Uhlfelder News

May 21, 2008.  Today was our 14th wedding anniversary.  It’s been an above-average 14 years, for sure.  Anywho, we decided to go to see the Volta a Catalunya, the second biggest bike race in Spain.  About an hour and a quarter drive north, we went to Banyoles, a cute town near Gerona, famous for Lance Armstrong’s winter training home.   We walked around a bit, then watched the start.  We quickly got in the car, then quickly zipped to the start of the mountains and were stopped by police.  They let us go to a parking area up the road, we parked and walked up the road to watch as they hit the mountains.  We managed to collect a bunch of water bottles, since we were the only people watching the race.  After the four seconds of watching the guys pass us on their bikes, then watching about 100 cars racing up the road, we followed and picked up a bunch of water bottles discarded by the riders.  There some marked with codes, like DL which we believe is “dope laden” or something. 

I drank a bit and I feel wide awake and haven’t slept in 48 hours, not to mention I just went out and ran a 10K in 33 minutes, my fastest time ever (just kidding).   On the way back we went through a bunch of cute towns and countryside, including Sant Joan de Les Abadessas full of old stuff. 

One thing about these small Spanish towns is they are full of Arabs and Africans who apparently have made little effort to integrate into the towns or haven’t been accepted.  This is anathema to us Americans, well somewhat, since we are all immigrants (insert usual melting pot BS speech here).  In any case, these immigrants are there and in their own worlds which work as a parallel world to the Catalan and worlds.   In a similar but more ugly vain, everyone here speaks about the gypsies who are being attacked in Italy and loathed more or less throughout Europe.  They are basically considered bands of roaving thieves. 

May 22, 2008.  We ran out of water and soap, so I was dehydrated and dirty until we got our delivery today from El Corte Ingles, which is a department store that delivers.  Huge improvement, or so Anne claims. 

May 23, 2008.  I went on a 3.5 hour bike ride to try to find a good path to put some mileage in since next week I am host to Nick, my bike-riding friend from London.  We’ll ride one day here, then go to Girona and ride for three more days, trying to get some mileage in and see just how many miles we are willing to endure. 

Tonight was International Night at the kids’ school.  It was a really fun party, with tables for every country represented.  There was a lot(!) of food, and a pity that it was all clearly tossed.  I manned the BBQ which was too hot since I got there late and the guy who said he’d get it started didn’t know what he was doing.  Anyway, we cooked about 150 hot dogs which were really gross.  There was Indian food (nice and spicy), South African food (interesting, and different but similar to Indian), German (saurcraut and gummy bears), Japanese (suchi), American (hot dogs and brownies (yum), English (mainly deserts that were multi-colored), Brazilian (caparinias), and more.  I had some nice conversations with some of the others to see if they are staying and leaving and their plans. 

May 24, 2008.  It was very rainy this morning — this has been the most rain they have had in May since 1957 according to the La Vanguardia.  It stopped by afternoon which was good, then Joshua had a birthday party where all the kids were taken to the new Indiana Jones movie, and Anne, David and I tagged along.  The movie was okay, but not much more.

May 25, 2008.  It’s raining again this morning.  Anne went through Joshua’s backpack and found another letter from the school warning that someone had head lice.  These letters come home every so often and make us think the kids have head lice.  Nice.  Turns out they did! One live one on Joshua but lots of eggs on both of them.  We did tons of combing with the special metal comb and tons of laundry, a multi-step lotion and shampoo process, and a stuffed animal quarentine.  And of course, emails to their teachers to spread the news.

May 26, 2008.  Joshua had his physical fitness challenge this morning — the running part.  He already set the school recond in pull ups — 11 (he tied with a fourth grader).  I went but didn’t end up helping since there were so many parents.  I ended up talking with a very kind and nice German woman and a nice American guy who is married to a very harsh and cold Dutch woman. 

May 27, 2008.  I got in contact with my friend from the UK about our upcoming bike trip since the weather pattern doesn’t look bike-friendly, namely rain, heavy at times.  Since neither of us like to ride in the rain (who does) and there are some pretty difficult and technical descents on these rides, we called the trip off.  Darn — I was looking forward to it.  In any case, I went out for a ride between rain showers, got lucky, and managed to ride about 1:40 or so.  Very hard riding with some locals both going one way and then the other. 

May 14, 2008.  Back from Mallorca and we have about five weeks before we’re going to be home.  I thought I might get a boat captain’s license, checked it out at the Escuela and it’s not possible.   There is a lot to it and not enough time.

Thinking about water, they got a lot here while we were gone (as we did in Mallorca) and that may have gone some small distance in solving the water shortage problem they have here.  Here are some of the things they have done — shipped in water on boats from Terragona and emptied the fountains (and put up expensive signs about why they are empty).  They are going to build a desalination plant, pipe in more water and other things — all of this takes time, money and energy. 

May 15, 2008.  Our dog, Rocket, returned from his vacation at the dog trainer’s house.  The dog trainer returned him a bit late since he had to check into the hospital for an emergency operation for an ulzer, undoubtedly brought on by Rocket.  Rocket is a hard dog to train, but certainly not worth getting an ulzer over.  Anyhow, the dog trainer, Emilio, is married and his wife took good care of Rocket while Emilio recovered.

May 16, 2008.  We’re going out to dinner this evening.  Unfortunately, since dinner is at 9:30 (that’s the normal dinner time here) we will end up eating two dinners.  I would say that the thing we like the least about Spain is the schedule.  All of Europe is much more “normal” with dinner times at 7 ish and lunches around noon.  Here, they have lunch at 2:00 for two hours and then dinner after 9 at night. 

May 17, 2008.  We had a very nice meal last night, getting home at 1:00 a.m.  On the way home, the streets were busy with people going to “discos” that seem to appear at every corner.  It all seems so ’70s.  Today the boys managed to stay in the apartment the entire day.

May 18, 2008.  Today was a running race put on by El Corte Ingles that is supposed to be the largest running race in the world with over 56,000 people.  Anne and David wanted to add to the number, Joshua didn’t, so I stayed with Joshua and Anne and David went to the race.  During the race, of course, they ran into Dan and Amy, our lunch friends and co-alumni from The International House of Languages.  Here are photos. 

May 19, 2008.   Nothing to report. 

May 20, 2008.   Lunch with Dan and Amy and haircut day for David and Joshua and Rocket.  All four men in the Uhlfelder family got haircuts (mine was last week).  Photo here.

May 7, 2008.  I’m back to running, which is nice.  David went to soccer practice and we (the parents and grandparents) watched.  I spoke Spanish with Jose, my 70-year-old friend.  We’re off to Mallorca tomorrow and the weather forecast calls for rain the entire time!  Should be great.

May 8, 2008.  We left for the airport this morning, late, to go to Palma de Mallorca.  Instead of Easyjet, the discount airline for our trips to Geneva and London, we used ClickAir.  The European skies are filled with these discount airlines, some are better than others.  It turned out that ClickAir was far superior to Easyjet which means we got on the flight, it wasn’t crowded, we had seat assignments, and there was no push to get on the flight. 

Arriving on time in Palma, I took my car rental certificate and tried to find the company I booked with.  Turned out they didn’t exist.  It took about an hour to rent a car, mainly as a result of the mistake on my part (travel agent!).  After we finally got a car, we walked out to the lot, and they gave us the wrong car.  About an hour later I received a cell call to that effect, but it was good enough and didn’t smell of smoke; generally a problem renting cars.

The beach was nice, but it was windy and almost cold as a result.  The boys and Anne settled in for some soccer, best played with swim goggles to prevent sand from entering the eyes.  I went for a long run on the beach, and got to the next town down, which was pretty ugly and unimpressive despite the boardwalk redesign/rebuilding that they recently appeared to have commissioned. 

We found the hotel with little problem, and it’s on a beach that is populated by similar hotels which I would classify as family-friendly, cruise-ship feeling. 

In fact, as part of the deal I got (and the first real deal I’ve gotten while traveling in Europe), I got a travel agent rate that included breakfast and dinners.  All you eat.

So, speaking of eating, we went down to the buffet and they sat us at a table.  We ordered our waters and the kid at the table next to us had what I believe was mid-stage TB.  It wasn’t a problem, apparently, for his parents who didn’t bother to tell him to cover his mouth when he coughed up the germs and such and spread them throughout the place.  After about 10 minutes, it was just too disgusting and we moved tables.  The food was okay.

Anne and I were discussing Mallorca and how it compares to other places we know.  It’s similar to Maui, yet drier; it looks like Florida but it has mountains.  The only way you know you are in Spain are the piles of trash everywhere.  For some reason, the Spanish are slobs and there is no public awareness that littering is bad. 

May 9, 2008.  It’s raining today.  That’s expected but not terribly welcome with two boys on a beach vacation in Mallorca.  There is an annual reenactment of a battle between the Moors and the Christians staged in a town about an hour from where we’re staying called Port de Soller.  We drove over there, through picturesque towns including Bunyola and Santa Maria and a three-kilometer-long tunnel, in a heavy rain at times.  The island is carpeted by volcanic mountains and has tons of narrow, serpentine roads many lined with stone walls for kilometers attesting to the age of the civilization.  Some of this stuff must be more than 20 years old.  Every inch of ground seems to be cultivated, with stone terraces on the steepest hills.  The rock work everywhere is impressive, with steps and walls everywhere. 

In any case, we found Sóller and neighboring Port de Sóller and the tourist information place only to find out the annual reenactment of the battle actually takes place this coming Monday.  I asked the woman who seemed bored who was likely to win the battle, which she thought was funny and told me we’d have to see to find out.

There was a heavy rain most of the day, which makes travel difficult and makes a beach vacation a horror.

May 10, 2008.  It was very cloudy this morning on our “Mallorca Beach Vacation”.  Cold too.  Nonetheless, we went to the beach this morning and I went on a run to the Nature Reserve next to our hotel, which was full of German bird watchers.  This place is pretty much German, a few Swedish and very few English.  I got back after about 1:20 and it started to rain that very minute so I helped Anne return to our room from the beach at which time the sky opened and buckets of rain came down. 

We ended up playing the day for whatever sun we could get, eating lunch during the main downpour and then getting out to the pool during the periods of sun.  David especially liked the kid’s pool that dumped a huge bucket of water every 4 minutes and 51 seconds on whoever was standing below. 

We ate our “cruise ship dinner” and attended the kids play right away.  Joshua mentioned that it was puerile and David noted that it had a Milli Vanilli issue. 

May 11, 2008.  Mother’s Day is today and we managed to call both mothers from here using our cell phones.  The boys and I gave Anne a nice card and each made other cards for her.  Even though the forecast was only 20 percent chance of showers, they are here (again).  Everyone is so desperate for sun, that the minute it comes out the pool is populated by white European people ready to get a tan, albeit to no avail since the rain comes within minutes in this weather system.

It’s getting pretty tiring but we have lucked out so far with our vacations, so it was inevitable.  In any case, we are enjoying our time and it’s a really nice place – Mallorca.  We are all getting pretty good at ping-pong, along with some of the other guests, who are turning out to be Scandinavian and German, it seems, for the most part.  We are the only Americans, I believe. 

We are entertaining ourselves by eating (a lot).  It’s a buffet and you can go up as many times as you like.  There are people clearing your plates every minute or two and you are not discouraged from eating as much as possible.  Every night is different, sort of, and it’s always a fun surprise.  It’s how we imagine a cruise ship to be, without any experience.  As for experience, the only thing close is eating at the Azouz’s house in Aspen with Caroline cooking. 

I went for another long one hour long run into the wet nature preserve and jumped puddles.  There are tons of “birders” or bird-watchers, which must be a big thing to do there. 

May 12, 2008.  It looked like another rainy day but we managed to get a morning at the beach until about 1:00 when I went for a run and as I departed, it began to rain (again).  David and Joshua have enjoyed not just the beach, building sandcastles and such, but also the pools and especially the children’s pool with its bucket that dumps water every 4 minutes and 51 seconds.  David tried to get hit by the bucket of water and turned out to be the entertainment, with Joshua reminding him that he had a big audience. 

May 13, 2008.  We are leaving today so predictably the weather improved.   On the way to the airport we stopped in Valladamosa, famous for Georg Sands and Chopin’s winter of discontent.  He had TB, she an attitude, and the locals thought they were just horrible.  She wrote a book which was essentially her lengthy complaint about Mallorca, made the place famous, and so the town became a huge tourist magnet.  And it was.

Back in Barcelona, it rained here too.  They needed it but they have a water problem that they are trying to solve with many solutions, all of which are costly and it’s very confusing to try to figure out what they are doing.  Our taxi driver told us it was all a ploy to get more money, since water is privately provided here. 

May 1, 2008.  Today is Labor Day all over Europe or in any case in both Spain and France.  We left this morning for France since we have a four-day week-end, more or less.  That is, Thursday is a holiday and everyone takes the Friday following as a holiday too.  It’s a bit early to go to the beach, and I had this idea that we could meet a friend from Washington D.C. who is French and lives relatively nearby.  I met Christophe when I traded English for French lessons with him — he was writing a biography of Jean Bertrand Aristide, the then President of Haiti (in exile).  Haiti and Christophe were tenants of my commercial real estate shared office suite in Washington, D.C. 

Off we went for a five hour drive in the Midi-Pyrenees.  Although we were invited to stay with Christophe, he had a pregnant cat, we have a lightly trained dog, and Anne may be allergic to cats so the idea was not immediately appealing.  Instead we rented a house, which is one of the houses they rent here called “Gites”.  It actually turned out to be relatively nice (except the beds), not plush, but very French country basic, in a town called Varaire. 

We arrived, were checked in by the very nice French couple that owns the place, and called Christophe who we met an hour later at his place in Limogne-en-Quercy.  This is all in the Dordogne Region and is called Le Lot, which is also the name of the river.  There were lots of animals, in addition to the newborn horse, a hedgehog, rabbits and sheep, etc…

Anyhow, we were very welcomed at Christophe’s house, where his wife Elaine and two grandkids, Simon, age 9, and Léa, age 12 were all welcoming.  The pregnant cat, and Rocket, as expected, hit it off with the cat hitting the roof and Rocket barking away.  We had a wonderful time culminating in a very nice meal typical of the region.  It was really nice and very special.

As for the Gite, it’s unfortunately not clean and the beds are horrible.  We have had pretty terrible luck in France for hotels and places to stay.  The structure itself and the surroundings are nice.  There are snails the size of mice roaming around and birds that sound like alarm systems that were improperly set.

May 2, 2008.  After some very nice croissants this morning we went off to meet our friends Christophe and along with his grandkids the seven of us went off to see the poorly named St. Cinq Lapopie.  It has what we think are some of the most beautiful vistas in Europe. 

After exploring around, we returned to lunch at Christophe’s house.  Every meal, pretty much, has been outside since the weather is very nice.  Then it was time for us to cook an “American meal” which meant I put on a barbecue (hamburger, of course).  This was a bit of a challenge without my easy lighting gas powered Turbo Grill, but we managed to pull it off.  We had a wonderful time with some really nice people who we are proud to call friends.

May 3, 2008.  Having accomplished our main goal of saying hello to Christophe and his family and feeling like we didn’t want to delay a long drive back (we tried to split it, but couldn’t find room at the half-way point with one call), and not wanting another night in terrible beds provided at the Gite (I suspect they date from the original renovation 25 years ago), we decided to make our way back to Barcelona. Of course, we couldn’t leave the Lot region without seeing what is perhaps one of the most famous caves around, the Grottes du Pech Merle, with drawings dating from 25,000 years ago (really!).  They are similar to the Fairy Caves in Glenwood Springs.  We made our way there, taking beautiful roads and getting lost only for 10 minutes or so, and got our tickets (which we reserved the day before since only 700 people can see the cave on any one day and for no more than one hour to preserve them), went through the cave with a French tour guide (who also added a few English explanations here and there but we had a written translation).  The cave is full of your usual stalactites (facing downward) and stalagmites but also these man-made drawings that are made with charcoal and iron oxide and while they were no Michelangelos, the drawing are remarkable if for no other reason than their age and the size of the breasts on the women in their representations.      May 4, 2008.  This morning, first thing, I received a call from the Aspen Valley Hospital that my mother had her appendix out and everything went fine — it was midnight there.  This is, of course, cause for concern since she’s alone, 88, won’t accept or agree to any help, and is beyond stubborn.  I emailed my Annette, my sister, and a few hours later she was on a flight from New York.  On arrival everything was fine, and I spoke to my mother and everything was good.  Long story short, she went home and my sister is there.May 5, 2008.  Elyssa Edgerly from Aspen, who is here studying, and her boyfriend Josh joined us for dinner and we had a nice time.  I’ve been on the phone a few times with my sister, trying to support here.  She’s doing an amazing job taking care of my mother, no easy task.

May 6, 2008.  I’m dealing long-distance with my mother’s situation and my sister who is there trying to manage things.  It’s basically impossible, but my sister is doing her best.  It’s a terrible situation. 

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.