Eurojournal - 28 Oct 2006- Miro!

Yesterday we rode the gondola from our area to Montjuic to the Joan Miro museum. James and I really like Miro's work. Liam and Luna did too. Byron, however was bored with Miro. He really does not like the simple abstract. He did like some of the exhibition by Carles Santos though. Afterwards we went to the sound and light show at the magical fountain at Montjuic. This fountain was really big filled with various lights dancing to classical music.

Today we went to a vegan awareness event at a restaurant. There was free vegan tapas (food was fabulous!) and we met some really neat activists. One was from the US. Tomorrow we will spend the day at Montserrat.


James and Liam having a snuggly afternoon; Liam's completed sketch of Joan Miro sculpture; Luna's sketch of same Miro sculpture; View of our neighborhood form gondola.



 

27 October

Today is the anniversary of my mother’s death six years ago. It is not usually a big deal for me but this year I reflect on it more. Traveling has been wonderful but constantly uprooting. The uprooting has made me long for my family of origin, particularly my parents. Because I did not have a healthy relationship with my parents I suppose I am really longing for some sort of nurturing wise one in my life, guidance and/or roots. My father died when I was sixteen and mother when I was twenty-seven.
 

Sagrada Familia pics

Sagrada Familia is an amazing Catholic temple in Barcelona. It is Antoni Gaudi's most famous design and still under construction.

El Poble Espanyol

We visited El Poble Espanyol with some friends this week. It is replica of a village with the styles of the regions of Spain.





 

Barcelona Gaudi pics

These were taken from Parc Guell where there are several building and designs by Gaudi. The bldgs remind me of gingerbread houses.





 

Barcelona pics

James, Luna, Liam and I at Cap de Barcelona; Gaudi bldg; Liam in Gothic Quarter alley; James, Liam, Luna and I along Moll de la Fuesta.



 

Mercat and Truffles

I went to the Mercat de la Boqueria yesterday. It was absolutely amazing. Like a city farmer’s market on steroids. Rows upon rows of stalls with fruits and vegetables, spices, candy, nuts, fish, meat (complete cow’s heads and skinned rabbits with eyes), cheese, wine, chocolate and tapas bars. Restauranteurs go here to get their ingredients. An Iron Chef’s dream! I am looking forward to taking Iron Chef James there. I went there looking for some greens and some dark chocolate to make vegan truffles (see recipe below). There was even a vegetarian mini restaurant called Organic serving vegetarian paella among other foods. I must try that! Mercat de la Boqueria is located right off of Las Ramblas which is an area consisting of a long pedestrian thoroughfare of shops, street performers, artists, etc.

I returned home with some nice xocolate to make vegan truffles. I was excited to get started. I already cooked the nuts in honey so they were cooled and ready to blend. It turned quickly into a very messy all night project. This morning I finished with plenty of truffle filling leftover. I made two plates of chocolate candies. Some look nice, others are pretty sloppy looking. Not bad for the first time. The children are my official tasters. The coconut covered truffle was the winner.

And 27 hours until James arrives!!!!!!!!

100 - 200g chocolate

1 pkg silken tofu ( blended to a cream)

1/2 cup maple syrup ( I used honey)

1 cup almonds/ hazelnuts ( whole or pieces)

Put the maple syrup in a pan and bring to a boil. When boiling add the nuts and stir constantly until it is almost dry ( ie the nuts are all sticking together and the syrup is not runny) empty out onto some greaseproof paper and allow to cool.

Meanwhile melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water. DON'T allow the bowl to touch the water. It should be just above it.

Blend the praline (nut mixture) into either a fine powder or a coarse mixture and stir into the chocolate. Fold in the tofu. When it is all mixed take off the heat allow to cool. The cover and place in the fridge until well chilled.

Work quickly and form into small balls. Roll in cocoa powder or grated chocolate or dip in melted chocolate and allow to set. Eat in moderation, as they are incredibly rich!
Adapted From: The Chocolate Room

Counting down the hours until James arrives

On Thursday it will have been 51 days since James and I have been together. Too long to be apart from my soulmate. As I write this we have less than 63 hours.

Finally we meet again in Barcelona! 

Eurojournal -16 October 2006

We have had some nice lazy days here mostly going to the beach. I completed my Spanish course. It prepared me to have the confidence to use some of the Spanish I know to get around. I have been doing well with it. Today I want to the train station to inquire about tickets for James, Csaba, Eva and their daughter. It was easy. I am understanding more and more basic Spanish. Now I have to work on not jumping in and saying something so Byron is forced to practice. He is a bit shy to speak which is unfortunate.

We explored the city a few times and came a cross a Gaudi building, the music conservatory. We will do the Gaudi tour this week or when James arrives. On the rainy days we went to see movies at the Omnimax. One was the Ant Bully in 3D which was dreadfully violent but it gave us a chance to get out. The other movie we saw was about the coral reefs. It inspired Byron to learn how to scuba dive. We explores a little of Las Ramblas when we first arrived. Yesterday we explored the Gothic Quarter full of incredible architecture. There are many quaint alleys full of shops, bomboneries (chocolatiers) and tapas bars. We ate lunch at Maoz falafel which is a chain of vegetarian falafel bars in Europe. We could get a falafel in pita and have access to a salad bar with veggies, sauces, beans, etc. We loved it and it was reasonably priced.

I am finally connecting with Barcelona. I love it here but haven’t really connected to the city the way I have with other places. Part of it is our location. We are in Barceloneta which is almost it’s own city within the city. It is easy to get our veggies, groceries and go to the beach…all within2-4 blocks of our place and never really go anywhere else. Today was the first day though I felt a nice connection here. It is friendly and warm.

The children have seen jellyfish. So far they don’t sting. One day while I was in class they caught one and kept it in their sand bucket to observe. What a fabulous experience it was for the little ones. They still talk about it.

We have a really great next door neighbor who is exactly like Esthi-Neni in the village. Her name is Antonia and when her door is open, Liam pops in and says “Hola!” She adores him and always gives the kids a treat like chips, nuts or pretzels. She asks what they are doing for the day and I help them to reply in Spanish. The owners told me that she thinks the kids have good Spanish.



 

New posts

James added some nice posts to his blog about life in the village. Check it out.

Perceptions of a 7 year old...

Byron and I are talking about bush, the military and terrorists at breakfast today. You know those nice family discussions over a meal... I am trying to redirect the conversation to something like the beach perhaps and Luna asks,

"Exactly what IS a terrorist?"

Um, well darn, do you have to ask that? I am thinking. I blurt out and hope she takes it and we can move on to something a little more positive,

"Someone who blows things up."

Immediately, she says,

"Well, then that makes george bush a terrorist because isn't he blowing people up around the world?"

Now she wants to know about segregation and wondered if we lived back then,

"Would you be able to sit with Liam on that bus because you have brown skin and he has light skin?"

It will be an interesting day...

A day at the beach

What a rough life it is for us. Yesterday we played at the beach all day. Liam is becoming adventurous in the water. The first day he was afraid and now he is jumping in waves and putting his face in the water screaming how much fun it is. Luna and Byron went further out. Byron saw some jellyfish and has been researching which kind. Once he identified which ones he went looking for them yesterday and did not see any! I took a nice nap in the sun and got a fabulous tan. The kids made friends with this silly dog. Today we will explore Barcelona more before we start Spanish intensives tomorrow.



 

Quaint Barcelona

We went to register for our Spanish intensives today. Byron will be taking four weeks and I, one week starting Monday. I am looking forward to it. Afterwards we found this incredible vegan restaurant for lunch. We had a 3 course lunch including dessert. Kids were so happy. I have been craving veggie sandwiches, mainly avocado and tofu and got the best sandwich ever. The restaurant was in this quaint alley. We walked around and discovered this cute area with a nice honey market complete with a stretwalking mime and flutist. The kids were fascinated by him. On the way home we saw more of the human sculptures. The one below gave the kids some gems. We saw another that was a sunflower. Luna went up to her and she scared and tickled Luna. Luna let out a shriek followed by giggling. It was fun. The human sculptures are far more silly and warm here in Spain than London.




 

On the Way to Barcelona

The alarms worked and off went for the 7am train. On it were high schoolers giant to St Gervais. It was fun observing the kids studying and talking. Funny they all looked like Byron’s friends. We took 4 trains that day with a 3 hour stop in Montpellier in the south of France. This was such a different environment. Warm, sunny, dry, palm trees. Much like San Diego county. Luna and I walked around looking for some dinner for the next train ride. We found a kebab place with falafel. It was like a Che Guevara shrine. She had two really great posters in the front of the restaurant and a giant tapestry fabric in the back area. Luna was excited and had to tell Liam all about it in full detail. We got our falafel and left her saying Viva Che! Che is a hero in France.

We took a 5 hour ride to Barcelona and arrived at 9:45pm. We took a taxi to the apartment where we would spend a month. The woman with whom I had been corresponding for several months (owners’ daughter) welcomed us warmly. We slept well.



Pics: 3 from Chamonix, 4th Byron petting a small dog on the train to Motpellier. He loathes small dogs except this one!