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:
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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.