BBQ with Friends...What does that mean?

What does a 1:30 BBQ lunch really mean in Spain.....  Maybe a salad and a few bocadillos... with a nice refreshing drink, nice conversation and then a departure time of 3:30.  Well that is what it means in the United States.  That is why Spain is so special.  A 1:30 BBQ really means a feast....steaks, sausages, ribs, tomato salads, chicken curry, potato salad,......bread, wine, cava.  Conversations that carry over from one bottle to the next.  Then a little break of an espresso with a postre....a Brazo de Gitano.   What is a Brazo de Gitano.  Well, it literally translates to "Gypsy's Arm."  This type of cake consists of a light, spongy cake layer slathered with cream, then rolled up... Another word for it is...Yummy.

My workout companion at Oakwood in Lafayette, Anabel, put me in touch with her good friend Angel who is from Barcelona.  Anabel is my workout buddy at 5:00 am on Tuesday and Thursdays at home.  As she was off to Mexico City for the summer to be with family, I took off the other direction to Barcelona and met up with one of her very close friends.  Angel is from Barcelona and she married Damon a wonderful Aussie.  Three kids later, they found themselves settling down in a nice town called Sant Cugat.  This town has become an affluent suburb of Barcelona due to its location (20 k from Barcelona).  It has beautiful natural surroundings. 

Isaac 10, Sam 8 and Isabela 2, Asher, Zach and Elwood (another Aussie friend of theirs) had so much fun that they wanted to spend the night.  Playing in the pool, dancing in the rain, eating yummy brownies, making movies on the Mac.  They did not want our lunch to end.  But by the time 8:00 pm rolled around, we knew that it would be smart to head back home and call it a day.

The kids had to eat too.  They had fun eating their brownies....

Damon, our host for the day.... how appropriate to be opening up the cava outside...

A mix of Aussies and Catalyans

Me and Angel

Weather in Barcelona for the month of July has been extraordinarily off.  With rain showers that sneak up every now and then.  Luckily the temperature always stays comfortable enough for me to always wear my tank tops.  The kids got caught in a down pour.  They had so much fun dancing in the rain and then jumping in the pool.

Sometimes photos don't really reveal the truth.  Asher had a great time and didn't want to leave.  Could you tell from his expression????

Chocolate.......What's better than a cooking Class in Spanish with Chocolate!!!!!

 What's better than visiting a Chocolate Museum...  I know.........taking a chocolate cooking class and getting to eat all the chocolate you want along the way.  I am still trying to figure out why this class was just offered to kids.  Then I figured out the answer........real Chocoholics are not kids, they are the mothers of the kids .  Or should I just speak for myself?

Kids getting ready for their first chocolate lesson.  First they have to get their instructions and proper apron on.  Zach a little questionable....Chocolate?Spanish?...Well at least he had his translator by his side (Asher).

Asher, he's a natural in the kitchen....Well as long as he can lick his hands...

 Yes, those are my kids, front and center.  Getting ready to be handed their first bowl of chocolate 

CHICKEN LITTLE..... How appropriate that this Chocolate Masterpiece of Chicken Little was first on the list to see at the Chocolate Museum.  How many people know that Andrew's nickname for Asher is "chicken little"?  Good thing that this was encased by glass.  The kids wanted to take it home with them.

Do you remember YOUR first concert?.........

...... I remember mine. Stevie Nicks at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.  Age 11 with my mom's best friend, Dee Helfgott.  How can you forget your first concert?  Even if you are only 5 years old.

 Located at The Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys (Olympic Sports Stadium on Montjuic).  This is the hill that overlooks Barcelona from the south of the city.  The stadium was originally built in 1927 for the Barcelona World Exposition and was the main stage for the 1992 Summer Olympic games

Bigger than a Dodger Dog......  The kids got to enjoy their healthy dinner and because they could not finish them, I got to finish their leftover scraps..

 I thought it most appropriate that if I was crazy enough to take my 5 and 7 year old to a concert, Bon Jovi Concert, I should be responsible enough and buy seats so that we would not have to stand in the mosh pit.  See I am not as loco as you may think....

 Zach was so excited.......countdown...  We arrived to the Stadium at around 9:45 pm and the Bon Jovi crew was almost ready to launch with their first song....

Legendary Bon Jovi on their "open Air Tour 2011."  Song after song....Keep the Faith, Bad Medicine, Livin' On a Prayer,You Give Love a Bad Name.

Well, if they are too young to remember their first concert, at least they will have the T-shirt as evidence that they survived.

Great Night!!!!  What next........

Gastronomy.....is all about the food

Andrew arrived a week ago and I don't think that I can imagine another time where I have consumed more good food in such a short period of time. 
In first place, 41 degrees, which is just the cocktail lounge attached to the hottest restaurant in Barcelona, Tickets.  The dimly lit space with the latest of creative tasty concoctions was second to the food that we ate. The two brothers Albert Adria and Ferran (from the best restaurant in the world - El Bulli) created a masterpiece.  We started off with a thick liquid olive encased in thin membranes.  Don't ask!  Let me just say that every bit we had with our snacks was a surprise.  And a great surprise.

Did I say that 41 degress was first.  Well, maybe I lied.  Breakfast at El Quim de la Boqueria cannot be erased from my pallet.  Huevos with baby squid with squid ink was delicious.  Imagine perfectly fried egg with runny yolk and chewy little baby squids.  Well don't imagine just try it. 

 Maybe the Foie gras on a bed of mushrooms is the real ticket at El Quims.  Nothing beats this little restaurant set in the bustling Mercat La Boqueria amid the bustling stalls of fresh fruit, fish and bread.

Next up, Dos Cielos.  Located on the 24th floor of the Hotel Me, Dos Cielos was awarded a Michelin star.  The interesting cuisine that comes from the brothers Javier and Sergio Torres, stems from their approach to some of the best cuisine in the world.  The ambiance was magnificient.  We started out with a glass of cava on the terrace and then was escorted to the open kitchen where we sat for our 8 course meal with wine pairing.  The wait staff was impeccable.  I think I had 3 servers just to myself.

Ok...now I have truly lied.  The best meal that we had and I think maybe we have ever had was at a  restaurant called Dos Palillos.  No photos to go along with our evening.  We were joined by our friends Carmen and Jordi.  This is their favorite restaurant.  And as he used to be a big food critic for many years in Barcelona, the restaurant came highly recommended.  The best thing about going with a local and to one of the hottest places around is that we could just sit back and enjoy while we got the best service and food handed to us.  So not your typical Barcelona tapas restaurant.  This place was special.  Asian-Spanish Fusion.  OK, what does that mean. Well, you will just have to go and find out for yourself from   Albert Raurich (owner, creater, mastermind) of El Bulli.

La Primera semana de campamento...(the first week of camp)

Leaving our home with enough time to find the kid's camp went smoothly.  However, after walking our 3 blocks to the metro and enduring our 6 stops on the metro we were quite shocked that no one could tell us where the street to our school-camp was....  finally after asking 5 or 6 people we made it to our destination.  Walking in to the dormatory multipurpose room was like heaven for the kids.  Vending machines, fooseball, ping pong and a pool table.....  ton's of kids, speaking all different languages.  My only sense of relief for leaving them til 8:00 pm was that they were together.  Well, I dropped them off, met a friend for lunch, went to my language school and arrived back promptly at 8 pm.  When I arrived, they were not ready to leave, they were still playing and having a good time with their new friends.  What a relief!

Everyday a different activity.  The beach, Montjuic, games at the camp.  Their days were filled.  New friends everyday.  Rowan from Ireland, Felix from Australia, Alexander from Florida, Nicholas from San Francisco.  After picking them up on Thursday night.  We planned on meeting a new friend, Katherine with her kids and their friends at the Fountain of Montjuic.

Montjuic Fountain first spouted in 1929 during the Great Exhibition.  At night time during the summer months, the fountain displays a colour, light and water dance with musical accompaniment (similar yet much grandeur than the Las Vegas display at the Bellagio )  There are over 3,000 jets with over 4,000 lights.

Barthalona...we are getting the accent down!

Hola Amigas,

What a day.  The best thing about doing a house swap is doing a friend swap.  Well, Theresa, the owner of our home that we are staying in, not only has beautiful modern taste but has some wonderful friends.  Today we went to a local pool (small lake) just about 20 minutes from our home.  A locals only place.  It was fun and refreshing for the kids.  Our new friends (Carmen with kids Lola and Ramon) showed us a good time while speaking their native tongue Catalin with a little mix of Spanish. The language barrier did not prevent the kids from splashing around the water together.

After lunch we parted from our friends and went down to the water (Port Vell) for some fun.  Our intention was to go the the L'Aqurium.  The Port was transformed for the 1992 Olympic Games and is today a glamorous shopping, dining and entertainment area at the waterfront.  Across from the L'Aqurium is an activity park called Bubble Parc.  With a free style bungy jump, bike track and Bubblepool my kids were extremely happy.

After finishing up the Bubble Parc we bought some ice cream and then played on the patch of green grass (hard to find grass in Barcelona) and played catch with the kids flip flops for over an hour.  By 8:30 we were heading home to eat some dinner.

By this point, Zach's mishaps on Friday were a distant memory.  A good night sleep was in order since Day 1 of camp was to begin the next morning.  Let me clarify that bed time seems to be around mid-night.  This will definitely have to change.

Barcelona...All settled in.......

Well the adventure has begun!  We finished our 6th day in Barcelona and we are almost ready to cash out in California and make this our home.  Well I guess I need to discuss with my husband first (Andrew, I wouldn't really make those kind of decisions on my own or would I?)

We are all settled in... the trip started off to a rough start.  We landed on Friday Morning with a smooth flight from New York.  The only draw back about taking the 6:00 pm flight for a 7 hour flight is that when you land the next day you only really get 2 hours of sleep on the plane.  I learned quickly that 2 hours of sleep does not 'cut it' for my boys.  We were greeted at the door of our new home by Pere, the owner, a bottle of champain, wine and a big bar of chocolate.  Pere gave us the keys and showed us around.  After Pere left we were out the door in search of a Barcelona Soccer Ball (well Football as the rest of the world likes to refer to it as).  Our search took us to the Placa de Catalunya where we went to the official BCN store to buy a ball.  Before heading to the Placa to try out the new ball, Zach took a pit stop at McDonalds were he had to use the bathroom.  Once entering the bathroom, a young man started talking to him in Spanish.  Completely lost in the language and completely exhausted, he came out almost in tears.  "Mom, I want to go home to our real home.  I don't like it here."  At that point, I thought to myself, "what the heck am i doing here."   We then went to the Placa, played and came home.  The boys feel asleep at 5:30 pm and slept til 11:30 pm.  They woke up hungry and ready to go out.  I guess they were already adapting to the European style of late dinners and outings.  I made them some food and then we went out for a walk (with the soccer ball ).  At 1:00 am we found ourselves in an open Placa (plaza) playing a game of football (soccer).  We returned home to play some crazy 8's and at 4:00 am, they were off to bed.

Sleeping in was not really an option, as this was their first real day in Barcelona and we had lots to do.  Who would have thought that visiting the local Public Hospital would be on the top of our list.  Well Zach had such a reaction to something in New York which never went away that he was covered with itchy, itchy bumps.  The doctor gave us some Antihistamine which was filled at one of the local Pharmacy's  which we  found on every corner (in the same way you can find of a Starbucks on every corner in the US).  After that, we were off to the beach.

 Already scored the FCB (official Barcelona Football) tattoo on their chest.......

Anything to relieve the pain of Zach's itchy skin.... just bury me!

The beach was fun.  We then jumped in a taxi and showered up.  We had some American friends from home to have dinner with....  Michelle, Henry, Charlie and Grandma and Grandpa were in Barcelona for their last night before returning to San Fran.......It was so nice to see them.  The kids did pretty well  considering their lack of sleep and itchy body.  I kinda wish that Michelle and the boys could have been joining us for an extended stay here.  But they had to return home to see their Dad.