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

Back in Barc

<-- Look- I actually AM on this trip!!

This morning, on our way to the airport, we were discussing how strange it is to feel like heading back to the apartment in Barcelona feels like going home after a trip. But it’s true…after a week in southern Spain, going back to Barcelona feels like going home (I mean, not really…but at least we have toys at the apartment!) So here is a rundown of the past week:

Friday: we left fairly early Friday morning to take a cab to the airport. We actually had to take 2 cabs because the amount of luggage necessary for kids is incredible. We made it, checked in and flew to Madrid. We had a short layover there and caught our next plane to Granada. Both flights were under an hour…not too bad. The kids watched an episode of the BackYardigans and when I heard the little theme song come on, I teared up a slight bit…I thought about my nephew Landin (he is a big fan of the show/characters) and how much I miss hanging out with him. We hopped in a couple more cabs to our hotel- the Alhambra Palace- right next to the Alhambra. The hotel was nice- not very kid-friendly, but a nice hotel. I went to my room and took a nap before venturing out into the city. After a short rest, I strolled down into town in search of a grocery store…typical…I got lost. But in the small town, it isn’t such a big deal to get lost…especially when your hotel is next to the only major tourist point of the city. I did find a grocery store and picked up a few things for my room. As much as I enjoy eating at the little tapas places, the week before was exhausting, and all I wanted to do was have some quiet reading time. Which I did…and was in bed, asleep, at 8pm.

Saturday: I met up with the guys over breakfast. They had a tour of the Alhambra scheduled for the morning/afternoon, so I took the kids to a park- a 40 minute walk. Luckily there was a little mall across the street, so we stopped in there for some lunch…there is a sandwich chain in Barcelona…probably like a subway (I’ve seen a few around) that makes grilled cheese that the kids love. The mall also had a kid play area…with a bunch of those little rides that you pay a euro for, like 30 seconds. Once I was out of change, the kids just climbed from toy to toy and were perfectly happy pretending…if only I had done that before running out of money! We went back up to the hotel and met up with Matt. I had a few hours in the afternoon to hang out…had some more “quiet Eryn” time…I didn’t realize that I had been missing that until I had my own hotel room to hide away in! The guys have a friend that came in from Rota to visit, so they went out to dinner and I watched the kids for the evening.

Sunday: I went on the Alhambra tour on Sunday. I didn't know exactly what I was going in to. I knew the Alhambra was the palace for the Moorish monarchs, and that it is one of the top tourist spots in Spain. I thought it was a palace. Not so- it is pretty much its own little city. The gardens inside the grounds are beautiful, the buildings are just...breathtaking. Is that corny to say? I know...but really, you walk through the buildings that were made for kings so long ago...and are still maintained today...crazy. They do several different language tours throughout the day- my guide didn't seem to have a complete grasp on the English language...he kept emphasizing how we were "inside...but we are outside...we are inside the grounds, but outside..." The tour was about four hours long- just to give you a grasp of how big the grounds are. I met a really nice couple from Wales on the tour. They have a 26-yr old daughter, so we chatted for a lot of the tour. They encouraged me to check out a rugby game (match?) when we go to France. Okay...will do. I had the rest of the day off, so I strolled around town some more, and relaxed in my room...finished a book and almost finished a second.

Monday: We left in the morning to pick up our rental car- we had a three and a half hour car trip to Rota. We stayed at a sweet resort...on the beach, nice pool (which I got up and swam laps in both mornings..oh my gosh, it was a cold pool!!), a playground for the kids, pretty good breakfast buffet in the morning. Once we checked in, we played at the playground for a bit, then I walked into town while the guys/kids went to their friend's house. I know it might surprise you, but I got lost walking around town looking for a grocery store. I never actually found the grocery store before I decided I was too hungry to continue the search.

Tuesday: I took the bus into Cadiz- about an hour long ride. Cadiz is one of the oldest cities in Europe. It is the city that Columbus sailed from on his second trip to America. I had mixed feelings about the city. Parts of it were so old, in such a beautiful, historic kind of way...and then other parts were just really rundown. There was a lot of construction going on, which didn't help. The church there was massive...absolutely huge. When I got off the bus, I wandered into town and found the tourist center. They had a few little walking tour maps of the city, so I picked one and went with it. About halfway through the tour, I discovered there were pathways painted on the sidewalks guiding you through the walking tours, so I didn't actually have to stare at my map the whole time to avoid getting lost. Phew! Some random guy started chatting with me (which caused me to grab my bag a little tighter) and when I told him I wasn't lost and was fine, he continued following me. And kept randomly showing up at all the places I was...I finally asked him if he was following me (in a very friendly "eryn" kind of way) and then he left me alone. I got back in the early evening and watched the kids while the parents went out to dinner.

Wednesday: We were waiting to make plans depending on the weather...the hotel was so great for the kids that we wanted to hang out and play at the beach or pool for as long as possible, but the day before had been a bit cold and windy. We decided to hold out and wait for the sun, which did make an appearance. We got in the car and made our way to Sevilla (about an hour or so drive). We checked into the hotel and grabbed a cab into town. SOOO cute! We all wished we had left more time to explore Sevilla. We had dinner at a cute little outdoor place, that actually had great food AND was super friendly to the kids (hard to find both). I'll post some pictures of Sevilla at a later time, as I didn't bring my camera with me and have to get some pics from Matt.

Thursday: We woke up SOOOO early to make it to the airport for our flight. We flew from Sevilla to Valencia and then on to Barcelona. I am so so so tired. And a bit dehydrated for some reason...I have that hungover kind of headache...even though I didn't drink at all.

I got to the apartment and went to my favorite reading spot. I'll let you in on my sad little secret. I am a frequent visitor of the Starbucks on our street. I know it is silly to go to Starbucks when I'm in another country, with plenty of other coffee shops. But...it makes me feel better. I can chat with the baristas, they actually know what customer service is, I can drink my normal drink (although they don't have honey drizzle here), and I can sit in a big comfy chair- kick my shoes off and read. I promise I don't go there everyday...but it helps when I'm feeling homesick.

Anyway...I'm excited for the upcoming week- I think we are going to be able to get into a real schedule and routine with the kids...which I think will be so great for everyone. And..I'm going on a winery tour on Sunday. And possibly to the movies to see the new Indiana Jones movie. Yay!

Still missing you all...all the time!

E

I'm really in Barcelona now...

Well, I had a bit of a rough day on Wednesday. The dads, kids and I headed out to Sitges to spend the day at the beach. Beautiful day, Sitges is an adorable little city about a half hour train ride away...it's the beach we went to on my first day here. We picked up some sandwiches to eat for lunch sat on a little bench to eat. Cory ran over to look over the edge of the roof we were on top of...so I went after him, as to prevent any tumbling over the edge...and while that was going on...a random guy started talking to Addy, so while all attention was on the conversation, another fellow grabbed my purse and a third was waiting in a car to drive them all away. Yes, I truly live in Barcelona now...my purse was snatched. I lost my wallet (my super cute alligator wallet that I get compliments on everytime I pull it out...I need a new one Jen!), my camera, my Spain cell phone, apartment keys, my guide book, etc...so I left the family to go find a police station to report the incident- apparently no one in the town actually knows where the police station is. Everyone keeps pointing me in different directions...eventually I make it...it is on the other side of town, up in the hills. I go in, nobody speaks English. After a great game of charades- me- me trying to act out my bag being stolen, they informed me that they were the city police and I needed to go to the community police station. What? So they drove me over to the community police station...one gal there speaks a touch of English. She tells me I can't file a report without my passport...who carries their passport in their pocket? So after a couple hours of searching and explaining...I was never able to file anything. Not that it would do any good...I just felt like it needed to be done. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach...with me feeling skiddish about anyone that approached us. It was a long day. I got a good sunburn from my long walk around town. Apparently it happens to everyone...sigh...

I have more to write about...but I am exhausted and we have an early flight tomorrow morning. We are heading down to southern Spain for the week. I'm sure I'll have some lovely pictures and stories to tell when I get back...but I won't be on my computer for a few days.

Keep emailing...I need em!

A great Weekend

I’m getting the hang of things. I’m almost beginning to feel a bit comfortable…well, maybe that is a bit strong of a word…my stomach has calmed when I'm out anyway. This weekend went well.

Friday night I went out on my own. I put some cute heels on, curled my hair and went in search of…well, somewhere that I could hang out with a drink and make conversation. I walked to Pg. de Gracia…busy street (great for shopping, btw) and walked and walked and walked. It wasn’t that there weren’t places to go…none of them felt right. And then I remembered that might be because I’m not really a bar girl. I don’t go hang out in bars at home- why would it be different here? So I went to a café. I chatted a bit with the waiter and waitress and enjoyed some hot chocolate and a sweet waffle…I know, I’m a crazy girl. More important than what I did though, was that I didn’t bring a bag…meaning, I didn’t bring my map, or my Spanish dictionary. I brought my ID, some money, chapstick, keys and my phone. It’s almost like I live here…no map!

Saturday morning, I let myself sleep in…generally I try to stay out of the way of the morning routine with the kiddos so as to not disrupt what they have going on. I went over to do the Sagrada Familia (which means Holy Family, by the way). Now I am sure you are tired of hearing about this place…so feel free to skip the next paragraph because I am totally obsessed with it, and learned a lot on my tour.
They have been working on this thing for over 100 yrs…Gaudi spent over half of his life on this project and only got to see a very small portion finished. He left tons of plans for the continued development, but much of his work was destroyed in a vandalism fire…so they pieced together what they could find, combined with help from other architects Gaudi had worked with and trained and went from there. There are 4 corners that, when viewed from above, look like a cross. One is an entrance and the other three are for the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus. The only part Gaudi saw through was the birth. The death scene is finished now, but was done by another architect…it is a very different style than Gaudi’s, but also is meant to be that way-darker and sad. Earlier I said there will be 12 towers for each of the apostles- there is actually going to be 18 in total. 12 for the apostles, 4 for the evangelists (Mark, Matthew, Luke and John) a taller one for Mary and right in the center, much higher than the rest is Jesus. People asked Gaudi why he was putting so much detail into something so high up- no one will be able to see it. He said the angels will see it and that’s more important. The inside is supposed to look like a “concrete forest” the buttresses are the tree branches and the ceiling looks like leaves. It is so beautiful. There is going to be a lot of natural light coming in through the “leaves” in the ceiling. It isn’t scheduled to be finished for another twenty years…so I guess I’ll have to return for that. It will be the tallest church in the world (the guide thought...wasn't totally sure), which was what Gaudi was going for- closer to Heaven. Someone asked how much money has been spent in building so far and the guide said it's impossible to know (imposible is a very common word here!)...but that in the past few years they have been averaging about 6 million/year! And it is all paid for through private donations and tourists visiting- the government has nothing to do with it.

Okay, okay…thanks for humoring me...moving on. I came back to the apartment and changed into work out clothes, and took the train to the beach. There is this whole outside restaurant/shopping area on the beach. I decided to go see a movie- I know, a little lame...but it sounded nice. This particular theater shows movies in their original language (aka English!) with spanish subtitles...I saw the stupid Cameron Diaz/Ashton Kutcher movie "Algo Pasa en Las Vegas"...not a stellar movie, but totally gave me my America fix. Then I came out and went for a run along the beach...the sun was setting, it was such a nice temperature to run. Such a great night.

I got back home and the fellas were making some rabbit for dinner. They made sure it didn't actually LOOK like the animal (like the last time when they brought a full chicken home...) They made it with a nice red wine, mushrooms, potatoes, etc...delish. We chatted for awhile...had a little competition- who has met the most famous people...you might think I would win with all the bands and NBA people...but they aren't into sports or music, so my meetings weren't impressive. :-)

This morning I woke and went to church...yes, that's right, I actually made it. They are holding services in La Sagrada Familia, in a tiny little portion that is covered. It was in Spanish, but the beauty of Catholic mass is that it is EXACTLY the same every time...so it was easy to follow along.

Then I hopped on a train to Tibidabo. It's this amusement park that is way up on top of a hill above the city. You have to take a tram after the train, and then the "funicular" which is another tram-like car that takes you all the way up to the top. There was a huge church right there (it was kind of random...all these kids yelling, rides going, random clown-like people singing...and this huge church right there.) I walked around the park, but couldn't bring myself to pay the 24 euros to actually ride the dumb rides...they were like county fair rides...a smaller Enchanted Village. I took the funicular back down and had lunch at a restaurant at the bottom. I have to say- customer service does not seem to be much of a priority in Barcelona. You literally have to call out to the waiter/waitress to get them to bring a menu, take your order, bring your bill, get your change, etc...the whole process takes FOREVER! And is especially hard for me, because I'm not overly forward...so I usually end up sitting for quite awhile.

Now I'm home...contemplating dinner options. Mentally preparing for the week ahead. We are going to southern Spain for a week on Thursday...so our schedule will be a bit different.

Hope things are well with you...don't forget to send me emails updating me on your live