Uhlfelder News

April 24, 2008.  The weather has improved hugely here and although I feel a bit under it, Anne and I “discovered” that the park in front of our noses has a wonderful cafe where we ate lunch.  All the other Americans in this neighborhood similtaneously discovered same, and we ended up socializing a bit.  It was a wonderful day, perfect weather, and what I suppose our image of Barcelona was before and for a few days after we arrived here.  We’re pleased to see that it does exist. 

It’s sort of a strange time since most of the other Americans and many others, like us, are moving from Barcelona.   Some are returned to home base, others to new places, another is planning a year-long trip around the world. 

April 25, 2008.  David had a soccer game, they weren’t beaten too badly.  Otherwise, according go Joshua nothing happened.

April 26. 2008.  I went out and found some more biking roads that are pretty good — if you like pedaling up cliffs.  I guess I got a taste of the Dolomites, and that’s enough.  I was toying with the idea of going there and doing a ride with Peter who lead the ride I did in the Pyrenees but he told me that my gearing was too small for Italy and between that and the idea of spending close to nine days with strangers killing myself and 90 mile rides through questionable weather — forget it. 

The weather here, by the way, has suddenly become nice. 

April 27, 2008.  We decided to check out Mont Juic, where the 1992 Barcelona Olympics were held so off we went (by car — much easier) to the Olympic Museum, which was a super deal at only four Euros for the family (with a coupon we had) and was much nicer than we expected.  Lots of video footage, some interactive displays, and lots of signed sports memorabilia. 

After that, we went to the Olympic pools, next door, where the games were held.  After I retrieved the car, hoping that we had everything, we went in and there were two large pools.  The indoor (where we went) was 50 by 25 meters with 20 lanes open going 25 meters.  Anne and I swam around 1,000 meters plus.  We each had to share a lane which wasn’t a problem.  I managed to lap a guy four times, which made me feel fast.  The outdoor pool was not heated (we checked it first) and thus had no swimmers but lots of sun bathers, many women who didn’t pack as carefully as we did obviously forgot the tops of the bathing suits.  

April 28, 2008.  Another dreary day, here in “sunny Barcelona”.   We had lunch with Dan and Amy and tried to decide if there were any redeeming qualities that can be associated with the Islamic religion and decided that the answer is probably no.

April 29, 2008.  I went for a longish 1:15 run today and saw a bit of Barcelona on a cloudy day.  Otherwise, we’re sort of getting ready to return to Aspen and noticed an article about Mike Maple and a Woody Creek buy who had a bike/car run-in.  I am reminded of how intolerant car drivers are in Aspen and really throughout the US when it comes to bikes or pedestrians.  Anyhow, I think the driver of the offending vehicle is an accident waiting to happen. 

April 17, 2008.  It’s raining, something new here.  I was a short discussion with a woman in the building a few days ago and she commented that the weather was very unusual this winter — not much sun, not much rain, just sort of gloomy.  Another reason why I’m reminded of Europe, I suppose.   Anyway, water is a huge problem here (not enough — they’ll have to start to take water-saving measures and are considering how to get a pipeline built in time).  Anne took some street scenes and photos of the dog with playmates.

April 18, 2008.  It’s raining (again).  This reminds me of Aspen when they say that the snow is not sufficient and suddenly they have the biggest year of snow ever.  Anyway, everyone has complained about not enough rain, and voila, rain. 

In other news, we were awakened last night after mid-night by Joshua who informed us that David was throwing up.  Throwing up, he was.  The definition of “Projectile vomiting” is: “Expulsionof the contents of the stomach with great force.”  Well, that fits.  There was vomit everywhere (after a nice meal of Iberic ham and red peppers, it was very red).  It smelled very pungent too.  Many stuffed animals were grievously injured as a result.  Anne (mainly Anne) and I cleaned up but it was EVERYWHERE.  And there was a lot.  Anywho, David’s home today and is feeling better.  Anne is reading Treasure Island to him and Rocket, who are listening attentively.

April 19, 2008.  I went out today on the bike since it was a comfortable day, more or less, into Parc de Collserola, which is Barcelona’s “lungs”.  It’s pretty amazing that when you get only a few miles from Barcelona, you’re in Spanish Appalachia (albeit with what are probably pricer hovels).  Anyway, I rode around for three hours on little trafficked roads trying to find some new paths, which is hard without a map.

April 20, 2008.  David and Joshua’s school have a “green week” which means they 1) get sick from the food served (see last week) or (2) they are going to practice recycling, learn about climate change and all that.  We assumed it was the latter.  This was confirmed by emails from the school, which asked us to send the kids there with recycling stuff including glass (!) and shoes and cloth (?).  In any case, we prepared three bags of stuff, which seemed like a lot to David.  He asked if we’d drive him to school, which Anne agreed to until she reflected on the meaning of being “green” so he’ll take the bus.

April 21, 2008.   I rode my bike on a big circle around Colserolla Park and found industrial zones and some not-so-beautiful areas exist out there.  In any case, I did get a three-hour ride in with some hills and nice views, otherwise.  It seems like a small city, sort of, but when you are up in the Park, you can see the whole thing and it’s impressive.  Among other monuments, the one that seems to stand out is the Turo Agbar, or Agbar tower, which is “bullet” shaped.  There is a similar “bullet” shaped tower in London, not far from the London Eye.

April 22, 2008.  I replanned our May 1 break to drive to France and visit a friend from Washington, D.C. who is a retired French spy/university professor.  I’ll get you details as they become available.

April 23, 2008.  Today was Sant Jordi day here in Barcelona.  It’s celebrated throughout Cataluna, actually.  It’s basically the Saint Valentine’s Day (which strangely is celebrated thoughout Spain, but not in Cataluna).  In this version, Men give women one red rose (or more) and women give men books.  There are keosks everywhere selling both all over town on every corner, it seems.  Here are some photos.

BFIS, the kids’ school, puts on an annual show for this with a bit of a Catalan feel to it.  Everyone wears white (all the children) and each grade comes up with a different dance.  It was fun, with about 200 people and kids all outside in their small space watching the dances which included one number on roller-blades and one with a sumo wrestler.  I just laughed and laughed.  Photos here.

April 10, 2008.  Thursday is Paella day, so we (Dan and Amy, Anne and me) went out seeking the magic stew.  We found some, that was good.  The Irish realtor who appeared to speak very good Spanish came by today to take photos of this place for their website; I tried to enlighten her as to the issues that are serious but she was uninterested at best.   I assume this way she feels she can puff and just say she didn’t know about the problems. 

April 11, 2008.  Well hello.  Today we had “Western Night” at the kids school.  This is the second school fund-raising event at the school and, oh, I forgot to tell me that Barcelona is in dire need of rain/water.  Guess what — it rained.  This sort of ruined the event since most people prefer for their food to dry.  As a result, it was more or less rained out, but we endured and had a good time. 

April 12, 2008.  I’ve decided it’s time to write a book.  “Don’t be afraid of Success!”  It’s not been written yet, and God knows, it’s needed.  How many of you have friends and family who are fearful about their “near” success and then, at the last minute, blow it by losing their focus. 

Chapters will include: Are you successful?  How to stay on the “success” road.  How to market your business without losing control over it.  How to analyse and solve problems.  The book will have a price of $29.95 and include lots of charts and graphs, all in color.  But, I think I’m afraid to write it.

April 13, 2008.  We went to the Costa Brava, or wild coast, today.  It’s about an hour drive from Barcelona (now that we spend less time getting lost).  We’ve never had the chance to really see what is so beautiful about the place, but I did today (by bringing my bike and taking a ride).  The kids got beach time, I rode for about 1.5 hours from Tossa de Mar up into the mountains.  Coves with clear blue-green water, cliffs and rocks, islands, all the usual stuff.  Tossa de Mar is very nice and worth a visit.  I ran into about 200 people over my ride on bikes put on by bike tour companies, mainly Germans.  One 60 year old German told me he was the oldest in the group.  He seemed pretty strong.

April 14, 2008.  Monday, the day awoke with a glissening sun, gently playing with the shadows.  The slow blowing of wind into the window and the blinds noisily moving back and forth made for a soul inspiring wake-up call.  Ah, to be alive, to brush one’s teeth, to shave, seems mundane but how often have we missed the opportunity to fully enjoy these everyday tasks.  Often, I say.

April 15, 2008.  I have an intercambio (trade English and Spanish lessons) organized with Christina who was introduced to me by John, the guy who helps us find our apartment.  I have missed our appointments three times now, today I missed one by misscheduling it.  She must think I’m a total space cadet, which I seem to be when it comes to meeting her on time and at the right place. 

April 16, 2008.  Anne and I decided we wanted to see one of the art museums on our multi-purchase cards that allow us to see seven museums for 20 Euros.  Off we went, walking down town to see the place and when we arrived — it was closed — until after summer for reconstruction.  Seems we lost out on that one.   We had the chance to go to Casa Bartllo, which is also part of the deal, but since Joshua would want to go (it’s the famous house with eggs on the roof), we held off.  Here are some photos from when Annette was here and we visited it.

April 3, 2008.  Today we had David and Joshua’s parent teacher conferences.  Everything was good and they don’t seem to have any unrepairable problems.  They are doing well although David is skating by.  Both really do enjoy their school and have some nice experiences to remember. 

April 4, 2008.  Off to London we went on Easyjet, which was pretty easy.  With adequate research, you can actually save some money, which we did by taking the train from Gatwick to London.  It’s only 30 minutes or so.  Then you can take a taxi, since the Tube is so incredibly expensive (unless you’ve worked out the discounts which are never available for short stays).  Anywho, London is a great town, really fun, they speak English and it’s so diverse — lots of different people walking around.  It was a nice day today and I managed to get a half hour run in before getting a “mini cab” to Sam Rosen’s brother’s house, since he was putting on a gathering for family for Asher’s (Sam’s son’s) Barmitzvah.  Our friends the Azouz clan were there (three brothers, Edward, David and Jeffrey plus Edward’s wife and Jeffrey’s girlfriend), Morris ex-wife and his soon to be second ex-wife (soon to form the Morris Rosen’s ex-wife’s club).  Also the Azouz brother’s mother was there; she’s close to 90 and sharp as anything, although not too physically healthy after she had to give up smoking as a result of her heart attack.  It’s just great to see them all.  Photos are here.

April 5, 2008.  Today was Barmitzvah day and we walked over there, getting there late — no problem.  Very reform congregation, I’m told, and reminds me of ours in Aspen.  About half way into the ceremoney, Anne and I noted that Asher yawned and about 30 seconds later he fainted!  Just fell down backwards.  They took him out, and after about 10 minutes he came back, sans tie and jacket and finished.  Great work.  There is so much pressure on the kid, he’s a wonderful super-mature kid in many ways, but the combination of all the work he put in, lack of food, etc… caught up with him.  Photos are here.

We went to dinner tonight with 15 people, which is always a way to insure disaster. 

• Too much food was ordered as well as alcohol (and you know who pays).
• The kids are hungry and ordering food always takes too long. 
• One of the mothers freaked out and berated her mate in front of everyone else (more or less) for not taking proper care of his son by making sure food was ordered for him.
• One of the guests offered a tiny artificial rose to a woman sitting next to us (who wanted to be moved we were so loud), which he does to everyone who comes into contact with him, man or woman, and her husband told him in clear language that giving a rose to someone else’s wife was inappropriate, more or less.  The wife thanked him for the rose on the way out.
• Adults break glasses and kids, who take their shoes off, step on the broken glass and cut their feet on the glass and/or tables requiring a mad rush to “hospital”. 

All to be expected.  Every meal of this size generally ends in a visit to the hospital. 

But what really was terrible was at the end a glass of orange juice got spilled on one of the single women’s (girlfriend’s) coats and that was reason to more or less ruin the evening.

So it goes; more to report tomorrow. 

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April 6, 2008.  It was snowing this morning in London!  Big flakes that turned into smaller flakes.  A rarity, we’re told.

We went to the Science Museum, which is a huge free museum that has many displays like “plastics” and “materials” that tried to explain how things work and in a sort of disorganized way explain the progression of invention related to those topics.  Everything was new in 1996 but is dusty and in need of an undate. 

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We met David Azouz at a very good pizza place near the museum and then walked together down Kensington to go to a book store, which I promised the guys.  They bought some books, I bought a book (books are ridiculously expensive in Barcelona). 

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A note about London — this is a very vibrant place, with some many different people.  It’s a lot of fun too, since it’s so busy.

Anyway I went for a run in the park when we got back, over to Speaker’s Corner where there were some religious guys telling people to their amusement how to be saved.  You can say anything here, as long as you don’t say anything about the Queen (it’s treason, I think). 

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Then off to Asher’s Barmitzvah party.  A huge amount of fun.  Lots of old friends, really a great party.   Sam gave a low-key and humorous speech where he gave Asher his copy of Everything Men know about Women (blank pages) and finished by giving him a package of dental floss (and Asher, this is dental floss).  Very nice.

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April 7, 2008.  Back to Barcelona on Easyjet, which requires a cab (car) to Victoria Station (14 pounds), train to Gatwick (33 pounds), Easyjet to Barcelona (lots) and cab from Barcelona to our apartment (27 Euros).   Then waiting almost an hour to get the bag (it made it, luckily).  It can be cheap to fly around Europe, but you have to plan ahead and NEVER change plans.  I did get flights to Mallorca for 200 Euros for all of us and that trip should be reasonable, but you just sort of grin and take it. 

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April 8, 2008.  Back into the “routine” of Barcelona, Spanish lessons, dealing with stuff at home (taxes!, work), working out. 

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April 9, 2008.  Our first time being invited to a local’s house.  It was great fun, and makes us realize that if you have a social life (assuming you can stay up very late) you can have a lot of fun.  We were one of four couples.  Everyone had some interesting stories about how they got to where they were in their lives and careers. 

March 27, 2008.  All quiet on the Uhlfelder front.  The dog continues his vacation so we’re enjoying a clean house without the pitter patter of little needy feet.

March 28, 2008.   Back to Starbucks, which I was boycotting for a while — well, actually I just didn’t have a chance to go there as regularly as before our ski break.  I can’t seem to get the coffee homebrewed here to anywhere near drinkable so I guess I’ll lift the boycott for a while but make it an every-few-days boycott. 

March 29, 2008.  Our website is down today for some service.  I hate to lose so many visits, well probably none. 

David had a soccer game today, and his team won by 20 points or something.  Luckily they played what looked like 4-year-olds.  It worked out since they usually lose. 

The weather is very dreary today and has been really since we got back from skiing and France last week.  It’s got Anne really down, plus she has the shits.  The dog got back from his vacation. 

March 30, 2008.  We went off to visit Montserrat today, about 30 miles from Barcelona.  It’s basically a tourist site occupied by a retired monestary but has some very nice hikes and really great rock climbing.  Getting anywhere around here is a mystery since the roads are either poorly marked or marked with numbers that don’t correspond to maps or have changed their numbering.   You just take your best shot and get there after a while, hopefully not too long. 

Anyway, the area has some very interesting rock formations and as a result was littered with rock climbers, some of whom were walking around with harnasses on looking very self important.  I, for one, was not impressed.  We had wondered where the athletic people of Barcelona go and I guess many go here. 

The hiking was good, with lots of uphills and downhills and interesting trails that ranged from concrete to dirt.  The weather was crazy and ranged from cold and humid to hot and humid and super windy. 

As we were self-importantly hiking, the boys speculated on why people climb.  They noted  there are no prizes to get, no trophies really and it’s very dangerous.  I mentioned that the one trophy available is a headstone.  David laughed totally getting my joke and it occurred to us that he knew what a headstone was after reading Harry Potter books. 

March 31, 2008.  Anne and I went to a lunch place today and were shocked to be served, eat and pay in 25 minutes.  It has to be a Spanish record for a meal, and we’re currently investigating that with friends.  Anything under an hour is fast.

April 1, 2008.  April fools day is not celebrated here, except with David and Joshua who ran around with underwear on their heads.  Hmmm.  I guess that’s good enough.  This funny article appeared in the Aspen Daily News:

Finally the weather is improved enough that I can get on my bike for a more or less comfortable ride to Moulins de Rei, my usual ride that is about 30 kilometers and takes about 1:40.  Lots of climbing with some nice descents. 

April 2, 2008.  We decided to go to Tibidabo amusement park today since the kids had a half-day of school.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t fully open (only on week-ends) but the boys and Anne went on a few rides and we saw some museum, more or less, of working amusements.   We’re off to London this coming week-end for our friend Sam’s son (Asher’s) barmitzvah.  It should be fun; snow is forecast in London, the world’s most expensive city.  

March 20, 2008.  We skied today and it was much colder than it has been.  I’d guess around 20 degrees in the morning but warmed up to 35 of so by afternoon.  The off-piste is difficult as a result of freezing and thawing so we’re on piste with some short excursions to the off-piste where it’s manageable.  We did find some fine snow in a few select places and enjoyed the clear day.  Tomorrow they are expecting up to half a meter (For those of you who don’t know, my new affectation is to only use the metric system). 

In the evening, we went down to Meribel (about 250 meters below our town, Mottaret) for dinner and a hockey game between Meribel and Moscow.  I thought it would be nice to see how Moscow teaches hockey to these French guys, who likely have day jobs.  They all skated well; the Russians won 6 to 2 and were clearly more skilled.  But the Meribel team did a pretty good job and were not completely overwelmed. 

March 21, 2008.  First day of spring, maybe, but here in Meribel it’s really snowing — as in about two or three inches per hour.  They are expecting a lot by tonight and more tomorrow.  Should make for a challenging drive down to Albertville.  We skied two hours in very hard to see, windy and snowy conditions with good snow.  That makes 17 days I’ve skied this season, probably more than many in the past.  Of course, not one day cross-country, uphilling or doing anything aerobic on snow.   We’re done and when we return to Barcelona, we’ll get all our ski stuff shipped back to Aspen along with everything winter.  Both Anne and I like the paring down aspect and we’re leaving a lot of worn-out stuff here.  Joshua lost a tooth this evening.

March 22, 2008.  Off we went, down the mountain from 1,750 meters to probably about 400.  I had to dig the car out of about 50 cm of snow, and then luckily was able to get it out of the snow banks and drive a way down the driveway, load the luggage and get going on the prudent and slow 15 kilometer trip out.  Many people actually had chains and were putting them on, only to remove them about 4 or 5 kilometers later.  I was glad to make it down without incident and then four hours later we were in Provence at L’isle sur la Sorgue where we found one of the only rooms left in a mediocre hotel.  It’s Easter week-end and on top of that they have an annual antique show so you know what that means – it’s like Gay Ski Week here.   

We had a fantastic meal for dinner in the town, served wonderfully and gracefully.  All our meals have been wonderful in France, but this one stood out for quality, taste, and wonderful service.  This part of France is just wonderful, which explains why Peter Mayle liked it so much.

March 23, 2008.  We went to the L’isle sur la Sorgue fair today in town where everything was being sold from food to ceramics to antiques (which we saw yesterday).  It was a lot of fun and we bought some table cloths and more. 

We are glad there is finally something to buy (table cloths and napkins) but given the dollar exchange it’s the first stuff we’re buying and bringing back to the US.  The wind has really picked up – it’s the Mistral, which blows from the mountains past Provence and into the sea.  There are all sorts of legends about how it blows, how often, how many days, but I won’t bore you with the details.

After that we went to another popular tourist destination, Fontaine de la Vaucluse, about eight kilometers away.  They have a “source” of water that is well known, an emerald-colored river and lots of old buildings and stuff.  This is, I think, the source of the rivers that create an island at L’Isle sur la Sorgue, where we’re staying.  It’s a big tourist destination (there were lots of Italians).

Dinner tonight was also good even wonderful in its own way — different from last night.  Not as good a value, but wonderful.  The desert was unbelieveable — a choclate round very rich cake made with bananas and more with a choclate cookie stuck in it and a side of ice cream — probably 2,000 calories.  The strange thing is there aren’t a bunch of over weight people eating at all these places, which you’d expect given the calorie intakes.  For the first time ever, I sent a bottle of wine back since it tasted terrible.  It was corked as in horrible. 

March 24, 2008.  We left our depressing hotel today.  It actually snowed this morning.  At breakfast there were two pathetic people, overweight and with nothing to say to each other, who wouldn’t stop starring at us.  It was just strange.  The entire breakfast thing was strange, in fact.  Boy were we glad to leave.  It really detracted from the entire Provence experience, unfortunately. 

On the drive back, through Provence, there were kilometers of tree-lines streets.  Someone really thought ahead since the trees were really old. 

March 25, 2008.  While Rocket is still on vacation with the dog trainer, we are taking advantage of the time off to get stuff done so after both Anne and I worked out and had a Spanish lesson, and we went to the Museu Nacional D’Art de Catalunya at the Parc de Montjuic.  Here are photos; we had a nice time, ate some very good food, and enjoyed the art for a few hours.  It’s a huge place. 

March 26, 2008.  I went for a run this morning and ended up running into an acquaintence who just ran a marathon and is planning another in five weeks!  We ran a hard pace (for me) for about 50 minutes — my first real run in about eight weeks or more.  I immediately took some Ibuprofin on returning home in anticipation of many aches and pains. 

Then I met Anne, Dan and Amy for lunch at the 4 Gats followed by an exploration of the “Call” which was the Jewish area of Barcelona until 1492.  There isn’t much to see, and we’ll have to go there when stores are open so we can see a few of the hidden treasures.  There were a few tourists exploring the area including one group of older Germans on a tour.   The Spanish seem to have some fascination with the Jewish people, at least that’s what I get from Jose at soccer, the 70-year-old grandfather and my conversation partner at the practices and games.  He’s a wonderful old guy, tells me he’s a communist and that he is very interested in Opus Dei and Masons.  In fact, he thinks Opus Dei and/or Masons are behind everything bad in the world with the Church probably close behind.   He may be right and we know for sure that the Church was with Franco, and when Franco governed Spain, it was a poor country considered the hillbilly of Europe.  Many people refer to Africa starting at the Pyrenees.   While Semana Santa (Easter) is really religious here, too much so, people here generally don’t seem that religious. 

Strangely, both my hair cutter and my soccer parent friend are suspicious of Opus Dei and the Church. 

March 13, 2008.  Wow, what a day.  Nothing happened.  I did manage to plan another two days of our Easter break (Semana Santa) which is the Saturday and Sunday on the way back from skiing.  Here’s the thing, it’s high season, we need two rooms (if anyone wants to sleep — David snores loudly and I can’t sleep with it and frankly, we like to be comfortable) and Provence, where we’re going seems set up for romantic get-aways (only).  Hours later, I called the best western and booked something one of the sites said was not charming.   It required speaking French to a few people, with one guy answering me back in such poor French I didn’t even try to book with him after that (he didn’t have anything close to what we wanted anyway).

March 14, 2008.  We packed today, getting ready for what promises to be a long drive to Méribel, France.  It’s all super highways and should take about eight hours.  Unlike the US, every resort changes on Saturday (as in 30 years ago in Colorado) so the roads are crowded not to mention it’s Easter (Semana Santa for hispanofiles).  We are packing heavy since it a car trip. 

I went out to get in shape for the vacation today, and road my bike about two hours up into the hills.  It’s some pretty nice riding with tons of tight turns after you get out of town, which takes about 15 minutes of uphill riding.  One thing I noticed is the clothes I wear here are completely different from other places — long sleeved jersey (I never used it until I got here), vest (ditto).  It’s still a bit cool, but definitely ready to warm up.  After skiing, we’ll stop in Provence to do some reportage.

March 15, 2008.  Eight hours plus in the car and we got from Barcelona to Méribel, France.  There was about 30 minutes of traffic, otherwise not bad at all.  This is the largest ski resort in the world (Les Trois Vallee).  I’ll get all the details here.  Anyhow, we’re here.  They have a great Internet connection, a nice village where there are tons of restaurants all within 100 yards and sports stores.  We rented equipment and went to dinner.  The French food, even here, is far superior to Spanish food in flavor (it has some).  It’s nice to be at altitude (about 6,000 feet) and unlike Aspen, it looks like they could use some snow.

March 16, 2008.  We gave up trying to find breakfast and went to a small, very good supermarket and bought everything for a while for probably the price of one breakfast.  The local foods are very nice, products of this region which is the Savoy. 

Just got back from skiing (photos here) and it’s endless.  Conditions were less than perfect with flat light and a new “dusting” of about 3 or 4 inches of heavy wet powder.  We skied through it and aside from not seeing anything, the amazing thing is that everyone stays on these very narrow “pistes” which are next to huge fields of endless untracked snow (which is in fact better skiing and much more fun).  From the reading I’ve done, the harder pistes are found in Courchevel, which is one ridge away along with a gondola ride.  We’ll try to go there tomorrow, weather permitting (it was not permitting today with wind and white-out conditions).  It’s dumping now at 5:28 p.m. local time. 

March 17, 2008.  Last night both Joshua and David threw up.  It was really bad for Joshua, not too bad (but bad enough) for David.  Joshua was up an extra hour and a half, David probably about half an hour.  Joshua was very pleased after he threw up the second time.  They obviously got some bad food, we suspect at the restaurant we ate at last night. 

We went out and found the snow very heavy (day’s photos here) on the lower slopes but about two feet or so on top.  We are all in great skiing shape as a result of our Chamonix trip, where our guide Bruno made us ski a lot and hard.  Even so, given the depth of the snow and how heavy it is, we quite at lunch and went down to Meribel (we’re actually above Meribel in Meribel Mottaret.  They have a great rec center, including a pool and ice rink that seems very Aspen although certainly not as big.  The rink was left over from the 1992 Olympics in Alberville; the pool is new.  Anne and I got some laps in while the kids enjoyed the slide. 

March 18, 2008.  It looks like a clear day, some clouds.  We skied (photos here) first over to Courchevel and a run over there trying to hit as much powder as possible since it snows the last few days.  Basically, you can conceivably ski powder here for probably weeks after it snows since it just doesn’t get skied out – imagine a run that is 1/100^th the width of the potential ski run – ski either side, go another way, anything.  There are no boundaries or trees and other than having an avalanche fall on you, and skiing over rocks (rentals are great), or a cliff, just go whereever.  What’s interesting is the runs (“pistes”) are super crowded but right next to the narrow piste is powder on both sides which is available for the taking.  Pretty amazing stuff.  They say there are 600 Kilometers of pistes, there is unlimited skiing.  Imagine Snowmass times 20 or more and you have these resorts.

March 19, 2008.  Towel change day.  What a treat to come back to an apartment with clean towels albeit a cigarette smell. 

As for skiing, it was a beautiful morning turning after lunch to a complete white out where we couldn’t see 20 feet and couldn’t make out terrain.  We did ski some slush, ice, hard packed, powder, crud, broken crud, etc…  The boys are skiing really well with turns down the fall line through broken crud; it’s very impressive. 

There seemed to be many more people on the slopes today, although if you are willing to ride a slow lift, there were no waits.  The faster lifts looked like they would require minimum 20 plus minute waits.  It was a beautiful day so we rode lifts.

March 6, 2008.  I forgot what, if anything, happened.

March 7, 2008.  Again I met John Barkley, who introduced me to a guy who supposedly was interested in an “intercambio” or exchange of English lessons for Spanish lessons.  Turns out that he and John were huge friends and they couldn’t keep their hands off each other, which is embarrassing since they are both in their 70s.  While they were doing this, they called the other guy’s daughter whose “novio” is American and won’t speak English with her since he’s lived here 15 years and apparently now speaks the lingo.  So, it’s half an hour of Spanish for half and hour of English.  She’s nice and cute and, unlike her father and John sitting across from us, kept her hands to herself.

Amy and Dan came over for lunch and we poured over maps so that Anne and I could plan our trip to France (we’re going to Mirabel to ski for Easter week, which I now know is a big holiday throughout Europe).  We got some ideas of where to stop since we anticipate an eight-hour drive, which is too much, probably for one day.

March 8, 2008.  This evening we saw the fountains of Mont Juic, which is translated as Jew Mountain and is, predicably, where the Jews lived.  The Jews left over 500 years ago, one way or another.  It is also, predicably, next to the Arab quarter.  The Arabs are still around, getting short haircuts on Sundays and making sure it’s a very dangerous neighborhood.  But I digress.  The fountains are set to music with lights and so forth and it’s a real scene with tons of people milling around, selling junk, and probably pick-pocketing.  It’s a lot of fun, a real scene with schmaltzy music and the excitement. 

March 9, 2008.  Forgot to write anything so nothing happened.

March 10, 2008.  Forgot again. 

March 11, 2008.  Beautiful day.  I went out on my bike, enjoyed the spring weather.   This evening I had my first meeting with Christina, a Spanish woman who smokes and wants to practice English so, like in Aspen, we trade half an hour of English for half an hour of Spanish.  She is very nice; we talking about how she knows smoking is terrible and her boyfriend (who is American but won’t speak English with her) wants her to quit. 

March 12, 2008.  Frank McDonald from FM Imports stopped by to see us.  He’s here on a wine hunting expedition for his clientelle in the US and to tell them not to raise their dollar prices.  We had him to dinner and had a great talk.  He’s an interesting guy who has travelled VERY extensively, including visiting some places that are off the beaten path (for tourists).  It’s the latest we stayed up since arriving in Spain, I think (9:30 at night! — no, just kidding, it’s almost 12:30 — hey, we are lightweights).  Next time Frank, we’ll stay up later!

February 28, 2008.  Today started like any other day, I thought.  I woke up, crack of Noon, and rolled out of bed.  I was sick in the night and there was vomit everywhere.  I barely remembered what must have been a bender the night before, but on seeing myself in the mirror, I knew that something terrible happened during the night.  I realized my wallet was stolen and my passport gone with it; the apartment was as empty as the liquor cabinet.  Obviously, calling the police was not an option.  I tried to gather myself while at the same time finding something to drape over my slowly awakening limbs.  My next thoughts were, why does this keep happening?  Sure, booze and babes are fun, but why the oh so obvious result — waking up in vomit? 

February 29, 2008.  Got a call first thing this morning from ATF agent Guilliam, working on a strange case he described as hacking, arms sales, international fraud and animal cruelty.  In his gravelly voice, while obviously inhaling slowly from a cigarette, he unravelled a tall tale.  Seems we’re the victim of an elaborate ruse where Nigerians selling the fake gains of a “Executive Government Official” went to “deposit” money to our accounts.  The strange thing, according to Guilliam, is that we are now in possession of $28 million, US.  Do I have to give it back, I asked.  Absolutely not, said Guilliam, but privately he offered, outside of his job as an NSA agent, to invest it with some “bankers” that work out of the middle east.  Hmm, sounds interesting, I thought.  Let’s do it, I told him.  I called a Russian friend, Sergi, to have him to open an account in Moscow at the Danau Bank on Петровка ул., 17, строение 1 – 8 and deposit one Euro. 

Gilliam called back 20 minutes later with what was easy to predict.  They would need a dog in order to have a cute looking animal in the car careening around the streets of Moscow to attract attention away from six armed men entering the bank to withdraw money from the account.  Easy, I offered, go to the dog shelter — I know of a very sweet golden retriever/lab mix that vomited all over my bed yesterday morning. 

March 1, 2008.  We went to a dinner party last night.  It was really nice since it’s the first non-school thing we’ve been to.  It was filled with lithe waifish things, well guys, who were here to run the Barcelona Marathon with 9,000 others.  It’s tomorrow. 

The Huntleys are here.  New car rental (new car), trip to Sitges.  Lunchy poo.  Etc…

As I told Anne, I don’t pretend to have all the answers.  One thing is sure though, I won’t be a burn out from working too hard.

March 2, 2008.  We have hit the point where we already see the end of our sabbatical in sight.  I have started getting my ducks in a row to get out of here, thinking about shipping boxes back home, and otherwise getting the apartment cleaned out and emptied.  In the meantime, we have about 112 days in which to enjoy the remainder of our stay.

Anne’s folks are here and Anne is driving them kind of crazy with her hovering and Anne’s mother is driving Anne crazy with her non-stop offers of food from her plate and complaints about too much food being served. 

March 3, 2008.  Anne’s parents took a tour of Barcelona and enjoyed it, they report.  It’s a hard city to see in a few hours, for sure.  There is so much architecture and so many interesting buildings and sights. 

March 4, 2008.  I picked up our German passports today.  Pretty amazing that now I am German AND AMERICAN.  I’ve been very careful with the boys that if they ever are in a situation requiring them to choose, rip up the German passport.  Well, it would be hard to rip up, since it’s a small book imbedded with all sorts of electronics; very high tech. 

I also went shopping at the market nearby.  It’s composed of about 40 stalls each selling something specific, like the olive seller, the bread seller, the fruit seller (there is also a banana seller), the chicken seller, the various stuff seller, the fish sellers (lots of these).  In any case, a few observations from Anne. 

(1) If you are going to the bread seller, be prepared to stand amist a minimum of five old, very aggressive ladies in an undefined line.  Be prepard to place your order, and fast.  The people in front of you will order 20 different things and you’ll wait, sometimes up to 10 minutes.  Once you get there, order and when she kindly says “algo mas” just say “no” quickly before some old lady begins to beat you to a pulp. 

(2)  If you buy fish, you must stand there for the 20 minutes while it’s fileted.  If you don’t, they won’t do anything while you try to improve your efficiency (your efficiency will actually go down since you’ll have to wait, again, to get the fish). 

(3) Fruit is something where you really have to wait, after taking a number.  If you are not prepared to scream out your number, you’ll have 2 or 3 seconds, you’ll miss your turn and possibly have to wait another half hour.  Once they accept your number as an original and not a fake, you have to place your order quickly.  The whole process takes less than a minute and it’s super efficient but you have to wait half an hour in order to get the stuff. 

March 5, 2008.  I went to a Rotary meeting today since Anne’s father, Bill, is really into it.  John Barkley invited us after I asked him about Rotary for Bill.  I was surprised and a bit miffed that there was no spanking ritual while nude.  I was lead to believe that everyone got naked and spanked each other and while I am not into that, I was a bit curious.  It turned out to be lunch (expensive cigarette-smoke filled lunch) with a bunch of older guys who were all interested in the newcomers.  I sat next to an architect who was very nice, and we spoke Spanish the entire lunch.  I think he was a near-communist since he argued that the ability to will one’s property to progeny is bad and should be done away with.  Either that or he liked the fish.  Anywho, it was relatively entertaining and everyone seemed nice.  Strange thing is I couldn’t find my wallet afterwards.

February 21, 2008.  I invite anyone reading this to submit changes/improvement/ideas for the www.barcelonasabbatical.com.  Let’s both make this a fun project.  I’ve spent a few hours correcting my programming errors and such, but otherwise just wrote it off the cuff.  I think this should be the information source for everyone planning a sabbatical in Barcelona next year (about 10 people, by my estimation).  I put the following information on that website in case either of you didn’t read it:

Books, for some strange reason, are very expensive in Spain.  Especially English language books.  The strange thing is today’s La Vanguardia (Barcelona’s local newspaper written in Spanish) says that Spanish kids have low reading comprehension, even lower than the US.  It seems if books are so expensive, they would make the effort to understand them.  I just scanned the article so I probably didn’t fully understand it anyway.   

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February 22, 2008.  Friday.  I need a break from Spanish since I seem to be going backwards.  I am thinking about shooting a video and want to do it right (shot list, ideas in a script, etc…) but a short.  I’ve enjoyed putting my Barcelona Sabbatical site together and want to see if ANYONE ever looks at it.  It’s a nice complement to this site for me. 

David had a soccer game tonight and he was on the bench for close to half.  When I asked his coach what was up, he said that now that David was on the elite team it would take some time for him to play up to their level and I should be patient.

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February 23, 2008.  I got our video camera out today.  We are starting to think about how to organize the remaining months we have in Europe and already have the idea of going skiing for Semana Santa, which is March 17 for a week and we are going to Sam Rosen’s son’s Barmitzvah on the first week-end of April.  We want to do a lot of other stuff too including visit the Baleric Islands (Minorca, etc…) and more. 

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February 24, 2008.  Anne and Rocket are bonding more now that she has seen a professional dog trainer (the Spanish dog whisperer). 

After some discussion and analysis, Anne and I have decided that the Spanish here have no senses of humor.  That’s not very good for me.  And, frankly, that’s why the French understand me better.  We’ve been thinking, “when do we ever hear anyone laughing in the street.”  The answer is, never.  You hear a lot of explaining, punctuated by the word “vale” meaning “get it.”  And their idea of humor is really slapstick; so much so that it’s unwatchable for normal people (me?). 

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February 25, 2008.  I brought David to his soccer game today, which requires that I commute about an hour to his school and then back to the soccer field with him.  Then I sit and watch the game, which sometimes offers me an opportunity to speak Spanish.  Today the guy I thought was retarded was there.  I’m not sure if he is retarded, but he has a speech impediment like he used to stutter, and a somewhat limited repertoire of ideas about what makes good conversation.  For him, it’s the weather, as in “it’s very warm today.”  This, I suppose he thinks, is supposed to take us through the next one and a half hours.  So, when I saw him, I sort of cringed, hoping that I could come up with lots of vocabulary to describe the weather.  Thankfully, after talking about how the days were getting longer, he asked me if David was learning any Spanish.  This gave me an opening, and off we went — he listened to my halting Spanish and I listened to his halting Spanish.

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February 26, 2008.  The weather is getting kind of nicer here, which provides the opportunity to get out and run.  Anne and Rocket have been doing this and Rocket’s training seems to be going well (well, he’s getting trained).  Speaking of training, I’m keeping some semblance of a routine up and plan to start cycling more as the weather turns. 

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February 27, 2008.  For the second time this year, school was cancelled because of a water main break.  Of course, I got a call, which was delivered as “We have an emergency…” which of course makes me think the worst and then finally they get around to telling you it’s the water main.  They need to lead with “Not to worry, but…”  Anywho, got the kids and brought them home and they wanted to just hang out.