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For those who care, the Morocco holiday experience is coming soon…

When you know your time is limited (in Barcelona), you wake up every Saturday morning with an extra dose of the need to accomplish something, enjoy a unique experience, or absorb some level of culture.

This weekend, we visited La Fundació Joan Miró, a museum dedicated to the work and history of the great Catalan painter (1893-1983), who was born in Barcelona.

The museum, on Montjuic mountain near the Barcelona Olympic Stadium, was opened in 1975, and is worth an hour of your time if you happen to be in Barcelona; the headphone tour is about 45 minutes and even the kids enjoyed it.

Miró famously said, “I want to assassinate painting,” meaning he was turning away from conventional methods of art.  This comes as no surprise after visiting the museum.

 

Max cleverly had plans to scooter with friends, explaining his absence from the Miró photos.  Not a day goes by when Max doesn’t scooter and the same can almost be said for his sisters; they aren’t alone as patinetes (scooters) are quite popular here.  During the week, MEM take the metro uphill to school, but Max hauls his scooter along and then rides the 3 km (almost 2 miles) back home with friends, all downhill.  I have made the ride myself and the entertainment value is high, with good speed involved.

 

So Max was arguably being cultured in the local customs as well…at least we thought so until we heard about his lunch.  When I called from the museum and asked if he had had eaten, he commented that he had just been to Burger King with his buddies, “and I had the best burger since I’ve been in Spain.”  Not that I expect anyone to believe me, but this was Max’s first time ever at Burger King, and I’m guessing not his last.

Tags: Barcelona, Burger King, Catalan, La Fundació Joan Miró, Miró, Montjuic

Our holiday trip to Morocco will take some time to sort out, so I offer the following mountain excursion to fill in the gap.

With some extra days before school was back in session this week, we decided to venture up to the Pyrenees.  Sources told us that the Val d’Aran region was worth the visit, this being the site of Baqueira-Beret (Spain), arguably one of the best ski areas in the Pyrenees, with 33 lifts, 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) of vertical, and long, wide runs.  The approximately 300 kilometer drive took close to 4 hours and it was lucky that we had rented chains, which were needed as we scaled the mountains.

While weather was not kind to us on Day 1 with rain, our second day was wonderful as the skies cleared, leading to perfectly comfortable conditions in the 0 to 5 degree celsius range.

It is worth mentioning our meals, with the understanding that we seldom are able to please all three younger palates.  On our first night, we dined at a recommended hamburger spot, Escornacrabres, but as seems to be the norm in Spain, the food did not compare to even an average U.S. burger; it is difficult to describe that funny taste of the patty here.

On Evening 2, we needed pizza and pasta badly enough to risk a very poorly rated (#11 of 13 choices on Trip Advisor) Italian restaurant, Pizzeria Montgarri.  A nice surprise—the pizza was exceptional with tasty thin crust (not soft, not burnt), as was the pasta, albeit with a bit too much pesto.  After explaining Trip Advisor and its purpose to the kids over dinner, the girls and I later decided to post our own thoughts:  the only positive review; to sum it up, we all enjoyed the fare, a uniquely successful night out for us.

Our final night was spent at La Raclette (no mention on Trip Advisor).  Could we make it two in a row?  We do like watching our meals cooked in front of us, a la Benihana, but raclette is obviously a different experience, for one, cooking the food ourselves.  This was of course part of the fun, and dinner could not have been better.  What’s not to like about melting your own cheese after seasoning it with oregano, adding exceptional Spanish ham, a thin slice of baked potato, and topping with cornichons, pickled onions, or tomatoes, then savoring the taste on toasted bread???

Tags: Baqueira-Beret, ham, pasta, pizza, Pyrenees, raclette

Has anyone heard of London Southend Airport?  I doubt it.

*Note that the following blog does not represent a travel guide in any way.  While there are indeed selected tourist and restaurant recommendations, this was not a “cram London into a 3-day weekend” adventure, for better or worse.

Friday, December 6 was a holiday, celebrating the anniversary of the Spanish Constitution of 1978, which followed the Franco rein.  A long weekend is called a “Puente” (literally meaning “bridge”) and we celebrated the Puente with a trip to London.  Our Thursday afternoon flight was on Easy Jet, into Southend Airport, just 40 miles east of central London, then travelled by train and tube to our destination.  During the weekend, we met no one in London, including several natives, who had heard of this airport; it is certainly small in size but with no lines and an easy walk to the gate.  In fact, our cab driver for the return trip to Southend had never been there.  Full disclosure–our train/tube shuttle into London took about 2 hours (still, likely less than the experience of rush hour traffic) and the return trip by cab took an hour and 15 minutes.  So, Heathrow and Gatwick are closer, but not necessarily cheaper options for intra-Europe travel…

We stayed with our wonderful friends Vic, Dan, & Daniel Prendergast in St. John’s Wood, and after a quick hello and an essential burrito (we have found no good Mexican food in BCN), we headed to Matilda at the Cambridge Theater.  This is an absolutely amazing (“brilliant”) show for all ages; even a 12 year-old boy enjoyed it.  Great catchy songs and humor throughout.  “Naughty” and “When I Grow Up” are stuck in my head, largely because the girls have not stopped singing/dancing these songs and watching them on youtube.

 

 

 

Speaking of tubes, on Friday, we took the tube to Winter Wonderland, a fair in Hyde Park with surprisingly good roller coasters and the rope ladder that seems simple but is actually close to impossible to ascend and ring the bell at the top to win the prize.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We joined our relatives for lunch and a visit to cousin Alex Fowler’s art show in Chelsea; what a splendid coincidence that we could see his pictures during the trip.  A few years back, Alex had stayed with us in San Francisco, where he painted scenes of the city.  Some of these, along with pictures of Italy and Jerusalem were on display.  His work:  alexanderfowler

With cousins Alex and Nico at the show.

 

Cousin Mindy and Stuart took us on a stroll through Chelsea, and we saw some entertaining window displays at the Peter Jones/John Lewis store.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then the obligatory visit to Harrods left us a bit poorer after an in-house magician “tricked us” into buying his box of secrets…and Ella found her namesake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday, we visited the London Zoo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MEM with Daniel Prendergast

 

…then it was showtime again, the pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, at the Lyric Hammersmith, with our friends the Nelsons and Prendergasts.  While it didn’t really compare to Matilda, it was enjoyable in its own right and quite funny.

 

Considering our tasty last supper, we came away from London with a great Mexican dining recommendation (really two, if you include the Chipotle food from the first evening).  Lockhart Restaurant, which officially serves “southwestern” food, also pleased us (at least until morning) with scrumptious margaritas, in the company of friends, the Scotts, Pliners, Podells, and Prendergasts.

After that Hard Day’s Night, we took a walk across Abbey Road and squeezed in a visit to the Natural History Museum with enormous crowds to see the dinosaur show.  J.P. and Emma Pliner then sent us off to Southend Airport after hosting lunch and a tour of their amazing big screen/media room.

Tags: Cambridge Theater, Chelsea, Easy Jet, Hyde Park, Lockhart, London, Londres, Matilda, Southend Airport

Several years ago, while visiting Paris, we tried unsuccessfully to use the city’s new bike sharing system.  We thought that any credit card would do, not understanding that the Vélib’ was only for locals.  I was frustrated and hoped that one day I would indeed be one of these locals, or at least a resident of a city with bike sharing.  Of course, in my absence, San Francisco has apparently launched a system.  While I expect long-term success there, despite the hills, I question whether the slow launch with few stations is the right move.

Barcelona has a fantastic bike sharing system, called “Bicing”, and we have been regular users.  In order to participate, we had to prove through our residence cards that we live in Barcelona, as Bicing is specifically not for tourists, but rather for commuting, shopping, etc.; this is a system similar to others around the world to help locals move around their city and ease congestion and pollution.

After swiping your Bicing card across a machine bordering a row of bikes, a screen lists the bike number to which you are assigned.  Now that the bike has been “released”, you remove it from the station, adjust the seat and pedal away, but not for more than 30 minutes, or else penalties are assigned (very small unless you continue to abuse the 30 minute rule).  Of course, the time limit is so the system can be for its designated applications, which do not include recreation or sightseeing.  There is a 10 minute required waiting period between uses, seemingly a comfortable gap, be it for a Spanish class, a lunch, or a shop.

The cost is just 46 Euros (about $62) for one year of Bicing use.  There are stations everywhere, 600 in total—generally, there is always a bike within a few blocks of where you are standing.  The mobile app is great; a simple map shows each Barcelona station in 3 different colors and depending on the color, you can tell if there are bikes available.  I estimate that about 10% of the time that I need a bike the station is vacant, and I walk to the next one, on average a length of 300-400 meters.

I hit 100 segments on roughly my 100th day in Barcelona, so I am taking advantage of this great form of transportation as is Evelyn; required age is 16, so MEM are sticking to their metro cards.

 

Tags: app, Barcelona, Bicing, bike, share, shop

 Torre de Collserola, Barcelona

We are enjoying our time here, exploring the culture and history of Barcelona, with long tasty lunches, a slow pace of life in general, exciting and inexpensive travel around Spain and Europe, a fresh and frustrating language that we are trying to conquer (do they speak more quickly than we do?), and new friends from all over the world.  The experience has been amazing, albeit with challenges, including the language barrier.  But it is not all about us, the adults, is it?  Many have asked if the children are enjoying it.  Here we go…

 

What Spanish food do you like?

• Maggie:  artichokes (we have been preparing them the same way we saw them cooked in “La Boqueria” off La Rambla, quartered and sautéed in boiling olive oil with garlic and herbs de Provence)
• Ella:  vegetable paella, chorizo, artichokes
• Max:  jamon iberico, cheese

Tell me about school in Barcelona.

• Maggie:  It is very easy.  Most people are from Spain, some are from the U.S. and other countries.  My friends are from the U.S., Spain, India, Holland, and Germany.
• Ella:  School is easy, but I like having 45 minutes of Spanish every day and being part of the harder math group.
• Max:  It is really easy but I like my world history class, our school futbol tournaments, bringing my own lunch every day, and riding my scooter home.  I wish we didn’t have to take the metro to school every day.

What do you like about Barcelona?

• Maggie:  I like that I have a lot of friends.  The food is really good, and I like practicing speaking Spanish.  The flamenco show was great but it was a little loud.
• Ella:  I have friends here from all over the world, including the U.S., Europe, Russia, and Asia, and I like that they live close by us in Barcelona.  The sidewalk tile designs in Barcelona are really interesting and the beach is fun.  I like playing on a futbol team with Spanish girls, and I like the gelato.
• Max:  I like going to Barça games, living next to Turo Park, riding my scooter, and learning the Spanish language.

What do you miss?

• Maggie:  I miss all of my friends and our house because now we live in an apartment.  It is hard to communicate here sometimes.
• Ella:  I miss my friends, my school, having a car, and our house.
• Max:  I miss my friends, having a car, our yard and our ping pong table.

 

Inside the Torre de Collserola

Tags: artichokes, Barcelona, jamon, paella, school, Torre de Collserola