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!







 

More Chamonix Pics

 

Chamonix, France (Mont Blanc)

Mont Blanc is like the Himalayas-jagged tops covered in snow and glaciers. We went to gondola to get tickets for tomorrow but the woman said the weather will be bad tomorrow so we need to go today. We had 1 ½ hours left to ride. Unfortunately there was no trip over to Helbronner (Italy side-too late in season). We walked Back to Byron and Liam at train station. They were watching our luggage. The apartment office where were staying was not open yet so we lugged backpacks and heavy food bags on the gondola. We went to Plan de l’Aiguille the half way point and onto Aiguille de midi. On way up we saw paragliders ready to jump off the cliffs. How fun! I would do it if James were here to care for the kids.

We wandered in the snowy cold area. Fog was coming in fast making for white views. Went to viewing area and climbed the steps with bags at 3842 meters altitude. Fortunately the fog cleared long enough to capture the stunning views of mountains and glaciers. Byron was getting tired and dizzy and Luna was getting a headache from the altitude. So we decided to head down the mountain. We stopped at the ice cave. Amazing…walls all ice. We were basically inside a glacier. Climbed up about 10 flights of steps with 20 kilo backpacks on plus a 20+ kilo food bag on wheels. We got there and needed to climb back down as many steps. Great practice for backpacking! I am glad the kids experienced the high altitude. We discussed alt sickness and that they may feel this when we backpack with James.

The kids raved at how this was the best place so far maybe even surpassing Norway. We were exhausted. We got our apt and were happy to drop the luggage in the middle of the floor. We got a fabulous deal on this place, best so far other than in Romania. When booking everything was very expensive and I came across this short term apt. I honestly was expecting a creepy place for the price but it was a nice 1 bedroom apt with a balcony and a fabulous view. There was even a nice kitchen and bat tub! Very cozy on the 4th floor WITH an elevator.

The next day we took a train to the Mer de Glace (sea of ice) glacier. That was even better than yesterday! We ascended up a mountain via train and descended down the other side via gondola and foot. In between was a giant frozen river. We could see the ripples from when it flowed (or flows as it actually moves 2 inches to 2 feet per year). We could see the dips as it flows around a boulder. Under some of the dusty rock pieces that fell from the mountain was blue ice. We walked down in amazement. We went into a carved out ice cave in the glacier. Inside were ice sculptures. Near the end of the cave was an ice room with an adorable giant slobbery St Bernard, a live one. The couple there offered to take a picture of us with her. Of course the kids are crazy about dogs and make loud googly sounds anytime they see one so this was treat. We did and it was fun. On the way out Byron filled a water bottle with glacier water, the cleanest water in the world. It was tasty. The kids unanimously decided that this was the most beautiful place ever.

We were planning to leave the following day for Paris but missed the train. My PDA alarm didn’t go off. So we stayed another day in Chamonix. We were blessed in that it was a sunny warm day there. So we got to see the quaint town and Mont Blanc on a clear day. We relaxed all day and walked around the town. Ate lunch at a sandwich shop. I can’t seem to feed Byron enough these days so he got two grilled veggie sandwiches and was finally full. These sandwiches were huge and I could barely finish one. We ate pizza and past for dinner at another place. I set 6 alarms this time (3 on my cell phone and 3 on the PDA) and tested them obsessively. We could not miss this train as we were scheduled to be in Barcelona that day.



 

On the Way to France…via Switzerland!

We left the midwifery meeting to take a train to France. We were supposed to take a couchette (sleeper train) but they were full so we took a different train. Fortunately we were in first class so we got a nice little enclosed 6 seat room. No bed but kids could spread out on the floor and Byron and I made the best of the seats. We rode through Germany overnight and woke up in Switzerland. Switzerland was beautiful. We spent the morning going form north to south passing lake Geneva. We ended up on the wrong train but in the right direction. We took the next train to the last stop and got on the correct train. It was nice to spend a little time in a Swiss town though. And it only put us an hour behind. A train and bus later we arrived in Chamonix, France.



 

Amsterdam Journal Entry

Amsterdam was absolutely wonderful. Falling in love our first day, I felt at home here. We explored and Byron found two skateparks. One near a school nicely situated a short walk from our flat. He would go there accidentally at lunchtime and the students would watch him. He became very popular fast with children making requests for tricks. These kids looked like they were 7-9 grade. He is so humble that the first time he left. I encouraged him to go back and enjoy the attention. He did. Luna loved it too. She would ask to return to put on a show. That’s a Leo for ya!

The Van Gogh museum was short but fun for the children. He is Liam’s other favorite artist. He brought his book and made beelines to the paintings. His favorite is “The Potato Eaters” a dark reflection of the poor in Van Gogh’s time. He thinks the name is funny and likes dark paintings. Luna loves the Japanese painting.

We made an excursion to Den Haag (The Hague) to see the Peace Palace where the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is. It was fascinating seeing the court. The kids were bored. I have hope in this place in the future. With more power there could be an avenue for the US to be held accountable for its atrocities. The same day at The Hague we went to Madurodam, a miniature Holland park. The miniatures are 1/25 size of real sites in the country. It was really cute. We were like giants. Kids loved that. The last full day we visited a windmill in the city. The children were fascinated by the old wood. We got vegan treats and packed bags. Earlier in the week we found a store with vegan ice cream. Yum!

We took a train to Eindhoven, south of Amsterdam. I was invited to a midwifery luncheon, quite an honor. I loved these women. They are working towards keeping midwifery strong in Holland. Apparently it is following the west with a rapid decline in homebirths. 30% of women have homebirths there. While that is significantly higher than the US, it was 90% 20 years ago, a rapid decline due to western influence.



 

Eurojournal - 4 October 2006 (More on our day in Barcelona)

I woke up to Liam looking out the bathroom window. He was watching everyone and all the business on our street. It is a very thin street that is vibrant. It is loud but a nice loud, a life loud. We hear people living. Cooking, conversations, tv’s, music. Laundry is drying on the balconies. The beach is visible. Best of all the sun is shining with a perfect blue sky. I like it here. Our windows open so he could just watch. A woman across the way was brushing her teeth and said “Hola!” to Liam. He smiled and I think said “BonJour!” Later he had a short conversation in Spanish with a shopkeeper without any help from us.

Later after 2 trips to the beach and some grocery shopping e came back and ate dinner. The children and I reviewed some Spanish and they went to sleep fast. Byron went back to the beach for a few hours and got nice and tired. I sat outside on our balcony, emailed and watched everything that was happening.

Our apartment is really neat. Inside is decorated with a terracotta tiled floor, windows that open with inside wooden shutters, white walls with pieces cut out revealing the brick and skylights. It is small but feels big as the floorplan is open. The ceiling is curved bricks with wooden beams interspersed every third row. We have been so fortunate on our trip to have really nice places to stay. Our place in Amsterdam had perfect feng shui and looked like it was form IKEA. Our French apt was simple but cute. London was an old house.




 

From the Mountains to the Sea...Barcelona!

We arrived in Barcelona last night via train from France. We spent 3 nights in Chamonix, France (Mont Blanc). More to come about that trip and Amsterdam too. We spent almost 15 hours on train going through differing terrain and weather, from cold snowy mountians, to heavy rain to dry sunny and warm. The last part of the train in the south of France in Montpellier reminded me a bit of San Diego county.

Today we woke up to a vibrant street with friendly neighbors. The sun was out without a single cloud in the blue sky. We walked down to the beach with is about 1 minute away. The Mediterranean is perfectly blue. A deep azur color with waves. We played shortly and wandered for groceries and new suits for Byron and Luna. We ate lunch and are off agin for an afternoon at la playa.

On the balcony of our new apt; At the beach; beach area