We got back from Barcelona last week and headed straight to Miami for Thanksgiving where we spent the last week. I will highlight more about our Barcelona trip, but now I need to write about an incident that happened today at the airport.
Jacob and I sat down on the floor in an open space by the gate of our airplane this morning. There were no seats left and a nice big open space by the window to see planes. Nate came and sat down near us and the boys had one of their silly conversations, this one about birthday presents. Something Nate said angered Jacob, and he shouted, "NO!"
An older man (late 60s) sitting on a chair in front of us, talking on his cell phone was startled and yelled back at Jacob. In a mean voice with an angry face. This I could tolerate, since Jacob did shout quite loudly and startled everyone in the vicinity.
What shocked, hurt and angered me, was what the man did next. He never got off his phone and continued making call after call. In his normal, speaking voice less than 2 feet away from me, he described my "awful" child who "keeps screaming," (Jacob wasn't) and "the mother..." this part, I honestly did not hear, but I am sure it was something less than flattering about me.
There were many, many young children on the flight, and he started complaining that the flight was full of children. Sadly for him, he did not get the memo that the rest of us got, telling us parents of young children to always fly the Monday after Thanksgiving, never the Sunday after.
I was so tempted to engage him in a debate, but I knew it was a lose-lose conversation. Instead I caught his eye and gave my best glare that let him know I could hear him perfectly and knew he was speaking about me. Honestly, what is worse, a screaming two year old or a fully grown adult with no manners? Jacob will outgrow his screaming. This man will never outgrow his intolerance or rudeness if he has not done so yet.
Plus, now I feel a bit bad for the man. He obviously has no grandchildren, since every grandparent would have sympathized with a child who had to be worken up for an early flight. It must have been a lonely Thanksgiving for him and a bleak future Christmas.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
An easy day in Barcelona
We took it easy today and stayed in pjs for brunch in the apartment. Everyone needed a day respite from our hectic touring schedule. Around noon, we headed to a playground a few blocks from our apartment. The boys played for an hour, while we chatted it up with another American family on holiday from an army base in Germany. Nate was delighted to have an english-speaking playmate.
After the playground we headed toward Passeig de Gracia for lunch. Panicked by the boys increasing whinging, I made the very poor decision to eat at the Chicago Pizzeria. They had a kids menu and it was very casual. Well, despite the crowds of locals, the food was inedible. In fact, the lump of greasy cheese is still sitting in my stomach several hours later.
To digest properly, we walked across the street to a Gaudi designed building. Formally known as Casa Mila, nicknamed La Pedrera, for its stone/cave-like appearance. The boys protested, but once we were inside, their imaginations were caught by the undulating walls and mosaics. We had to circle the roof deck 3 times, after which, I was a bit queasy. The replica of a 1920's apartment particularly struck them. "Mommy, look at the kitchen! I found the old toilet! Is this the kid's room? We have a tricycle like that!"
By the time we exited the building it was time for siesta and afternoon snacks at the local patisserie. Jacob tried one of every pastry. Nate had nothing. "So there!"
Mom has a bit of an eye infection, and my cheesy dinner and lunch are still sitting heavy in my stomach, so we will see what is on the agenda for tomorrow.
After the playground we headed toward Passeig de Gracia for lunch. Panicked by the boys increasing whinging, I made the very poor decision to eat at the Chicago Pizzeria. They had a kids menu and it was very casual. Well, despite the crowds of locals, the food was inedible. In fact, the lump of greasy cheese is still sitting in my stomach several hours later.
To digest properly, we walked across the street to a Gaudi designed building. Formally known as Casa Mila, nicknamed La Pedrera, for its stone/cave-like appearance. The boys protested, but once we were inside, their imaginations were caught by the undulating walls and mosaics. We had to circle the roof deck 3 times, after which, I was a bit queasy. The replica of a 1920's apartment particularly struck them. "Mommy, look at the kitchen! I found the old toilet! Is this the kid's room? We have a tricycle like that!"
By the time we exited the building it was time for siesta and afternoon snacks at the local patisserie. Jacob tried one of every pastry. Nate had nothing. "So there!"
Mom has a bit of an eye infection, and my cheesy dinner and lunch are still sitting heavy in my stomach, so we will see what is on the agenda for tomorrow.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Days 5-7 in Barcelona
Matt started Tech Ed so he has been escaping with the laptop before I wake up and returning after we sleep, so blogging has been on hiatus. He got back early tonight so here goes.
I can't remember where we left off, but on Sunday we took the Bus Turistic up to Parc Guell, a Gaudi fantasy. The boys wanted more hiking, but they loved the mosaic Salamander fountain. It was a lovely day, and the rest of Barcelona joined us in Parc Guell. It made the people watching fun, but it was quite crowded.
Jacob is getting used to the time zone so we are able to pack more into our days now. On Monday we wandered over to La Rambla and wandered the streets of the Barri Gotic. My parents had recommendations for a certain restauarant in the neighborhood. My dad got his roast chicken and the boys had french fries. We played hide and seek in Placa Reial and found a playground in the middle of Place Sant Michele. Unfortunately, we were unable to find any of the markers of the Jewish Ghetto. I think you need a tour guide, and we just can't seem to get out of the apartment early enough to make the 10 am tour.
After lunch we headed over to the Richard Meir designed Contemporary Art museum. The building was fabulous, like walking in a sculplture. The art was a bit modern for my taste. The boys were downright frightened of several of the installation pieces. Though, one large, brightly colored Miro sculpture caught Jacob's attention. He sat on the ground for 15 minutes and sketched it. Nate was very helpful and stood over him, making comments such as, "That looks nothing like it." or "That's the wrong color." Like a true artist, Jacob ignored the critics.
Dinner that night was an exercise in frustration as we are finding most nights in Barcelona. Dinner at 8:30 is just too late for my boys. Tapas bars offer very little in the way to eat for the kosher minded and the toddler inspired. After wandering the street near our apartment for 20 minutes with whining boys, I gave up and made them scrambled eggs and cheese in the microwave in the apartment. I had bread and Nutella (no complaints on my end!)
Tuesday was Picasso day. We were up and out of the house after stopping in a cafe for some of the famed Barcelona chocolate drink. Jacob was covered in chocolate much to the amusement of the little old ladies sitting next to him. It was a true eating day for him as he spent the whole day complaining about being hungry. At each stop (every 30 minutes or so,) he ate a Clementine, apple or chips. In total today, in addition to his meals, Jacob ate 4 clementines, 2 whole apples, 1 bag of potato chips, 1 cube of cheese, 1 croissant and 1 Kinder egg. He is the very Hungry Caterpillar.
We toured the Museu Picasso. The paintings were nice, but I was most impressed with the building. The Museu is housed in 3 ancient homes connected. The outside facades look postively medievil, but the insides were 100% modern. After the Museu, we headed to Parc de la Ciutadella. The boys enjoyed this more, though Nate was determined we should rent a row boat and row the pond. I put the kibosh on this plan, as it has been more than 17 years since I have rowed a boat, and I could see us stranded in the middle, and Jacob in the dirty water. We found a playground and the boys played for an hour while the grown-ups basked in the sun and made dinner plans.
The Parc is next to the Born neighborhood, which is ultra trendy and hip. As such, the restaurants correspond. Since it was only 4, we had to kill some time. A choice had to be made between the Museu de Xocalata (chocolate!) or Museu de Zoologica. It was a tough choice, but we went for animals. I think we were the only visitors to this musuem in a long time. It is a dusty old hallway with loads of taxidermy animals. The boys were thrilled! They spent a long time examining the animals and skeletons.
Then it was time to go search the circuitous streets of the Born looking for an Asian restuarant called Wushu. Despite the guide book's assurance, Wushu was closed till 8 pm, a disappointing discovery after a long time wandering around lost. No worries though, we found a cafe for croissants and cappucino. Then we wandered the streets killing time before dinner at Udon a noodle bar we found in our rambles. Udon was great, similar to Wagamamma in London. The boys were THRILLED to have edamame and soba noodles after a week of tomatoes and cheese.
Now we are back at the apartment, and the boys collapsed into bed.
Today's kinder egg sorpresas were: a tiny yellow car and a silly yellow bat eraser.
I can't remember where we left off, but on Sunday we took the Bus Turistic up to Parc Guell, a Gaudi fantasy. The boys wanted more hiking, but they loved the mosaic Salamander fountain. It was a lovely day, and the rest of Barcelona joined us in Parc Guell. It made the people watching fun, but it was quite crowded.
Jacob is getting used to the time zone so we are able to pack more into our days now. On Monday we wandered over to La Rambla and wandered the streets of the Barri Gotic. My parents had recommendations for a certain restauarant in the neighborhood. My dad got his roast chicken and the boys had french fries. We played hide and seek in Placa Reial and found a playground in the middle of Place Sant Michele. Unfortunately, we were unable to find any of the markers of the Jewish Ghetto. I think you need a tour guide, and we just can't seem to get out of the apartment early enough to make the 10 am tour.
After lunch we headed over to the Richard Meir designed Contemporary Art museum. The building was fabulous, like walking in a sculplture. The art was a bit modern for my taste. The boys were downright frightened of several of the installation pieces. Though, one large, brightly colored Miro sculpture caught Jacob's attention. He sat on the ground for 15 minutes and sketched it. Nate was very helpful and stood over him, making comments such as, "That looks nothing like it." or "That's the wrong color." Like a true artist, Jacob ignored the critics.
Dinner that night was an exercise in frustration as we are finding most nights in Barcelona. Dinner at 8:30 is just too late for my boys. Tapas bars offer very little in the way to eat for the kosher minded and the toddler inspired. After wandering the street near our apartment for 20 minutes with whining boys, I gave up and made them scrambled eggs and cheese in the microwave in the apartment. I had bread and Nutella (no complaints on my end!)
Tuesday was Picasso day. We were up and out of the house after stopping in a cafe for some of the famed Barcelona chocolate drink. Jacob was covered in chocolate much to the amusement of the little old ladies sitting next to him. It was a true eating day for him as he spent the whole day complaining about being hungry. At each stop (every 30 minutes or so,) he ate a Clementine, apple or chips. In total today, in addition to his meals, Jacob ate 4 clementines, 2 whole apples, 1 bag of potato chips, 1 cube of cheese, 1 croissant and 1 Kinder egg. He is the very Hungry Caterpillar.
We toured the Museu Picasso. The paintings were nice, but I was most impressed with the building. The Museu is housed in 3 ancient homes connected. The outside facades look postively medievil, but the insides were 100% modern. After the Museu, we headed to Parc de la Ciutadella. The boys enjoyed this more, though Nate was determined we should rent a row boat and row the pond. I put the kibosh on this plan, as it has been more than 17 years since I have rowed a boat, and I could see us stranded in the middle, and Jacob in the dirty water. We found a playground and the boys played for an hour while the grown-ups basked in the sun and made dinner plans.
The Parc is next to the Born neighborhood, which is ultra trendy and hip. As such, the restaurants correspond. Since it was only 4, we had to kill some time. A choice had to be made between the Museu de Xocalata (chocolate!) or Museu de Zoologica. It was a tough choice, but we went for animals. I think we were the only visitors to this musuem in a long time. It is a dusty old hallway with loads of taxidermy animals. The boys were thrilled! They spent a long time examining the animals and skeletons.
Then it was time to go search the circuitous streets of the Born looking for an Asian restuarant called Wushu. Despite the guide book's assurance, Wushu was closed till 8 pm, a disappointing discovery after a long time wandering around lost. No worries though, we found a cafe for croissants and cappucino. Then we wandered the streets killing time before dinner at Udon a noodle bar we found in our rambles. Udon was great, similar to Wagamamma in London. The boys were THRILLED to have edamame and soba noodles after a week of tomatoes and cheese.
Now we are back at the apartment, and the boys collapsed into bed.
Today's kinder egg sorpresas were: a tiny yellow car and a silly yellow bat eraser.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Day 4 in Barcelona
The jet lag is wearing off, and the fun is beginning. We took a tour bus up a hill to Montjuic today. Some believe the juic in the word stems from the ancient Catalan word for Jew. Makes sense, as there is an ancient Jewish cemetary up there.
We stopped at the Fundicion Joan Miro. The boys played in the sculpture garden then Nate and Grandma toured the art with sketch pads and colored pencils in hand. I am biased, but Nate is a talented artist. He was able to sketch one of Miro's sculptures quite accurately.
When the boys were done with culture, we hopped back on the bus and headed to the ports. We got off at the Aquarium, which was wonderful. The hands-on kids area was just what my boys love. The climbed on giant turtle sculptures, drove a submarine and slid down a water tube.
In fact, they loved the aquarium so much, Jacob had a MAJOR tantrum on the way out. Picture a sobbing, kicking, rolling on the ground tantrum, yelling, "I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE! LET'S GO BACK TO THE QWARUM!"
We ignored the tantrum and the stares from the horrified onlookers and found an all-you-can-eat buffet for dinner. It was on par with CiCi's pizza, but the Haagen Dazs after was wonderful as always. Though, in the US HD is $$$ enough, add in the lousy exchange rate from dollars to Euros and ice cream cost more than dinner.
On a sad note, our trusty Maclaren stroller strap broke rendering it nearly unpushable. Matt, our trusty handyman does not have proper tools to fix it. We may suck it up and buy a second stroller at Le Corte Ingles. Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that Nate whined so much about walking yesterday, we ran into the department store and spent 50 Euro on a umbrella stroller.
It was not in our budget, but we may have to go spend another 50 for another stroller if we cant fix this temporarily. zoiks.
Tomorrow the zoo.
Oh, also I am going to start a kinder egg tally at the bottom of each day. Today I will catch you up on previous Kinder egg toys:
Day 1: Nate- Oscar boy, Jacob- Ana girl
Day 2: Nate- flying helicopter, Jacob- race car
Day 3: Nate- another flying helicopter, Jacob- strange double log faces
Day 4: Nate- computer guy, Jacob- a rocket car
We stopped at the Fundicion Joan Miro. The boys played in the sculpture garden then Nate and Grandma toured the art with sketch pads and colored pencils in hand. I am biased, but Nate is a talented artist. He was able to sketch one of Miro's sculptures quite accurately.
When the boys were done with culture, we hopped back on the bus and headed to the ports. We got off at the Aquarium, which was wonderful. The hands-on kids area was just what my boys love. The climbed on giant turtle sculptures, drove a submarine and slid down a water tube.
In fact, they loved the aquarium so much, Jacob had a MAJOR tantrum on the way out. Picture a sobbing, kicking, rolling on the ground tantrum, yelling, "I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE! LET'S GO BACK TO THE QWARUM!"
We ignored the tantrum and the stares from the horrified onlookers and found an all-you-can-eat buffet for dinner. It was on par with CiCi's pizza, but the Haagen Dazs after was wonderful as always. Though, in the US HD is $$$ enough, add in the lousy exchange rate from dollars to Euros and ice cream cost more than dinner.
On a sad note, our trusty Maclaren stroller strap broke rendering it nearly unpushable. Matt, our trusty handyman does not have proper tools to fix it. We may suck it up and buy a second stroller at Le Corte Ingles. Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that Nate whined so much about walking yesterday, we ran into the department store and spent 50 Euro on a umbrella stroller.
It was not in our budget, but we may have to go spend another 50 for another stroller if we cant fix this temporarily. zoiks.
Tomorrow the zoo.
Oh, also I am going to start a kinder egg tally at the bottom of each day. Today I will catch you up on previous Kinder egg toys:
Day 1: Nate- Oscar boy, Jacob- Ana girl
Day 2: Nate- flying helicopter, Jacob- race car
Day 3: Nate- another flying helicopter, Jacob- strange double log faces
Day 4: Nate- computer guy, Jacob- a rocket car
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Hola from Barcelona!
I am posting today from Barcelona! On Monday, Matt, Nate, Jacob, my parents and I hopped on a plane (ok, 3 planes) and flew to Barcelona where we wil stay for 10 days. The boys were marvelous on the plane. It was a night flight, and they played for an hour or so then fell asleep for the rest of the flight.
Now that we are here, I am rethinking the whole trip. Jacob is not handling jet lag well. It is 11:30 pm now, and he is still up singing in bed after sleeping in the stroller through dinner.
Nate is not handling culture shock well. Today at the playground, he complained the swings here don't work as well as at home. He whined about the food choices. He whined about the lack of toys stores selling Go Diego Go products.
I am not handling the whining very well.
Once the jet lag wears off, I am sure we will have some fun, but right now the 10 days are stretching rather endlessly in front of me.
Keep checking back in for more updates and a travel log.
Adios and Lilah Tov! or "Boker Tov, Good Night!" as Jacob would say.
Now that we are here, I am rethinking the whole trip. Jacob is not handling jet lag well. It is 11:30 pm now, and he is still up singing in bed after sleeping in the stroller through dinner.
Nate is not handling culture shock well. Today at the playground, he complained the swings here don't work as well as at home. He whined about the food choices. He whined about the lack of toys stores selling Go Diego Go products.
I am not handling the whining very well.
Once the jet lag wears off, I am sure we will have some fun, but right now the 10 days are stretching rather endlessly in front of me.
Keep checking back in for more updates and a travel log.
Adios and Lilah Tov! or "Boker Tov, Good Night!" as Jacob would say.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Brows
I can't stop looking in the mirror; embarrassing but true. A few weeks ago, I was getting a bikini wax before my Costa Rica Trip. I confessed to the aesthetician I had never waxed, shaped, plucked or in anyway touched my eyebrows. Silence filled the room for a few seconds, then she roughly pushed my head back on the table and got busy with her tweezers.
Ten minutes and a few tears later, she announced, "There! Happy Anniversary," and shoved a mirror in my face. Now I had never had gorilla brows or tweezers would have met my face a while ago. So, I was underwhelmed by the difference she had made. I thanked her and went on my merry way.
A few days ago, I noticed a stray eyebrow hair. Then another, and another. I booked it to Elizabeth Arden where I shoved my head back on the table and endured some more reshaping. Now I am addicted. The subtle arch and thinning of my brows makes such a difference in the feminity of my face. So I keep passing mirrors and peeking at my brows. You can be sure that plucking/shaping will now be an integral part of my beauty routine.
Ten minutes and a few tears later, she announced, "There! Happy Anniversary," and shoved a mirror in my face. Now I had never had gorilla brows or tweezers would have met my face a while ago. So, I was underwhelmed by the difference she had made. I thanked her and went on my merry way.
A few days ago, I noticed a stray eyebrow hair. Then another, and another. I booked it to Elizabeth Arden where I shoved my head back on the table and endured some more reshaping. Now I am addicted. The subtle arch and thinning of my brows makes such a difference in the feminity of my face. So I keep passing mirrors and peeking at my brows. You can be sure that plucking/shaping will now be an integral part of my beauty routine.
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