hola @ my peeps

 

By Dan

 

We’re back in Paris.  Barcelona was great.  Danielle is going to write a blog post about the trip later.  I just uploaded a bunch of pictures to our web site.

 

Christmas Eve at Park Guell in Barcelona. Self Portrait.

hola

By Dan

A very quick post rom Barcelona.  We arrived a couple days ago and we´re really enjoying ourselves here.  We´ve got no phone, no wifi, and didn´t bring a laptop.  But there´s a cybercafe next to our apartment and I just ducked in here to check email.

The kids were good on the flight here, the apartment is very nice and is in a great location, the city is clean and pretty, and the weather is sunny and warm.  In short, a great change from Paris for a week. 

We´ve been riding an open-top double decker tourist bus all over town, listening to an English recording about all the sites and architecture as we pass things, while Rachel looks around enjoying the wind in her face and Joseph plays with the headphones and listens to the guides in other languages.

Yesterday we went down to the water and some of the livelier neighborhoods near the harbor.  Today was Park Guell, north of the city and up on a hill with great views. 

These Spanish keyboards are a pain, ñothing is in the same plaçe¡ and i have to re-write almost every word.  Happy holidays to all -  more blogging to follow when we´re back in Paris.

i know it is called football here and not soccer

By Dan

I had another really rough week of class last week, and this week I am back to normal.

Danielle read an article in Gourmet Magazine about our neighborhood here in Paris – how hip it is and all the great restaurants to be found.  So we are starting to work our way through the list.  Last week we went to a little French place, it seemed like more of a wine bar and appetizers place than a full restaurant.  We had some very nice wine and cheese, and some prawns and duck confit that were delicious – and I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when we got home.  Earlier this week we went to a Chinese/Thai restaurant that was also recommended in the magazine.  It was good but not great.  In addition to an excellent lemongrass soup, I had frogs legs with a garlic sauce that was surprisingly good.

Rachel

The babysitter we had been using for the past couple months moved back to the U.S., and we are just starting relationships with a couple new ones that seem to be working out - allowing us to get out once in a while for this dinners in the neighborhood.

The weather has gotten pretty bitter.  We had our first real snow yesterday, though it didn’t stick.  I took the opportunity to read Snowy Day to Joseph, one of my favorites from his collection.  We have read it many times but I am not sure he really got it before.  I think it made a little more sense to him this time.

A couple nights ago I went to a soccer game with some friends.  It was at a big outdoor stadium at the edge of the city, and the game started at 9pm.  It was really cold out.  I was very bundled up with wool and fleece under my parka and I felt fine.  I felt a little silly heading out so layered up, especially since I was meeting my friends at a restaurant before the game.  But one guy showed up and took his jacket off and counted eight t-shirts underneath his jacket, because he hadn’t come to France with sweaters.  He was sweating during dinner.

The soccer game was great.  I have been to many pro football, baseball, and basketball games in the U.S., and I have been to the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, but I have never seen anything like the fanaticism at a European soccer game.  The yelling and chanting was non-stop.  I had no idea what I was getting into, but had been assured that this was going to be an intense game between the local Paris team and  big rival. 

Home alone juggling both kids while on a Skype call with my sister.

The home team won 3 to 1 and we had front row seats and really enjoyed it.

Not much else to report.  Rachel just turned seven months and her first two teeth are coming in on the bottom.  We just booked a trip to Barcelona, our first real trip out of Paris since being here.  We are going for the week of Christmas, and will spend New Years back here.