the cabinets look completely identical (white again) so it took us a while to remember where everything was kept. The fridge just looks like a random cabinet- we do hang our art projects on it though. And the washing machine/dryer- have I told you about this? It is one machine (apparently they are common in small apartments to save room)- it does save room, which is nice...but you can only do one load at a time...and let me tell you, between 5 people (2 of which are rolling in dirt at playgrounds on a daily basis) there is a lot of laundry...the machine is pretty much always going. The dryer function doesn't work like a regular dryer- there is no vent, so it is actually just throwing the clothes around in heat...basically bakes our clothes...which is why we can only partially dry them and then hang the clothes up all over the house to finish drying.
Picture 5 is my gym...well, just the entrance to. DIR- that is the name of the chain of gyms. It isn't anything special, but convenient and has a variety of classes. There is a really nice walk to the gym, a pretty church right outside the entrance..I have pictures of all these things, but really...you don't care. Picture 6 is the cute Tapas place right across the street from our apartment. There are tapas places EVERYWHERE....it really is about 80% of the places you see on the streets. I haven't actually eaten at the place across the street- the guys said they weren't thrilled with it, but I pass it all the time, and when I first moved here and didn't realize these kinds of places are everywhere, I thought it was very charming.
Picture 7 is the kids' school. Each day at about 2pm, we wake up from naps and head out to the train station and take the
train 8 stops (yeah, 8...could be a nightmare, but the kids are pretty good on the train) to their school. It is down this cute little alley with with a few other schools. From 2:30 or 3 until 5, I hang out in a nearby coffee shop (they know my drink...they don't speak any english, but are so nice...they try to explain the different pastries to me...they are great) and read. I have been reading fiction, but ran out of books, so Brady brought me a few of his marketing books...which will get me motivated to work on my projects...probably a good thing.

Next pictures are from the little kid concert I went to. One of the friends I have made volunteers at a music school for kids. She invited me to their end of the year concert. The show was supposed to go from 5-7pm. We got there about 4:50...to do some set up...I helped her fold the construction paper flower crowns (oh I miss playing with construction paper!) About 5:30, I realized none of the kids had even arrived yet...welcome to Spanish time...where there is no plan. The show actually started about 6 and was very cute. My friend and one of her other friends and I went out to dinner after...they have both lived here for a while, so they have their regular spots...we went to a mexican restaurant that was great...had a burrito and guacamole...mmmm. And a mojito. Then we went to her apartment and ate popcicles and watched a movie...she lives right across from the cathedral that Gaudi was arrested at (picture in previous blog)...her little balcony looks right into a stained glass window on the side...very cool!! It was awesome hanging out with friends...like just hanging out and chatting...not some big meetup group. Her friend is a nanny here also, so we could laugh and compare stories, which is always nice.
So, those are the basics...please continue on to Part 2 of this much delayed, much too long blog entry...a visit from Brady...which includes a concert, and a trip out of town....

I'm a blog slacker...Part 2

Well, you made it through the first long blog entry, welcome to Part 2...a visit from my pal Brady. A quick background on Brady, for those of you who don't know...he was one of my neighbors on my Disney internship back in 2001, from CT, living in NH...he is really into music and traveling...so we have managed to stay in touch- visiting each other for random music events.

He flew in Saturday morning...I was a tad bit late picking him up at the airport...because I got lost- shocker...it really wasn't my fault though...I went to the right train station originally- they just pointed me in the wrong direction, and I got all confused. BUT, I made it. We took the train back to the apartment and headed out for a brief tour of the touristy part of the city. We walked along Pg. de Gracia, through the square onto Las Ramblas...glanced at the random street performers...were amazed at the number of animals being sold along the street (rabbits, turtles, fish, birds, ferrets, even some chipmunks...who goes to Barcelona and decides to buy a chipmunk?!), found our way through a side street into a really cute square (with palm trees, which never cease to make Brady happy) and sat down for lunch. Brady tested out his rusty Spanish, and found, as I did, that those high school and college classes just don't teach you how to actually have a conversation...who ever needs to know how to write it? We walked along the waterfront, through the marina...Brady caught me up on his various business ventures...he always gets me motivated to get working on my ideas. Then we came back to the apartment and he took a nap to try to recover from the flight, and prepare for our concert that evening. The kids were very interested in my friend that was visiting...they got home while he was napping and wanted to take a quick peek in.

He woke up and we headed out to the Pavello Olimpic stadium to see Jack Johnson, G.Love and Mason Jennings. While searching for directions to the venue, I discovered that this is where they held the basketball games in the 1992 Olympics...the Dream Team!! My life revolved around the Dream Team that summer- we taped the entire '92 Olympics, so we wouldn't miss any of the games....it was so cool to be at the stadium where they played. Unfortunately, the back of the tickets said no fotos...and we didn't want to risk getting caught with a camera, so we didn't bring it...only to discover the security was lame and we totally should have brought it...many opportunities for some sweet pics. Oh well. So, I'm not the hugest Jack Johnson fan...I like his music okay- it is nice background music...but nothing life changing. I have seen Jack play a couple of times and have never been overly impressed...this show was AMAZING. I'm still not sure how I feel about Mason Jennings...I knew 2 of his songs...the "Be Here Now" song I really like. And I big time heart G.Love...he is always a good time...I'll post my G.Love pic, just for fun. Then Jack came out and just put on a fantastic show...everything was just on. I think I never really got into Jack Johnson because his songs aren't heartbreaking enough...but there is something to be said for a songwriter that isn't a tortured soul (I mean, maybe he is...but somehow I just can't picture it) and is able to write songs that just make people happy. G.Love came out for a few songs...really added to the songs with his harmonica. Jack played 2 encores...for a total of about 6 songs. Our tickets were GA...which were for the floor. We got there for Mason, so a lot of the seats were open...we sat in a couple right on the side...and as the floor got more and more crowded, decided we wanted to try to stay in the seated area. Oh my gosh, you would never see the number of people smashed onto the floor in the US...the GA section went all the way up the stairs (such a fire hazard!) and the building was soooo hot. As the assigned seats started filling in, we snuck over to what appeared to be a VIP "I know someone" section...no one bothered us. We had empty seats all around us...the building was so unbelievably hot- I can't even imagine it being possible to breathe down on the floor...but we were fine- kicked back in a couple of seats...we realized the train was going to be a nightmare to take home, so booked it as quickly as we could out of there, and somehow beat the crowd, had a fairly empty train and made it home. Just really a stellar night, all around.

The next day we got up and headed out to the main train station to rent our car for our trip out to Costa Brava. Boy, was that a good time. The lady checking us in didn't speak great English, so communicating what we wanted (especially about insurance and such) was a challenge. After going through our options and making some decisions, our grand total was ridiculous...waaaay more than it should have been, not even including gas. So, we decided to look around, found a bus that would take us to the town we were going to...and headed out for 9.85 euros...quite a price difference. And we didn't have to worry about getting lost. Brilliant. We got into Tossa de Mar and found the hotel...changed into our swimsuits and took the 5 minute walk to the beach. This town is gorgeous. Such a picturesque place...the coastline is all rugged and rocky, the water was just so blue, the town is all little white beachside village buildings, there is a castle bordering one side of the beach. It really was exactly what I wanted for a couple day side trip out of the city. We got to the beach, got right in the sea...it was cold, but perfect. And really salty- you almost just float without any swimming effort at all. We went back to the hotel, showered and took a little siesta until the big futbol match started.

Spain made it to the finals of the Eurocup....very exciting...with soccer as popular as it is over here...everyone was so pumped for the game. We wandered around, through the little cobbled streets (seriously, the cutest town) searching for the perfect bar to watch the game. We found it. People had Spanish flags on as capes and so many noisemakers and chants...when Spain won...oh man...the excitement was ridiculous. It was so much fun. We enjoyed a couple Estrella Damm beers...then headed out to a bar on the beach for a couple more and to laugh at the craziness going on around us...cars honking, fireworks going off...then we headed back into the streets and somehow managed to find our way in this tiny little bar that was sooo cool. There was one couple and the bartender inside...he had records and was playing all kinds of great songs. We were talking about Jimi Hendrix- and how he saw him "oh at least twenty times...for like $2" and the couple were telling us about going out and seeing the Beatles...and how they used to put like 5 great bands together on one bill. Just a really fun conversation...all enjoyed with a couple more beers. Needless to say, we might have done a little bit of stumbling rather than walking, back to the hotel.

Neither of us felt particularly great the next day...decided no more Estrella Damm for us. We woke up to really obnoxious spanish music outside at the pool at 10am, apparently for water aerobics...We spend the day on the beach. Found the couple from the bar from the night before, as well as a few guys from the soccer bar...such a small town, we kept running into the same people. Then we went and explored the castle..found a little private beach, that turned out to be public. Went back for a siesta in the early evening and then back out for dinner. There was a little carnival going on that had some pretty entertaining rides...my camera battery died, so I'll have to get some pics from Brady when he gets home...there was a great announcer at one of the rides that def enjoyed his job.

Next morning we got back up (again, at 10 due to the same water aerobics music)...went to the beach for a short while, found an English newspaper, and sat outside at a restaurant for lunch and read the paper, then headed back to the bus station and back to Barcelona.

I was back with the kids today...who by the way, can't get enough of Brady...they think it is hilarious that he sleeps all the time...seems like he is always sleeping when they are home. Brady went out to do the tourist bus...see all the major sites. And then is taking the train out to Sitges (the little beach town where my bag was stolen)...he booked a hotel out there for the evening and is going to hang at the beach tomorrow and meet back at the apartment after I finish working tomorrow...although I won't be surprised when he doesn't show up and decides to just stay in Sitges another night...I think he is going to like it out there.

And that brings me up to right now...are you all feeling caught up? It was long, I'm sorry...thanks for sticking it out and getting through it all....you are a trooper. I promise it won't be so long between blogs again.

I miss you much. Keep in touch. Here is a video from the bar during the soccer game...

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! I hate not being at home to give you a hug!

Poor Cory is never going to live this picture down...this will be pulled out for graduation, wedding...hehe.

Well, my bank card finally arrived, so I can actually have a life again...very exciting! My mom sent me a nice little package with my mail, some books, and a couple DVDs for the kids. It is so nice getting mail.

After getting my new bank card, I jumped on itunes and caught up on the Lost and Grey's Anatomy finales...phew. I also need to catch up on new music- I feel totally out of it- who do I need to listen to? Suggestions please.

I also signed up for a gym membership. It was expensive, but definitely worth it...I feel better about life already. I had a really good run and lifted a bit...woke up Saturday totally sore- it was great. Then I went and did a spinning class...I realized the classes are going to be a bit tricky, since the instructions are all in spanish...but spinning is pretty easy to just follow along. The only thing I understood was "mas, mas...uno, dos, tres, mas!" I want to try the yoga and pilates classes, but I don't know if those might be harder without understanding what is being said...we'll see.

I went shopping. I came to barcelona with one pair of shorts, figuring I could buy what I need here...and then my wallet was stolen, along with my one pair of shorts. Luckily the weather hasn't been stellar...but the days are def starting to warm up. I walked along Pg. de Gracia and shopped...I should have just gone to H&M from the beginning...got 3 pairs of shorts and a pair of capris and 3 tank tops for under 70 euros. Not too bad...and now I'm set...no more shopping allowed. Until Paris anyway. :)

Speaking of Paris...my mom is going to visit me!! I have a week off in July- we have to be out of our apartment- it was already rented for one week of our 3 months, so the dads just decided we would take a trip during that week. Well, the grandparents are joining for that trip, so the dads decided 4 adults was probably enough to take care of the kids, so they gave me the week off. So Mom is flying out and we are going to spend the week at Disneyland Paris! I can't wait...I have been looking at all the Disney hotels and restaurants and special activities...and then we are going to spend a couple of days in Paris, doing the usual tourist stuff.

The dads are on a trip on their own for 4 days...so Grandma Ya-Ya and her friend Ginny came to stay with us to help with the kids. They have been great...I have really enjoyed them. We made a sign for the kids to hold at the airport... --->

Last night I went to a Couchsurfing beach party (couchsurfing is a network of people all over the world that let you stay on their couch while you are traveling). We met at 6pm and many people were planning on camping out at the beach. I left about midnight. It was so fun...it was basically a bunch of people from all over the world that are either living in or visiting Barcelona. I was sitting in a circle with 2 people from Barcelona, 1 from Portland, 1 from Holland, 1 from Cuba, 1 from Argentina, 1 from South Africa and 1 from Russia. And that was just my little group...there were prob about 50 people there. These people have such amazing stories...most of them have done so much traveling...they just move somewhere, live for a while and then move on to another city. As much as I love to travel, I have nothing on any of these people!

It's Sunday...the weather is a bit overcast...the kids are out...I'm enjoying some quiet time at the apartment...listening to some tunes. It's great.

Hope you are well...miss you still.

A Gaudi Weekend

I've never had a favorite architect before. But Gaudi is that. I spent the weekend enjoying a few of his famous designs...and I loved it.

I woke up on Saturday and went for a super lame run. I feel much better after reading an article in the monthly English magazine here, that said what a difficult city Barcelona is to be a runner. Between the grid-like streets, the tourist population and the polution...running is certainly not pleasant. Which has brought be to the conclusion that once my bank card arrives (please be here soon, please be here soon!) I will be signing up for a gym membership. I looked into it a couple weeks ago, and it is SO expensive, I figured I could just make do with running outside...but alas, the gym it is. Until then, the 5 hrs a day of walking will have to do.

After the run, I hopped on the subway and went for a good walk to Parc Guell. Gaudi was hired to create a community of houses for the wealthy, in landscaped grounds. The project wasn't commercially successful, so they turned it into a public park. You enter the park through two gate houses...that look like they are toppped with frosting. Then you enter into a large plaza area with a huge staircase with the famous Gaudi lizard in front. The park is full of pathways, arches, and even has a house that Gaudi lived in for 20 years.

After the park, I headed out to the beach area...there was a stage with live music set up, which I listened to for a little while. Then I headed into the movie theater to check out the new Indiana Jones movie. I was relieved to find movie posters for "Sexo en Nueva York"coming out 20 de Junio...phew, I have been searching everywhere for a theater to watch the Sex and the City movie and was concerned it wasn't coming to Barcelona. I just have to wait a bit longer.

This morning I woke up early and went to one of Gaudi's most famous buildings..La Pedrera (make sure you roll your tongue when you say that) Everytime I walk by there is a huge, hour-long wait to get in...so I decided to get there right when it opened...and I almost had the whole place to myself. La Pedrera was an apartment building. The front isn't overly inviting, but the inside is full of curves and arches and fun stuff. The rooftop (which apparently they have evening events at on the weekend in the summer) is so cool (picture worth a thousand words). And then they have one of the apartments set up, all furnished by true items that might have been there. How cool would it have been to live in one of his buildings?!

After the tour, I walked down La Rambla and found the church Gaudi was arrested at one day as he was on his way in to mass (for speaking catalan, instead of spanish, I believe). I was standing in front of the church thinking how crazy it is to be standing in front of the church where Gaudi was arrested. And then thought, but really...does it matter...is it that much different than looking at a picture...is my life different in any way now? I had a moment...and then moved on. Here is one of the street entertainers on La Rambla...this little skeleton was dancing and singing to Elvis...it was funny enough for me to pull my camera out for a picture.

I finished my Gaudi weekend off by heading back to my favorite place- Sagrada Familia- and went to the evening mass. Again, in Spanish...I do need to find an english speaking church.

The dads are out to dinner so I'm home with the sleeping, but coughing, kiddos.

Hope all is well...later.

The draught is over

Hey! I'm sorry, this is going to be a kind of lame blog post because I don't have any new pictures. I'll do better next time, I promise.

This week was a pretty basic week. I watched the kids everyday from 8am-5:30pm. They started their new "school" this week. I stayed at the school with them and gradually went in other rooms for a bit, and then finally on the last day, they had me leave the school for a couple of hours. Their teachers and the kids all speak Spanish, so the kids come home with new random words each day. It is pretty cute. I think we will probably have the kids in the school 3-ish days a week...which will be good for them to get some play time in with other kids. They are still having a tough time adjusting to all the change. They aren't sleeping very well at night.

I went out to dinner with a group of people on Tuesday night. The group of from Oklahoma I met on the cava excursion invited me out with a big group of people they know in the city. Had my first Spain paella. It was tasty...I'm guessing there is better though. It was a lot of fun- I really enjoyed being out with people!! And I met a couple of people that are living here now, but are from the US and we exchanged info, so hopefully we will have a chance to get together soon. One of the girls told me it took her 6 months of living here to finally feel like she understood the conversations going on around her, and a full year to feel fully comfortable speaking. So, that makes me feel a little bit better about not having a good grasp on the language yet!

I had the afternoon off today, so I decided to head down to the beach...check out the beach scene, get a little sun on my totally sunscreened self, read a bit more of my book (currently reading Grapes of Wrath...I have been whipping through books, so if you have any reading suggestions, let me know- there isn't a huge english selection...but the bookstores have an english section). While somewhat expecting it and having heard it before, I was shocked to discover that about have the females on the beach were topless. Just a big ol public beach...no tops. I heard a couple of guys from the US walk by and one guy said "I can't just sit here, I have to walk around- there are boobs everywhere". So now who is coming to visit?

I'm sure you are happy to know that the draught in Barcelona is over. It has been raining some serious rain lately. The last few days it has been beautiful in the day time, and then right around 6pm, the huge drops of rain start falling. This is unfortunate for the playground situation...as the days are nice, but the slides and swings have huge puddles under them. And puddles on the playground are time-outs just waiting to happen!

I'm trying to figure out a plan for this weekend...I need to do one touristy activity...check out some museum or something. There is also a couchsurfing party happening out in Sitges- which is the little beach city just out of Barcelona...where my purse was stolen. I really want to go, but they aren't even meeting up until 11pm...and planning on taking the train back to Barcelona at like 4am. I know, I know...that's how it works here....but I am a WAKE UP at 4am person, not a GO HOME at 4am. We'll see. I may just need to take a long nap in the afternoon.

Hope you are all well. Keep me updated on you!!
E

A cava excursion

Hola...I just spent the last 4 hours listening (a little bit of talking) to spanish at the kids' new school. The dads decided to enroll them in a program that is all in Spanish, in hopes that, as kids, they will pick up the language. I have to say, it was pretty cute...the teacher would ask Cory something...some long spanish sentence, that you know he had NO idea what she was saying, and he just smiled and nodded. And about halfway through the afternoon, they picked up "que pasa" and just kept saying it over and over to the other kids...it was really funny when the other kids would try to answer, but they had already moved on to asking someone else. The language thing wasn't an issue like I thought it would be.

I had a great weekend...it was definitely nice being back in Barcelona after our trip. On Friday, the kids and I spent the whole day together...we got up and played in the house for a bit, then headed out to a park...had McDonald's for lunch (I know...what kind of babysitter am I?! But the house cleaner was in the house, and it is the only restaurant I feel comfortable taking the kids to) Then we came back to the apartment and rested. Had a tea party with animal crackers and water. Then we went back out to another park. The kids were great- we had so much fun.

Then Saturday I slept in a tad, and went to the Picasso museum. I did a report on Picasso in my 8th grade art class, and have been a fan since. I like the blue period...fairly depressing. I think I want a print of Barcelona Rooftops for my next casa. After the museum, I found a little restaurant for lunch and did a bit of reading. While I totally filled myself with lunch...I decided gelato was def in order for my touristy afternoon. The guys went out that night, so I stayed home with the kids.

Sunday I met a group from meetup.com for a winery tour. We went to Freixenet, which is a huge cava maker. The tour wasn't overly fantastic, but it was fun to see (and taste) and it was great chatting with new people. The group (about 20 of us) went out to lunch after...2:30 until 5:30...it was the longest lunch ever! I met a few new people that I will probably do some other activities with...there was a group in town from Oklahoma that I really enjoyed...they are, of course, leaving on Friday. But they invited me out for paella tomorrow night at a place they always visit when they are in Barcelona...will be my first paella experience in Spain (I've been holding off because I've heard they don't make very good paella for tourists). Once we got back to the city, a few of us went out for a drink.

Then I got back to the apartment, one of the dad's brother and sister-in-law flew in yesterday for a week and half. And they are from Seattle! They live in Green Lake...so obviously they are great people. :) We sat around and chatted over dinner (I was still full from the marathon lunch, so just had some cereal).

And that leaves me off at today with the kids first day of school. I'm pretty pooped (as in tired...and as in chicken poop everywhere because the school has a chicken coop and the kids had it all over their shoes...gross!)

Hope you all had a lovely weekend..please feel free to tell me about them...miss ya.

E