Another School Year Comes to an End

Last Friday, another school year came to an end - we now officially have a 1st and 4th grader in our house.  For both kids, I think this was a banner year - but then I feel like I say that every year.  They worked hard and it paid off.  I feel like they are both really coming into their own.  They built relationships; met new kids and said goodbye to friends, both new and old.  They are happy to see that summer is here with long days, no homework (ha, wait til they see the bridge books I bought!) and lots of time to play. And the best part - going home in August to visit our family and friends there.

Waiting for their final bus ride of the school year...

The downside of summer?  It's an exodus of people the moment school ends - the boys will have very few friends around in Barcelona this summer.  And so they are signed up for camp for the month of July.  Hopefully they will make some new friends while there as well.  Liam is doing the same art camp he did last year for all 4 weeks and Aidan will do 3 weeks of art camp but also a week of skateboarding camp which I think is very cool.  

But not only do their friends leave in the summer, but several are also moving as in previous years.  That is the tough part about going to international school - there is a lot of turnover.  The great thing is that we now have friends in different parts of the world with whom we hopefully will visit, starting this year in NYC.  Yes, I know it's not all that far from home, but the kids have never been and they both have friends that live there that they went to BFIS with and are looking forward to seeing this summer.  

Liam and his best bud Logan saying goodbye for the summer - til September!

To celebrate the end of the school year, I offered to take the kids for an ice cream lunch and then to see Monsters University.  We ended up bringing one of Aidan's friends and then meeting up with another of his friends, his mom and brother.  Lunch was at our favorite crepe and ice cream place - Creperie Bretonne in Vila Olimpica.  The kids all played at a playground before the movie and then again after.  Understandably exhausted, the kids were in bed shortly after we arrived back home on Friday night.  But it was a great end to the school year.  I can't wait to see what the next year brings!!

Aidan and his best friend,  Max, as they walk to the metro for our ice cream lunch

Liam after his ice cream lunch - somehow Aidan ended up with a salad (I don't think he's really my kid).  All smiles!!!

Beyond our trip home to the US in August and camp, we will have Michelle visiting this summer as well as my college friend, Lori.  And the final week of August, we'll be heading as a family to explore Croatia - a trip we are really excited about!!  Before we know it, a new school year will be upon us - time flies when you are having fun!

Besos,
Julie

Feliz Cumpleaños a Mí!!

I was really lucky to have my birthday during the time that my two best friends were here - it was their last night here and it seemed like a great opportunity to celebrate my day as well as the end to a fantastic, fun filled week.  We had been going non stop all week long and there was no rest for the weary because we were about to do it up Barcelona style (meaning no one was going to bed before midnight by any stretch).

It's was like having a whole birthday week with them here - the timing was just perfect.  When Josh asked what I wanted for my birthday, my answer was "an American style bbq with my friends".  And other than having to do the shopping myself (since he was out of town til that afternoon), that's what I got (oh and a new mini ipad!).

Caryn, Urs and I hit Sagrada Familia in the morning and then headed over to our new favorite Argentinian butcher shop for some steaks and botifarra (like a sausage).  Then we spent the rest of the morning picking up necessities for our barbeque.

Josh was in his element manning the grill.  Chicken, pork and steaks along with veggies, salad, desserts.  The table was an endless feast!  And in the end, a birthday cake (yet again with my age on it, when will everyone learn that I don't want my age on the cake??) that Chris brought with her (thank you!) from a fantastic bakery near her.  Yum!!

It was a perfect end to a perfect week.  I couldn't have asked for more!  Thanks to all who came by to celebrate!  I have very few pics - only the ones Frank took on Josh's phone when I blew out my candles (if anyone has pics, please feel free to send!).

Ummm, what's this???

Stop putting numbers on my cakes!

Besos,
Julie

Managing the Unexpected

Anyone who has ever lived abroad will agree that there is always something challenging, some times on a daily basis.  It's not to say that things at home aren't challenging too, just differently so.   The unexpected can come in all different forms - medical emergencies, stolen wallets, towed cars... and car accidents.  Take my car accident in France 2 weeks ago.  It wasn't just the accident that had me freaked, it was that here I am in France, I don't speak French and I have no idea what the process is for European insurance.  

So how do you handle unexpected moments like this?  Well, you cross your fingers and hope for the best.  And what's the worst that's going to happen?  Ok, I can think of plenty.  Though I have to say, I'm glad that this happened with my friends and not with Josh and the kids.  Something about having the kids there would have stressed me out even more than the situation itself.  But with technology today, I'm sure we could have figured something out via google translate.  

However, thankfully Ursula speaks French and was able to communicate with the bus driver, some passengers on the bus and a police officer that randomly was walking by (he also said that unless there was an injury, they don't get involved unless in the US.).  And insurance is done slightly differently than at home.  Aside from the police not getting involved, it turns out that in my insurance package was a form for accidents (my new question is, will they send me a new one now that I've used that one??).  The driver very kind (and yes, it was his fault but he was still very nice) and explained to us how to fill out the form.  It wasn't very difficult but still took about 45 mins.  And I still wasn't sure what to do after that.  Do I call VW who I lease the car from since insurance is included as a part of my monthly payment?  Or do I call insurance directly?  What if I did the steps out of order?  Would we end up owing a fortune if I did it wrong even though I wasn't at fault????

In the end, I decided to email my contact at VW.  I certainly couldn't call her and explain what happened.  Actually I probably could have to an extent but I couldn't necessarily explain every detail and thanks to my friend google translate, I could explain everything, including the fact that no police were contacted nor was insurance called.  But of course, Maribel still called me the next morning.  Thankfully I could explain well enough what happened and understood that she wanted me to come to the dealership the next morning with the insurance papers and without the car (hmmmm....).  She said we would call insurance together.  I'm sure this is probably not the normal process, but I really appreciated her kindness in helping me out.  

My friend, Eddy, came with me to dealership.   My contact called the insurance company (I believe), asking me a few questions along the way.  The paperwork was pretty illegible as it was a carbon and the back side was also used for writing up my version of the report.  But that's the way the papers are made and so that's what I had to work with.

She then asked me about setting up an appointment for repair and did I have a specific place I wanted it repaired?  Um... like where?  And I lease the car from them so why wouldn't I just do it thru VW and make sure it's done right?  So she set up the appointment for the next morning for me.  

Now because I went to the dealership in the center of the city, I had to go to their dealership/repair shop on the outskirts for my repairs.  And by outskirts I mean, practically on the runway of the airport.  I walked into the repair area and approached the front desk.  She asked for my license plate number (I have no clue) and so thankfully it was on the accident report.  She asked for my name.  And nope, no appointment.  Ahhhh Spain.... of course there was no appointment - I was only there when Maribel made the call to make the appointment!

However, I mentioned Maribel's name and that she made the appointment for me and they took me anyways.  They had me drive into the repair shop and park the car inside so that the appropriate person could look at it.  She told me to have a seat and wait.  I wasn't sure what I was waiting for and fear set in that perhaps they were going to do the repairs right then and there.  Or maybe they were waiting to give me an estimate of how much I was going to be out of pocket???  This wouldn't have been an issue had Caryn and Urs not been waiting at home for me so we could do more touristy stuff.  But I was slightly panicked.

Finally someone called my name and the man explained to me (again, I think) that he was there to look over what the problems were with the car and then insurance would be contacted and they may want to look at it before repairs are started.  Again, I can't be 100% sure on this.  I do want to make a side note here as on his binder pad of paper, the top sheet which was my information had the words SIN CITA (without appointment) in HUGE letters.  Seriously???  People, I had an appointment!!!

I showed him where the damage was and how it was caused.  Never once did he ask for the accident report.  He just wrote everything up and sent me on my way with his business card.  Josh had suggested to me that I see if I could arrange a temp car but to be honest, my brain was fried from just getting thru the process of dropping off the car and giving them all the information regarding the accident, etc.  There was no way I was going to be able to ask for a rental car too!  I just didn't have the mental capacity at that moment.  It wasn't that it was so difficult, just mentally overwhelming.

Fast forward 4 days and I finally emailed him to find out when I might expect some news on when the car would be repaired?  I never got an estimate so my hope was that it was costing me nothing (which is as it should be, but again, who knows - different country, different insurance policies).  He emailed me back and said that the car would be ready Friday, just over a week from when I dropped it off.  Not too bad as I was thinking I may never see the car again with my luck.

I went in this past Friday to pick up the car and it was waiting for me in the entrance to the repair area.  At first glance it looked great, and maybe even clean??  Nope, upon closer look it wasn't any cleaner than I left it.  That was slightly disappointing as any car I've ever brought to a dealership for repairs always would get cleaned before I picked it up.  I also noticed later on that there were still some scratches near the undercarriage.  Apparently they only fixed what was absolutely necessary to get it back on the road rather than fix every single little scratch.  Also a difference from the US?  Or could it have been an oversight???  Not sure.

But regardless, I got my little car back.  I had to wait about 30 minutes for the papers to release her and my heart was in my throat wondering if they were going to charge me or not.  But they didn't.... whew!!!

However, never one to miss out on an adventure... I had the car less than 3 minutes when I took a wrong turn thanks to my GPS and ended up in the guarded port area.  I spoke to the guard and asked if I could turn around.  He told me to pull forward and do a U-turn.  As I was mid U-turn a police car happened by and stopped me.  Since I was spitting distance from the guard, I was able to point him out and tell the police officer that that guy told me to do the U-turn.  Not good enough.  They turned their car to stop traffic and made me do it the correct way.  Slightly mortified, I was just glad they didn't give me a ticket.  And along my merry way I went... once again managing the unexpected but at least I had my car back!!

Besos,
Julie

The Curse of Collioure

Collioure, France is one of my favorite "go to" places when we have company.  With France only about a 2 hour drive, it's kind of like going to New Hampshire or Maine for us but at the same time... it's France.  Really, can you beat that?

And so for the last 2 years (once we discovered it), it has been on the list of must see places when we have company for more than a few days.  We've taken Josh's sister and brother-in-law (http://megustatuzapatos.blogspot.com.es/2011/04/road-trip-to-collioure-france.html), our friends Kyle and Kelly (http://megustatuzapatos.blogspot.com.es/2011/05/more-visitors-kyle-and-kelly-come-to.html) and my cousin Meghan (http://megustatuzapatos.blogspot.com.es/2012/03/meghan-visits-barcelona.html) so far with plans for this year to take Michelle, Meghan (in a second attempt), my parents and my aunt and uncle - all who are planning to visit Barcelona this year.

Too bad they aren't going to get to see it... why?  Because I've decided Collioure is cursed.  This is only my second visit to Collioure in the last year and like the past trip, it was a bit of a distaster.  The good thing is both disasters were met with lots of laughs and ahhh, France kind of moments.  So thankfully they weren't as bad as they could have been.

So how is Collioure cursed?  Well, it's probably not, but given my track record at the moment, I'm not sure that I want to tempt fate.  I'm sure there are plenty of other cute seaside towns, right??

My trip with Meghan was set up for disaster from the get go.  It was POURING rain out.  Like nothing I'd seen before in Barcelona.  Torrents of rain flooding the roads.  But it was our last opportunity to go to France before she left and I wasn't going to have her come all the way here without at least getting to France too!  So off we went in our rental car and we couldn't find our way out of Barcelona.

At the time, I wasn't driving in Barcelona regularly and so had to completely rely on my GPS which never took me the same way twice.  The first attempt I felt was taking us in the completely wrong direction ... south.  So I turned around and it didn't like that.  3 1/2 nerve wracking hours later (it's normally about a 2 hr 15 min drive), we made it to Collioure.

Too bad Collioure was "closed".  Now I recognize what it means to be a tourist town.  It means that often restaurants and shops are seasonal.  However, never have I been to a tourist town where EVERYTHING shuts down for the season.  This did not appear to be just a siesta deal as you could tell many of the shops had not been open for some time.  And for lunch... well we went to the one place that was open.  A pizza shop.  So much for our fancy French lunch.

After lunch we attempted to walk around and see if anything was open... anything.  Nada, zip, zilch.  And the roads were completely flooded to the point where it was a small river coming down any streets at an incline (which many of them were).  And we were soaked to the bone.  Total time spent in Collioure, 1 hour.  Total time driving?  SEVEN HOURS.

Streets of Collioure flooded with rain

It's actually flowing down this staircase like a river

Still beautiful even in the rain

That is a sidewalk that looks like a lake...

But I thought after Meghan's visit that it was just one time of pure misfortune and had every intention to bring her back when she comes to visit this September.  Sorry Meg!! Because incident number 2 happened while Caryn and Ursula were visiting and as we all know, these things happen in threes!  And I'm trying to avoid number three!!

After driving 2 hours from Arles, France with Caryn and Ursula about 2 weeks ago, our plan was to stop in Collioure on our way home.  Given it's quaintness and charm, it was a village I really wanted them to see.  Ursula had lived in France years ago and it was an area she had never been to and this was Caryn's first trip to the area as well.  

All was well until we attempted to look for a parking space.  We pulled into a U-shaped parking lot that already looked full but was also an opportunity for us to turn around.  To our right was a tourist bus with it's hazzards blinking, located in a striped lane which is not meant for driving.  We were on the left which was the only actual driving lane and even had an arrow on it to prove that!  

So our plan was to turn left to look for additional parking.  We were about mid way down the bus when all of a sudden the bus decided he, too, was taking a left.  I was stopped now and just watched in stunned silence as the bus slowly started to crush against my car, the driver oblivious to my existence next to him.  Finally the realization of what was happening set in and I beeped my horn.  

I was afraid to get out of the car for fear of what I would face given how horrific the sound was.  However, I was "pleasantly" surprised that the damage wasn't as bad as I had feared.  It could have been much worse.  And we were safe.  But the door to my passenger side would no longer open and I wasn't sure if there was any tire damage.  

The damage to my car - it doesn't look bad but the location of the dent meant the passenger door would not open  

My car was in the lane with the arrow - the bus in the one with the diagonal stripes.  I was turning left...he decided to turn left.  Which one is wrong??

In the end, everything worked out (yet another entry with the details) but now concerned with their being a curse on my beloved Collioure.  I may send Josh on his own just to give it a "test run" before attempting to go back again!

Besos

Julie

College Reunion, Barcelona Style

About a year ago, one of my best friends from college, Ursula, and I had started talking about her doing a trip out here to visit us with her family.  The plan was for them to go to France for a week to visit her host family and then a week here. We talked about it... a lot.  We researched flights.  But it was hard to pull the trigger and figure out what made more sense - fly into Barcelona and then take a local carrier to France or vice versa?  And we had to pin down the dates.  Before you know it, it was only a few months before the planned trip and the prices had gone up significantly.  The hopes for a visit seemed to be going down the drain.

But all hope was not lost.  We started talking about perhaps instead of a 2 week trip with the entire family, what if she came out to visit 2 weeks before our original dates (while the kids were still in school thereby making childcare a bit easier) by herself for just one week instead of two?  And then we threw in, do you think our other BFF from college, Caryn, would be in as well??  Josh was going to be away most of that week so other than when my kids would be out of school it would truly be a girls week.  And to top it off, my birthday was at the end of the week, what a celebration!!

Caryn was in!  Suddenly a hope was becoming a reality!  My two best friends from college would be here for the first week of June!  We all live in different states at home so even when we are all stateside, we don't get to see each other all that much.  Josh was a little bummed because he is actually good friends with them too so he would only get about a day or two with them out of the entire week.  But I was excited to know that two of the people that I love so much were coming here to visit!!

I think we emailed more in these two months than we have in the last 2 years.  While the best of friendships stand the tests of time, it's always nice to know you can pick right up where you left off.  Life gets in the way - kids, work, life... it's not always possible to talk as often as we would like.  We talked about all the things we would do while they were here, including a quick trip to France!

Finally the day came when we had to pick up Caryn and Urs at the airport.  Liam helped me with a poster to welcome them to Barcelona and kudos to Liam for doing all that coloring!  And in the lines too!!  I was so focused on what Liam was doing that I didn't even notice Caryn and Urs til they were right in front of me.  But it was emotional and a bit surreal (are they really really here???) regardless!

Liam is ready to welcome Caryn and Urs with his poster!

From that moment on, we were at warp speed.  We got home, dropped off the bags, handed over Liam to Josh for tennis lessons and immediately hit the ground running.  Grocery shopping, a quick lunch and then up to Parc Guell - tourists abound but it is a must see and it was a gorgeous day, with spring (yes spring, not summer!) finally arriving with them.  It was nice for Josh to have some time catching up with our friends since the next day we were leaving him and the kids and heading up to Provence, France.

Aidan was determined to drink from this fountain... the mom in me shivers in disgust (though I'm sure it was fine)

For the boy who didn't want to go, he seems pretty happy here

Seriously goofy

MUST.CLIMB.EVERYTHING

EVERYTHING

Did I mention must climb EVERYTHING?

Caryn, Urs, me, Aidan and Liam

In the 4 hour drive on Sunday up to Arles, France, there was never a moment of silence in the car (except for Caryn, who like Josh, can sleep anywhere ;)).  Living in different states (and now countries), having families and careers, we just don't get this kind of time together and we seized every single moment.  I don't think during the entire week that there was a lull in the conversation - we had so much to catch up on... years worth of stuff!  But like I said before, it felt like we just picked up where we left off which was such a good feeling.

Arles, France was beautiful as was our hotel where I had been to before with Michelle.  It's such a pretty little town to explore with it's own Roman arena and amphitheater.  Unfortunately, in France, many restaurants are closed on Sundays (while everything is closed in BCN, for the most part restaurants are always open) and we were hard pressed to find dinner and ended up in a slightly touristy place, but the wine was flowing as was the conversation and so the meal was secondary to the rest.

Roman colosseum in Arles, France

I love the doors and windows in this town

Beautiful pedestrian street

View from by the church on top of the hill

Cool dial that actually showed what we were viewing in front of us and how far away it was

That is actually the sun in the lamp - just managed to get the shot at just the right moment

Eglise St. Trophime

Van Gogh gardens

Our hotel

With only one night in Arles, we got up the next morning and just enjoyed a relaxing few hours chatting before heading out to Collioure, a beautiful French village about 20 minutes from the Spanish border.  This is one of my favorite places to go.  It's a seaside town with picturesque views of the Mediterranean, a windmill, a castle and great little French restaurants.  Unfortunately I will never be able to go back there as I've decided it's cursed.  Yes, watch for the blog entry on the Curse of Collioure, it's coming soon.  After an "adventurous" day in Collioure, we headed back to Barcelona, albeit a little worse for the wear but still all smiles.

One of my favorite views in Collioure

Part of the "curse of Collioure"

Another favorite view, these colorful sailboats always in the harbor

The week was already off to a great start and we just kept going.  There is no rest for the weary.  There wasn't a single night where we were in bed before 1AM and with Josh away, I was up at 6:15 with the kids Tuesday - Friday and then again at 7 the morning Caryn and Urs had to leave.  It was a rapid fire pace and yet, I wasn't exhausted by it until after they left (when Josh, the kids and I actually took a family nap we were all so tired!).  We just all ran on adrenaline and the excitement of getting to spend this amazing quality time with each other that we hadn't had in YEARS.  I do wish we'd had a day or two that we could have just chilled and done nothing but then we wouldn't have gotten to see all the sights and why fly all this way if we aren't going to see the sights of Barcelona?

So we set Tuesday and Thursday aside for "in town" touristy stuff and Wednesday we headed down to Sitges for a little fun in the sun (and the bikini Challenge) to go along with our touring around town.  We did so much walking that I actually felt no guilt (for the first time in a long time) about not making it to the gym.  I think Caryn said we walked over 75,000 steps in the course of just a few days (according to her Nike fuelband).  We hit all the big sites on our BCN days - La Pedrera, walking along Passeig de Gracia and Las Ramblas, Placa Catalunya, Casa Batllo, walking along Barceloneta to Villa Olimpica and then back thru Ciutadella Park, thru the Arc de Triumpf and back home.  And then a tour thru the Raval, Gothic and El Born along with a trip up to Montjuic (thanks to my friends Eddy and Ricardo for taking on that part while I waited for my next babysitter to relieve me and thanks for some of the pictures for this entry!).  We finished with a tour of Sagrada Familia (which is also Liam's new favorite topic as he just started to learn about Antoni Gaudi at school).

Dinner at La Muscleria - yummy mussels and great company, a perfect combination!

Julie, Caryn and Ursula in the Gothic area

And in the Raval

Ricardo, Caryn and Urs on Montjuic

Urs at the Cathedral and the group of us at a great organic restaurant in the Raval

Caryn and Ursula on Montjuic

Eddy, Caryn and Urs on Montjuic

Besties :)

Speaking of my friends, I'm so glad that Caryn and Urs got to meet some of mine here.  I've met such lovely people here that I wanted to share them with some of my oldest friends.  Eddy and Ricardo met up with us a few times for dinner and tourism (and they are the best tour guides!).  And then on Friday, my birthday, we had a big bbq and send off for Caryn and Urs so they got to meet a bunch of people at once.  Always social, I had no worries about them fitting in with the "new" crowd.

Friday night was a late night (3AM) but it was a perfect end to a perfect week.  Josh manned the bbq and we had meats, veggies and desserts galore.  It was a feast fit for royalty!  And it meant so much to me to have my friends with me on that big day.  But sadly it also meant our vacation was coming to an end.  Saturday morning I saw them off to the airport with big hugs and promises to see them when we are home in August.

You'll have to wait for my birthday blog entry for the rest of my birthday pictures

I feel like friendships have been renewed and revitalized.  We've caught up but could still use another week (or two) to truly feel caught up in each others' lives.  I feel so fortunate that they were not only able to work out logistically a way to get here, leaving their families behind, but that they wanted to come visit and found a way to do it.  We've had so few visitors in the last 3 1/2 years and each one who  comes, I hope you know how much it means to us to have you here.

Last but certainly not least, Aidan and Liam bonded with my friends.  Now with Liam, this is no major surprise, but for Aidan to put himself out to others so quickly is not normal.  And I think it speaks worlds of the women I have chosen for my closest friends.  They have only met the boys a handful of times in the last few years and so the boys really had no recollection of them beyond a day here or there.  And for them to be giving kisses and hugs at the end of the trip and telling them how much they would be missed, well, that's a big deal to me.

And so it was with tears in my eyes that I had to say hasta luego to Caryn and Urs when they headed out last Saturday (yes, I know I'm a bit late with this entry).  But I'm so thankful for their visit which not only rekindled our friendships, but rekindled my energy here and that was much needed.  Thank you both for being such a huge part of my life and for coming out to see us!!

Besos,
Julie