Eve in Spain !!!!

Some Spain pics and the scoop below.

Eve and colleague Eduard in Barcelona - the city view behind us

Colleague Eduard showing off his home city
Eve with bike from Barcelona bike tour
Tapas - little works of art!
Original Roman columns in a hidden courtyard.

Famous Gaudi building - dragon (St George) theme

July 10: Mommy trip to Spain! Luka and Axel are having fun taking care of Reynald´s aunt´s campground with their grandparents and sleeping in the "camping car", Daddy is back to work at home, and Mommy is in Barcelona (yee ha!).

My colleague, Eduard, has been giving me the personal tour of the city. It is great to have a personal guide who is a native of the city!

Today, we are working which is very interesting too (if you like all that technical stuff like we do :)

July 11: Spa visit today, took tram up to see great panamoric view of Barcelona, some exploring the city, and real Spanish tapas for dinner at a hip restaurant. Fun, fun!

Tips for eating tapas in a real Barcelonan tapas bar (courtesy of Eduard educating Eve at one of the currently most popular tapas restaurants in town): everyone stands, like at a reception. Take a clean plate from the bar--you can share the plate with others in your party. Select tapas that look interesting to you from the many plates of gorgeously presented little masterpieces.

Push your way in among the many people at the bar if needed, or ask the bar man to pass you a specific plate of tapas you cannot reach. Here in Barcelona, there were many fish tapas, but also crab, chicken, cheese, vegetable, olives--lots of different choices. Eat as many as you want. Keep all the toothpicks from each tapas you ate. When you are ready to pay, the server will count all the toothpicks you have and charge you accordingly. Have fun!

July 12: A great guided Bike Tour of Barcelona for half the day; tapas again for lunch ;) with some friends made on the bike tour at a good place recommended by the guide (I saw dessert tapas here as well: small, satisfying morsels of sweetness to finish off the meal.); visit to the Cathedral of Barcelona with a visit of the roof top as well; relaxing pedicab drive to Gaudi's church. First purchase for the condo back home - for the boys' room. A lovely dinner at Cafe Princesa. The food and service at this restaurant were excellent. If you are in Barcelona and want fine dining, check it out: http://www.cafeprincesa.com/.

July 13: post cards to write and then it's leaving, on a jet plane and back to France.

Language fun: All public signs and things like newspapers are bilingual in Spanish and Catalan. It is fun to read the signs and try to figure out what you can from both Spanish and Catalan, and note the differences (even if you speak neither).

I was not able to learn any Catalan words (but Gracias - spelling? which differs from Spanish in pronunciation and probably the spelling as well), though my friend was very helpful and is, himself, bilingual in both languages, I got by with a few key Spanish phrases since my Spanish is basically non-existent. Resulting in....

Eve's list of essential Spanish phrases:

Tapas - Tapas
Cidra (spelling?) - hard cider in bars
Servicios/lavabos - facilities/restroom

Sangria - well, you know that one. ;)

Yes - Si
No - No

Thank you - Gracias

Hello - Hola (when entering stores)

Goodbye - Adios (when leaving stores)

Good morning/good day - Buenos dias

Good afternoon - Buenas tardes

Good evening/night - Buenas noches

See you soon - Hasta luego

I don’t speak Spanish - No hablo Español

(Knowing the numbers 1 - 10 and mutiples of 10 is also helpful.)

This list got me far, as many people speak English and are very friendly. Even when there is no common language, it is fun to communicate and be successful at getting the point across, even if it is with gestures. Or, even if someone speaks English, it is polite to say "thank you" or "goodbye" in the local langauge. Web sites and guide books will give you a more complete list of "essential" phrases, but this is what worked for me.

Little known fact about Barcelona:

Eduard told me that he saw in the city's laws that it is not illegal to walk the streets naked. So, if you decide to do so in Barcelona, you may make a splash and have people pointing and laughing at you, but you will not be arrested! Something to add to your "must do" list?