Falling Into Place

It's all coming together.  And admittedly, it's going a lot smoother than when we came to Barcelona.We were newbies then.  We had no idea what to do to "make things happen".  But now, now we're pros. This is just par for the course.  New bank account.  Check.  Social security appointment.  Check. House hunting lined up.  Check.  And the list goes on and on.  We've got lots going on but Josh and I, after 20 years, have become a well oiled machine.  We know each other's strengths and weaknesses and we play the game accordingly.  The pieces are all falling into place, some neater than others, but progress is most definitely being seen.

We had our pre-walkthru with our landlord the other day.  A pre walk thru you say?  Why yes. Because here in the land of Spain, things are not done the way we do things in the US.  And after being burned once and screwed out of lots of money, we've learned our lesson and are being pre-emptive this time around.

We are working on returning the car.  It's been a process and a half.  And while having a car was worth the headache, it's definitely been a pain in the ass trying to return it.  They definitely don't make it easy (or cheap) to cancel a lease.

We are winding up details here in Barcelona.  Things like canceling gym memberships, final playdates, lunches and dinners with friends, arranging for repairs to be made on the apartment (because there is no such thing as general wear and tear - it must be returned in exactly the same condition if not better) and so much more.

We have our house hunting trip to Amsterdam set up for next week.  Things are looking good as we've narrowed down the area we will live in, are working with a realtor and have about a half dozen places to look at to start.  The hope is that we will find a home we fall in love with and that we'll stay in for the indefinite future.

In the meantime we are also working abroad to get things together for the US portion of our move. And while things can never go as simply or smoothly as we would hope, it's all coming together on that end too.  Albeit, it's all costly though.  There are days when I wonder why we keep our house in the States since it's become a significant money pit and we aren't seeing any return on our investment, though Josh says it's not about our immediate return but our future one.  I get it but at the same time we are throwing a lot of money at a house we may never live in again.  But we just keep moving on and add it to the list of things to take care of or pay for in order to take care of and move on to the next item.

But there are still repairs that need to be coordinated for the immediate future (before I get home), during my time at home and then after our current tenants move out in September and our new, not yet found tenants, move in.  Things like painting the interior of the house - much needed updating there. Replacing carpets.  Repairing our falling down fence and power washing and staining our deck. In the longer term we need to replace old appliances though that also seems to be coming more into the immediate future.  Oh and let's not forget that our furnace died in April and had to be replaced.  And now, let's add termites to the list.  Ah and we don't yet have new tenants for the fall, so need to start looking into that in the next month or two as well.

Our POD (storage unit) was delivered to my parents yesterday.  When I get home next month, my parents and I will unload it, go thru it and determine what gets sold, donated or will get moved overseas to Amsterdam.  We'll also have to go thru my house in Attleboro and do the same (though on that end, I think it will take much less time since 80% of our stuff is in the storage unit) because the movers will be coming at the end of July.  Yes, that's one other thing we've been working on behind the scenes is bidding for and arranging for movers for the US portion of the move.

So now we have the majority of the details (ie, have movers selected) for the Barcelona and US parts of the move.  We know that we will return the car around the 20th of the month (also the last day of school), the movers will come on the 26/27th, cleaners on the 28th, final inspection and bank appointment (there is a special bank account set up with our 4 months of deposit that the landlord has to sign papers to release) on the 30th and we fly out on the 1st to our cruise of the Baltics.

Oh yeah, the cruise.  We've also been putting together the final details for that.  Though I'll be honest, I don't have the strength in me to put much effort in there.  We'll do an excursion in Russia because it's the only way for us to get a visa to enter the country.  But beyond that, I think we are just going to wing it on our own.  We've been doing that for 4 1/2 years on all our travel, why should the cruise be any different.  But there are still lots of details that go with a cruise that I'm not familiar with (having only done one before in my life) - special luggage tags, arranging transportation (apparently this cruise is like the only one that the boat is a good 2 hours from the airport) to the ship, picking dinner times, doing the online checkin and lots of other useless, miscellaneous stuff.  I think this is why we don't cruise.  But it's going to be fun and it will be our last hurrah for leaving Barcelona and a hello to our new beginnings in Northern Europe.  It will give us a taste of the travel we will hopefully do from Amsterdam now that we will be that much closer to those locations.

From the cruise, the kids and I head straight back to the US.  Literally, that same day.  Josh will head back to Amsterdam, though honestly I don't know if he has a flight booked yet.  Let's add that one more detail to the very long list of things to confirm.  We're working on our calendar for our trip home. Because of the issues with the school year starting sooner, we had to cut our trip short by a few days but we're still doing our best to see everyone.  I'm not going crazy this year like in previous years, quite honestly, it takes the pleasure out of coming home when I'm totally out straight and I've got enough on my plate right now.  So if people want to see me, they'll have to ask.  Sounds kind of snobby and selfish, but I just don't have the physical or mental capacity right now to go crazy with my schedule right now.  Hopefully I'll see everyone on my list but those I miss, I apologize now and please, come visit us in Amsterdam :)

While we are home, the kids will spend 3 weeks in summer camp in Maine.  That's the 3 weeks when aside from working (because let's not forget that I still work full time too so doing this balancing act of kids, husband living in another country 5 days a week, moving, etc while still working), I'll be sorting thru the storage unit, selling off old stuff, visiting with friends and family and just trying to keep my shit together.  During the 2 weeks the kids aren't in camp, we'll make not one but 2 trips to NYC, visit with family in different parts of the state and visit with their friends from home.  Plus get their stuff ready for camp (as much of it was shipped ahead from the camp supplier, but still need to go shopping for some of the supplies they will need, iron on labels on to all their clothes they are taking and pack it all up to be shipped out to camp within 5 days of arriving in the US).

In the meantime, once Josh hits the ground in Amsterdam in mid July, the movers from Spain should be there. Actually our stuff will go into storage for a few weeks in between the cruise and the move.  So he will arrange for the movers to get to Amsterdam and unload the Spain portion of our goods.  He'll get settled and find his way around the area of our new home so that when the kids and I land on August 17, he'll be able to show us pretty much everything we need to know and to take care of our immediate needs as the kids start school the following day.  No, no rest for the weary.

There are a ridiculous amount of pieces to this puzzle that need to fit together just right to make all these things happen, but we are close.  And they are falling into place.  This is where I excel, where I shine. All these months of waiting and anticipation of what's to come next now can be implemented.  It's not easy, nor is it necessarily fun, but we need to remember that often times we need to rise to the occasion in order to make things come to fruition.  If we don't do it, who will?

We still have a long road ahead of us and not a lot of time to make it all happen.  But like I said, after months of waiting, things are moving at warp speed.  The next few months are going to be crazy, chaotic but also another amazing part of this adventure into a life less ordinary.  We're getting excited about this next adventure and are looking forward to closing out this amazing chapter and starting the next one!

Besos,
Julie

Race Against Time

In just about 6 short weeks we will be leaving Barcelona forever.  Ok, maybe not forever, but for the immediate future.  Knowing a move was likely imminent, I've been preparing for this day for months but haven't been able to actually pull the trigger on anything up until now.  Because we didn't know for sure if we were moving to Amsterdam or back home, I didn't know which "to do" list I needed to set into motion and yes, they were two very different lists.

If we were going back home, I needed to sell EVERYTHING.  There is no need for any electronics or IKEA furniture to back to the US with us.  I didn't have to worry about schools but I did have to worry about housing since our house is currently rented.  We needed to get another car as well.

If we were moving to Amsterdam, then we would bring everything but in addition we had to figure out schools, find a place to live, get a new car and so much more.  But I wouldn't need to sell as much at least!

No matter where we landed we knew that we needed to give our 3 months notice to our landlord, make apartment repairs, arrange to return the car (it's a lease) and start packing up our lives.

Now that we know our game plan, I can put into motion my Amsterdam list.  Things are already being checked off left and right and that's a good feeling.  But then we only have 6 weeks left so essentially I need to get these things done before we can go.

I've been slowly purging out the apartment of things we don't need.  Clothes that we no longer wear get donated.  Winter clothes have been packed away and put in the garage.  I've been slowly purging out the playroom of toys the kids don't use and puzzles that I won't have time to do again until I get to Amsterdam.  I'm making notes of the repairs that have to be done in the next few weeks and things that need to be re-assembled (like the glass cabinet doors to the built ins that we took down in the playroom - boys + glass = disaster).  Slowly I've been putting things away and packing things up.  The movers will do the lion's share but it makes me feel slightly more organized to get some of these things done myself.  And my "hope" is that it will leave less room for error with the movers.

Speaking of movers, I've already interviewed three.  Yes, things are now moving at warp speed.  I assume in the next week or so we'll be told who the mover of choice will be and we will put a definitive date in the calendar for our moving day.  We're aiming for the last 2 days of June but that week also has a big holiday and most movers won't work on the weekends.  We also have to do our walk thru with our landlord.  She's coming in the beginning of June to do a pre walk thru so we know exactly what repairs we are and aren't responsible for in order for us to get back our 4 months of security (this is not the USA folks) that she currently holds in an account.

In the meantime, we are starting to work towards our lives in Amsterdam.  With a school now chosen, we now need to figure out where we will live.  As the school does not have a bus and I will have to take them to and from each day, plus they get out at noon on Wednesdays, it needs to be within a reasonable distance or else I will be spending the better part of the day in the car or on bicycle (and yes, we will bike there like everyone else).  That at least helps us to narrow down the scope.

But this also means that we are moving back to suburban life.  School is about 20 minutes outside of Amsterdam.  And quite honestly, I'm tired of apartment living.  Though I did tell the relocation people we are not against an apartment if they can assure me that I won't hear the neighbor's shower turning on at 6:15 every morning - ie, it needs to be well insulated as I don't want to hear everything my neighbors are doing and vice versa.

Josh and I are torn on suburban life.  Barcelona has been our first experience in true city living.  We lived without a car for 3 years and walked everywhere.  And even with the car now, we still walk the majority of the time.  We will miss that piece.  But then, I guess we will now bike places instead.  And while we are torn about missing the easy access to everything, we are also excited about the idea of being in a house (or at least a duplex) again.  Having privacy and a yard for the kids to play in that has.... grass.  They really miss grass.  And they are only going to be kids once.  They have enjoyed city life but they are really into the idea of having grass again.  I can't say I blame them.

And so we've been looking from afar - online to see what's out there.  And it looks like, at this moment, we can get most everything we want in a home if we live in the burbs.  That being said, I have no idea where in this town these houses are located - they could be in a totally crappy part of town and that's why the rent is low compared to other areas.  I have no idea.  But that's why we've sent a list of the houses we like to our relo people with a note saying, we like these styles and these features but have no idea if they will work from a location standpoint.  As of yesterday the relocation people are starting the hunt for us based on what we've sent them and on the questionnaire we've filled out.

We are also planning a physical house hunt soon.  We are firming up the dates and trying to work out the logistics but aiming for the second week in June.  We will have to pull the kids out of school for 2 days but really would like them to be involved in the process this time - and it will be nice for them to see (hopefully) where they will live before we arrive mid August, the day before school starts.

Yes, we ended up rescheduling our flights so that we can start school on time.  As I mentioned before, they take their absenteeism very seriously and we were going to have to deal with the truant officer if we did not start on time.  These are all adjustments to a new culture, just like we had to deal with when we moved to Spain.  And while they are new adjustments, I think we are more aware that they are going to happen and have certain expectations accordingly.  And we laugh about them at times too.

For instance, I was talking to the relo people yesterday and she asked if we wanted the apartment semi furnished or Dutch empty.  In my American mind (and even in my Spanish mind), semi furnished means appliances (the big ones) and perhaps some furniture.  And empty would mean that we would have to possibly supply the appliances (in Spain often you bring your appliances with you even for a rental) and all of the furniture.  What I didn't know is that Dutch empty (and I'm so glad I asked) means seriously empty.  Like no curtains and even NO FLOORING.  Yes, you read that right.  Josh even confirmed it at work.  See, learning something new.  We got a good chuckle out of that and I told the realtor that no, we don't want Dutch empty.  Semi furnished to them means all appliances are there and curtains.  We just move in the furniture.  That to me, sounds perfect.

So here we go... we're in a race against time.  Kyle and Kelly come to visit this weekend and I told myself once they head back, it's no holds barred on getting things done around here with repairs and moving and all of the detail work.  There will be many updates to come, I have no doubt.  I have a bunch of entries about Barcelona that I need to finish up as well so need to get those done too before we leave!!

Besos,
Julie

PS - I also think I have a new name for the blog (but will keep this URL) thanks to my friend Eleanor - will keep you posted once I get a chance to update everything!

Day 4 - Discovery Trip... the long road back home

We're on the plane back to Boston.  Finally... It's been such a long week and yet, it's really only been 4 days if you count our day of travel to get here.  We've just barely adjusted to our new time difference and now it's time to change things up again and head back home.  I miss the kids terribly.  I miss our friends too.  And of course, our family.  And right now, I already miss the Barcelona weather of 70 degrees because I hear there may be snow in Boston when we arrive!!  Grrrr.....

I'm handwriting this all in a notebook as I'm on the plane.  Josh thinks I'm crazy that I'm writing my blog out in my notebook before putting it online.  But since I don't have a computer handy at the moment, this is my only way to do it while it's all fresh on my mind. 

So anyways, as I sit here on the second leg of our trip from Dublin to Boston - the much longer leg of the trip, I realize how much this back and forth to Spain is going to suck and it's going to suck even more with kids, though maybe it will go by faster since I will need to entertain them.  It's not exactly a short trip.  Though to my friends who want to visit, I say, hey, it's super fast...don't let the plane ride deter you from coming!! 

Communicating with home this week was a bit of a challenge but I think it will be much easier once we are established in Spain and have a routine going.  The internet connection was terrible at the hotel and I was using web based email instead of my outlook which seems to work faster.  And since we were constantly on the go we didn't get to check the time much to see if it was ok to call home at that point or not.  I think it's going to be relatively easy to stay in touch with our friends and families thru email, facebook and the phone.  The challenge is going to be Aidan and his friends.  5 days a week he's in school 8:30-4 and when he gets home from school, his friends will be in school.  And they won't be home from school until 10PM our time and obviously he will be in bed by then.  So he won't be able to call them most likely except for the weekends.  I feel badly for that since I know it's important that he stay in touch with everyone regularly.  I hope all of your kids will send him letters (I'll send the address before we leave) and we'll set up an email address for him or else you can use ours.  I know he'll send letters back home too.  It's especially important that he stay in touch since he will be coming back home in 2 years to the same neighborhood, so it's not like he's moving away for ever.

So anyways, the flight from Barcelona to Dublin was uneventful though thought provoking.  This week has understandably been an emotional rollercoaster.  Everything is starting to come to a head and is happening very fast.  We've been preparing for this day for well over a year when the opportunity was first presented to us.  We've been purging and packing for 6 months (yet my house looks no different and I still have a way to go - says a lot for the crap we had here).  And yet, suddenly this is all so real and quite honestly, it's scary.  Very scary.  I'm terrified for that matter.  This week just reinforced that.  I am going to be living in a foreign country, where let's be honest, I can barely speak the language at this point, no matter how much I've been studying.  And I'm not doing this by myself but with my family - with my two young kids who will be just as scared and confused as I am and I'm going to have to set that fear aside in order to be strong for them and enable them to survive.  99% of the time it will be up to me to communicate - Josh will be at work all day in an English speaking workplace.  I find myself near tears a lot lately (and to be honest cry as I write this but only for a moment - it felt good to get it out).  Have we made the right decision?  I feel like we have and yet I think understandably, I have doubts.  To stay would no doubt be the easier option.  To go is most definitely an opportunity and a challenge that we are embracing.  So don't get me wrong, we will go, but I'm scared.  Neither Josh nor I have ever lived outside Massachusetts, much less the country!  There are going to be some significant changes to our lifestyle.  I think we will grow from the experience, I keep telling myself that and will find a way to convince myself.  Regardless, this is happening at this point - there is no turning back no matter how much of a basketcase I've become.  I'm snappish and angry a lot - and my poor kids have had to suffer the brunt of that which is unfair.  I know it's just my emotions getting the best of me and it's not their fault.  I keep telling myself that it will be a lot easier once we are there, unpacked and back to our so-called regular life.  Only it won't really be our regular life any more.  It will become our regular life though.   Just the idea of how to get Aidan to the bus stop in the morning seems like a daunting task to me.  Because it's not a traditional school, they don't have bright yellow school buses.  It's a regular city bus that is chartered for the school.  How am I going to know exactly which bus is his and what if I'm on the wrong corner of the street and they go by??  I know this all sounds minute and silly but it's stuff like this that stresses me.  Josh doesn't get it but I think it's because it's not his problem is it?  What if I'm a minute late for the bus?  Or what if they come early?  It's not like the bus can sit on a busy city street and wait right?  The unknown does and always has put the fear of god in me. 

Things like this are the stupid shit that take over my mind at night when I can't think of anything but the giant list ahead of me, the daunting task of packing, forms, kids, work etc etc.  Yes, people move every day but I think it would have been easier to just sell both houses and go.  I think that it's deciding what stays, what goes, what gets donated, renting the houses, moving mail, contracts, etc etc that is making this process all the more complex.  Do I regret not selling it all to go to Spain?  No, absolutely not.  We love our home and our friends.  I'm just saying it would have been much much easier (that's how much we love you guys!). 

Ok, enough about how I feel.  I'm feeling like I'm being a spoiled brat since most people would jump at an opportunity like this.  And don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled at the opportunity we've been presented with and excited about the new adventures that we are going to have.  I just wanted to touch upon the fact that while I am excited about it, I'm also quite scared.  I think the best way to deal with it is that I keep saying, it's just 2 years... it's just 2 years.  Yeah, we'll 2 years isn't exactly 2 months.  It's still a long time.  But it's not a lifetime and that's what I need to get my arms around, and I will.  It will just take some time.

On a more positive note, I found that after just a few days in Barcelona that I was adjusting a little bit to the language.  It's a bit exhausting when you have to focus so much more on what people are saying to try to interpret it unlike here where it's just a part of your natural functions during the day.  It's not tiring to listen in your own native tongue.  But when you have to actually sit there and try to translate it in your head as you are listening, it can get exhausting after a while. But the good news is, I was picking up on bits and pieces of conversation and understanding them, or at least the big picture of what people were saying.  Could I communicate back?  Absolutely not!  I still have a long way to go.  But it gave me a glimmer of hope that after just 2 days, I was comfortable using the few words that I knew, saying Perdone instead of Excuse Me when I needed someone's attention.  Saying Gracias instead of Thank you.  It just started coming naturally.  I know it's just a few words, but the fact that I was instinctually saying them instead of having to think first, hey, I need to remember to say them in Spanish... to me that was an accomplishment in and of itself.  Apparently I need to do some fast tracking on my Rosetta Stone in my "free time". 

So far people have been really patient with the whole English/Spanish thing but I've really only communicated with the hotel staff (who work at an international hotel so it's their job to be multi-lingual) and cab drivers (and all they need is for me to point out an address on a piece of paper), and at the kid's school where the primary language is English so it wasn't an issue.  So it will be interesting to see how people are once I actually get out there and need to talk to someone. 

I know the kids are flexible and resiliant but now that I've had just a few days to try to communicate with people and have experienced the frustration of not being able to get my point across to someone, I can't help but wonder how this is going to affect the boys and their self esteem.  Especially for Aidan.  Will they jump right in and absorb it like sponges or will they shy away and pull into themselves in fear of the unknown?  My hope is that it is the former but I guess we won't know til we get there. 

My other concern, unrelated to the language is the flight.  I know kids fly every day and fly long distances (like Colin & Tatum!) but as I write this I'm something like 6 hours into flying today and that doesn't count all the waiting at the airport and you know what?  I'm fucking exhausted!!!  I can't even imagine doing this with both kids?  But like I said before, maybe because I will need to entertain them, it will make the flight go by faster.  Let's hope!  Though have you met Liam???  I've already told Josh, he's all his for the flight.  The kid could bring a plane to its knees with one of his tantrums as well as with all his energy!  I may need Benadryl!  It may actually come to that!

My mom always told me that if you could build a house with someone, you had a pretty good, stable relationship.  And while this upcoming move has not been all peaches and cream for Josh and I, we have not killed each other yet and actually made it thru these 3 highly stressful and emotional days without one argument.  Now that could be because we were just too exhausted to fight.  But I'd like to think that it speaks to our strength as a couple, as a team.  And while I have not necessarily felt like a team thru this process til now (though talk to me in a few days as I actually write this), I see the pieces all coming together.  We are like a well oiled machine, a flawlessly choreographed ballet.  We know and predict each other's moves before they happen.  And it is this bond that is going to make this trip a success.  I'm sure there will be a pissed off word here and there but not every day can be all roses can it? 

Julie

Discovery Trip - Day 3

Is it seriously Day 3 already?  The days are starting to blur into one another.  Once again we hit the ground running first thing this morning.  While 10AM is late for us, it's relatively early in Spain.  However, Josh and I had work to catch up on so we spent the earlier part of the morning trying in vain to make the internet work fast at our hotel so we could check email.  What normally takes 15 mins took an hour.  Quite honestly it was painful and I hope it's not how the internet over here works all the time... I just hope we were away from the central hub in the hotel since it was wireless. 

Today we are off to hopefully sign a contract on our new place today.  We're very excited about it though of course going back and forth hoping we made the right decision.  Before meeting up with Mele, I decided to run down to grab some breakfast in the hotel restaurant while Josh was doing some of his work.  Thus far, neither of us have really used any Spanish.  Our contact at the bank spoke broken English, we stopped at Vistaprint where everyone speaks English and Mele speaks English and Spanish so she communicates with the other realtors.  Oh and at the hotel they speak English.  But I know that we can't count on this always happening and I really feel the need to just jump in and say something just to do it.  Kind of when I ran my first (and only) 5k - I just needed to do it. 

So anyways, I go down to the lobby and enter the restaurant.  I knew they would need my room number so before she could ask me, I said uno y veinteuno.  She said, "Marcus".  I said, "si!".  Turns out it should have been ciento y veinteuno but hey, she got it right?  Then the waiter asked me, if I wanted coffee/cafe.  I said, "No, zumo (juice) por favor".  Baby steps, right?  I can handle phrases.  It's complete sentences that scare me.  I was so proud of myself for just making the step to attempt to speak their language.  Then on my way out, I asked "donde esta el cuarto de bano?" (where is the bathroom).  I didn't understand a word she said but she pointed and I made it there without peeing my pants.  So I'm going to call it a success!!! 

Off we go with Mele to meet with the other realtor to sign our contract (hopefully).  We walked from the rental place to our new apartment - Mele wanted us to get a feel for the neighborhood.  We took a lot more pics at the house (all the ones posted from yesterday actually were from today) and took some measurements.  Storage is DEFINITELY going to be an issue.  We will be hitting IKEA this weekend.  Not far from our 'hood is this beautiful Gaudi Church (I forget the name and if I have time later I will google it).  It's been under construction for no joke, more than 100 years.  The guy died in the early 1900s and it's still under construction. 

This other realtor usually deals with short term rentals (over there considered 1-11 months, long term is 1-5 years).  This particular place they were looking to do for 2 years so it's not their standard contract.  Similar to the US, often an owner will ask for a security deposit.  However, here in Spain they can ask for up to a year security and it can only be used as security - it doesn't go towards rent or anything if you don't pay.  We really lucked out and they told us it would be 2 months of security plus one month rent in advance plus 16% VAT (value added tax - also considered a commission there) on one month rent.  Plus we needed a letter from Vistaprint stating Josh's salary and that he has a position here for 2 years.  We will eventually need to supply them with our NIE number (like a social security here but we won't get it til we get there).  Not too shabby and could have been significantly more expensive - our luck is finally changing.  So how do we pay?  Apparently some places will deal in cash.  Sorry Charlie, I don't play that cash game.  No receipt, no proof that we paid...uh uh.  Bank check?  Yup, an option.  The other option was a wire transfer which over there seems to work much faster than here.  So they gave us the amount to transfer and we promised (they are very trusting over there compared to here) that we would transfer the funds that afternoon.  Because we use the same bank as them it would likely go thru the same day. 

Now on to the contract.  We signed a pre-contract - basically saying that we had paid the deposit and VAT and that they would be drawing up an actual contract that would need to be signed by Nov 15.  They will send that to our realtor who will interpret it for us, we'll print it, sign it and scan and email back and be done.  Josh will pick up the keys when he goes the first week of Dec.  We're hoping the contract goes smoothly and that we will have that early next week. 

In Spain (not sure of all of Europe), the law actually protects the tenant more than the landlord.  We could trash this place and the landlord CANNOT kick us out.  He can only use the law against us if we leave prior to one year.  All long term contracts are for up to 5 years.  So technically we could stay on for 5 years and if he wanted to sell at 2, tough noogies to him.  We wouldn't do that of course, but just to give you an idea of the way it works.  This guy wants us out at 2 and 2 works for us.  So that will be in our contract.

Once again I feel the need to point out the driving in Barcelona.  It is 100x worse than Boston or NY.  It's downright scary!!  I'd also like to point out that I have seen, no joke, 3 American cars.  I'm not talking 3 brands...literally 3 American cars.  Lots of Audi, BMW, Peugeot, Rineault, etc.  So we decided to take the metro back to our hotel and then walk from the stop to the hotel.  We didn't follow Mele's directions very well though.  We took the metro just fine.  It was the walking that was an issue!  We apparently went north when we should have gone east or something like that.  We ended up in Las Ramblas which is a big touristy area (with lots of pickpockets - beware if you visit).  Being somewhat pressed for time because we needed to do our wire transfer and then head out to see the kids' school, we grabbed a cab, again... so success on the metro.  Not so successful finding the hotel.  All in good time I guess.  I find this frustrating because I consider myself to have a good sense of direction and I feel very displaced here at the moment.  I really need to sit down and study a map.

We stopped quickly at the hotel, did our wire transfer, stopped for a VERY quick bite to eat.  The guy was annoyed when 20 mins into the whole meal we asked for our check.  Everything is very leisurely here and people will take offense if you don't act the same.  But we had places to be.  We went to visit the Benjamin Franklin International School (BFIS) where the boys will be attending.  We LOVED the school.  And the people we met.  The school's primary language is English but there are children from 40 different countries represented in it's 500 students (grades K-12).  So it's a small, close knit school.  Aidan will do about an hour a day in kindergarten of Spanish.  Art is a VERY big focus here and you saw it everywhere you walked.  The kids are taught independence which I personally really like.  And each class has 2 teachers so while Aidan is in a class of 18, the teachers will often separate them into groups of 9 which will give a lot of individual attention, which we also very much liked.  I also though the school itself was pretty - it's an old old building that they have added on to and made into a very small campus.  They have a building (2 small floors) of just K-5.  I didn't get any pics of that, actually I only managed to take 2 pics because I was so busy chatting with my contact there.  And it seems that they incorporate the indoors with the outdoors a lot which is probably the norm in their climate, whereas you could never do that in Boston!  Oh and before I forget, I swear that I saw Ricky Schroeder driving by the school in a minivan!  Turns out I may very well have seen him - I just did a google search for him.  http://www.hollywood.com/news/Schroder_swapping_Hollywood_for_Spain/5721428


So after our very long day so far, we're in for another late night.  We get back to the hotel around 5:30/6 to freshen up.  Tonight we are going out with some of Josh's co-workers in the BCN office.  We thought it would just be the 5 or 6 people from CapDev that we ran into in the hallway yesterday. Turns out to be 25 of his co-workers.  And being excited to try some Spanish food, we were off...only to find out we were going to the same place we went to last night with Nick & Brenda.  El Greco.  Good thing I liked the food there!!  But a bummer that we didn't get to try a traditional Spanish restaurant.  I suppose we have 2 years to do that.  Aaron, the guy who organized the dinner, mixed things up and everyone drew a card with a number and that's where you sat.  So not that I rely on Josh to help me with my conversation but we weren't even at at the same table.  I had considered not going to dinner that night because I was just exhausted but Josh convinced me I should.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I did - I met some really nice people.  But given that it wasn't as intimate a group as we thought and we didn't even sit together, I probably could have gotten out of it.  Oh well!  Best to enjoy our time out while we can since we don't yet have a sitter and who knows when we will find one!

Will do the final update on our trip tonight!!

Julie

Discovery trip - day 2

Well you know how day 1 ended, with me almost puking my guts out the window of the cab.  Thankfully day 2 went quite a bit smoother!!  While I woke up after 12 hrs of sleeping still with that hangover type feeling I definitely felt significantly better than I did on Mon.

We met up with Mele around 10AM to start the viewing of the next 10 apartments.  I'll upload pics probably when we get back because for some reason I can't get the photo upload on Facebook to work and this program only allows me to upload one image at a time and it takes a good 10 mins per image - I just don't have that kind of patience at the moment!

Anyways, we have been pleasantly surprised so far with what we have seen.  We had looked online at many apartments and they were just ok.  Maybe their photos weren't doing them justice but I have to say, and I think Josh agrees, that every single apartment except for 1 had the potential to be a winner.  They all met just about all of our criteria which I have to give kudos to our realtor, Mele, she really knew us well!!  Thanks Mele!! 

I'd love to describe the ones that we saw to everyone but you know what, you'd probably be bored out of your mind by the third one.  The general gist of it is, we looked close to the water which is also by Josh's work (means an hr commute to school for Aidan across the city) and we looked close to Aidan's school (again, an hr commute but this time for Josh).  And we also looked in the middle of the city.  We finally went with the one that was our 4th one of the day.  There was just something about it...ok it was the outdoor space.  As you can imagine in a city, outdoor space comes at a premium.  Every place we saw had a balcony or terrace - it was a requirement of ours. We're going from an acre and a half, dammit, we need to be able to at least have a little table or something outside to eat on!  So anyways, all had some small outdoor space, and I want to reiterate...small.  I think the balconies here are probably comparable to the ones in the US that you would see in a city - enough to put a small table and that's about it.  Maybe a little more.  So this place that we went with had all we wanted - it's right in the middle of Josh and Aidan's destinations.  It's close to shopping (as in grocery, you all know I will be devastated by lack of target, gap and toys r us!) which is essential since I won't have a car (I'll tell you about the driving in a bit).  There is a park and dog park nearby.  And honestly, while we saw places in much nicer areas, this place gave us the best feel for city life - we are on a side street so it's not loud by any means but we are truly in the center of the city.  What is the point of moving to the city unless we are going to be near the hubbub of city life right??  Though I have to say, it was hard to pass up the 8th floor huge apartment with 2 balconies overseeing the Mediterranean (you'll see those pics once I upload) but again, must think of family... that was a tough one to give up though!!!   So back to the apartment, it's more of a townhome since it's 2 floors.  It's newly renovated so everything is new.  But like I mentioned before, everything is MUCH smaller here in Europe.   We will have approximately 115 square meters, which is something we anticipated (though we saw some closer to 135 sq meters) but equates to approx 1200 square feet.  Our house now is close to 1900 sq feet plus a finished basement so we are losing A LOT of space.  But the plus to this place beyond all these other features that met our criteria - it has an outdoor space of approximately 60 sq meters - almost 650 square feet!  Now it's all concrete and stone but I'll put some pics up of what a normal terrace looks like and what this one is like and you'll see a BIG difference.  A HUGE difference.  This space was worth the sacrifice of space inside.  We won't have to walk the dogs to go to the bathroom (obviously will need to improve on our poop pickup though since we kind of slack in that area), we can just let them out.  The kids will have an area that's contained and  private that they can play in (wish there was grass but beggars can't be choosers) which is a huge relief as well.  Not that I wasn't looking forward to the park but it's nice to know there is another alternative if I don't want to hit the park every day (which I don't).  So anyways, after much back and forth (and there was a lot of back and forth making a decision), we chose this one.  Oh and it's in the neighborhood called Eixample (pronounced E champ le which is nice sounding.  Almost sounds french to me).  Just to give a price comparison - these spaces we saw were all in the city borders of Barcelona though some were closer to the outskirts than others.  They were all in the range of 100 - 150 square meters.  And their prices ranged from 1600 - 2000 euros per month.  With the exchange rate for dollars, this equates to $2300 to $2900 USD per month.  A big chunk of change for a small place.  I'm not sure how Boston proper compares, but my guess is it's probably relatively close??? 

So we made our decision last night around 6ish - after we saw our last apartment with Mele.  She knew we had it narrowed down to 2 but we made our decision and sent her an email to find out what is next.  We had a vague idea.  She emailed us that we would meet at 10AM the next day and to get some rest.  Hopefully at the end of day 3 we would have a place to live!!

The outside of our building

Kitchen view #1 - that is pretty much my one lonely cabinet at the top.

Kitchen view #2 - that is my washing machine that holds about 3 shirts.  Above that is not a cabinet but a door that hides the hot water heater.

Patio view #1 (notice my dryer on the left...insert sarcasm here)

Patio view #2

Family room / dining room (most of this furniture is going)

Upstairs bath (there is one downstairs too but this one is nicer)

Aidan and Josh are very excited about the bidet!

View of our street.  It's a small side street with pretty much no traffic or noise.  There are pics of the bedrooms but they were kind of messy when we were there.  I'll add them once I've added my own touch!

So that night we went to dinner with Josh's co-worker, Nick and his wife Brenda at a fabulous restaurant called El Greco.  Best Italian food (josh disagrees).  It was to me what European life is all about.  It was a family owned restaurant, everything made fresh on the premises.  And at the end of the night we walked out and the family and head chef (obviously part of the family) were all sitting down to their own dinner together at the front table in the restaurant.  Very cool experience.  What is interesting about dining in Spain (I can't say if the rest of europe is like this or not because I haven't been) but restaurants here don't open until 8 for the most part and they only have one seating per table - so there is relatively no turnover in a good restaurant.  If you book that table, it is yours for the night.  I have no idea how these people make money.  They do not push you to order and you actually have to ask for the check at the end of the night.  It was a wonderful experience and one I look forward to having again.  Got in from dinner around 11:30 BCN time - LONG day.

In addition to going to dinner, it was great seeing Nick and Brenda.  Brenda and I have been emailing for months yet had never met in person.  She's been my inside guide to BCN since she's been here a year now.  Their kids (4 of them) are ages 10-14 and all attend the same school that Aidan will be going to in January.  They live just outside the city so they have a car unlike us - it was kind of fun to watch Nick drive in the city. 

Driving in Barcelona is like NOTHING I have ever seen in  my entire life.  I LOVE to drive as you know.  And rarely am I intimidated by anything related to a vehicle.  But man, I will NEVER drive in Barcelona - I can promise you that!  First of all the lanes here are significantly more narrow than lanes anywhere else I've been.  I've heard that is typical of Europe but again I have personally nothing to compare against.  These people drive within centimeters of each other and drive fast - yes Michele, Tracie and Deb - faster than me.  I don't think I've ever seen anyone drive this fast on inner city streets and not constantly slam the breaks.  To use a comparison of Josh's they were like a bead of water just flowing along a river and moving around the rocks (other cars) with ease.  I am amazed there are not more accidents.  I kid you not, we were going 50 at times.  Can you imagine driving 50 down Newbury Street or Atlantic Ave?  With the traffic lights and cross walks?  These people can do it!  And you have to add in the scooters.  Never in my life have I seen this many scooters - I have a pic or two of that as well.  Mele told us that Barcelona actually has the highest percent of scooters compared to any city in the world, even more than Rome (I wasn't aware of Rome's population of scooters so I will take her word on this one).  And the scooters drive like absolute manics weaving and bobbing in between the cars. 

But interestingly, it seems that both cars and scooters are very respectful of pedestrians unlike many cities.  The crosswalks are all automated and you would have major guts to try to cross when there is a red little man there - wait for the green man, trust me.  Mele also said it is a sign of respect to use the crosswalks and they are everywhere so we really had no need to jaywalk like we normally would.  But she did advise to still look twice because the occassional scooter will still try to fly thru a crosswalk.  Good to know!!! 

A few more Barcelona / Spain traditions and then I'm done with Day 2 recap!  First of all, they take their siestas very seriously here still.  The majority of places, especially the mom and pop shops, close down between 2 and 4 (some even 4:30) every day.  Their hours are extended at the end of the day til around 7.  But it's very odd to walk along the streets and see all of these metal doors that close off the store fronts (like you would see in any city but usually it means the place is out of business) in the middle of the day.  I keep thinking wow, these must all be out of business, but nope, just closed for siesta.  Apparently they all go home for their big meal of the day, must be how they all stay skinny because they are eating big meals early.  Mele said there are very few fat people in barcelona, they are very concerned with their appearances and that many will have plastic surgery and tummy tucks because they are so concerned with their weight!  Anyways, I digress... back to traditions.  Get all your errands done during the week because most stores close on Saturday by noon or so.  And they aren't closed on Sunday.  I'm not sure about the big congolomorates on some of these things and some of them stay open during siesta but I'm pretty sure they close early Sat and all day Sun too.  It is supposed to truly be a day of relaxation here!  I look forward to one of those someday soon!!!

Julie

Discovery Trip - Day 1

And we're off!!  It's an emotional and physical rollercoaster we are riding for the next few days.  Our goal in the next oh, day and a half, is to find ourselves a place to live in the next few days.  We'll be going from our acre and a half in Attleboro with 1900 square feet to NO yard and maybe 1000 square feet if we are lucky.   So we already know this is going to be a tough job ahead of us.

We got to Logan way too  early...not quite sure why Josh had the car come at 2:30 when our flight wasn't til 6:40.  Oh well!  So we figured we'd stop at Houlihan's in the airport for a last bite of american food and a drink or two.  Not a great idea.  We really should know better since everyone knows airport food and service sucks.  Josh's soup was cold and finally came back at the end of the meal (of course, that was his meal) and my sandwich was just ok.  We didn't bother with drinks.  There was a cute english family next to us - why can't we move somewhere where my kids will come back with cute little english accents??  So we're hoping that the cold soup is the worst of what is going to happen and moving along...

We get on our plane, on time, and are excited about the journey ahead of us.  Unfortunately that luck was following us, or should I say bad stinky luck.  The guy on the other side of me had really bad B.O.  Yuck!!!  I'm nauseuous and we haven't even left yet. Thankfully we caught some really fast tailwinds and cut more than an hour off our regular 6 hr time to get to Dublin.  Dublin!!!  My first time in Europe, albeit in an airport!  I've been in many airports in my time but never one with this many hallways!!  The directions were good for everywhere you needed to go, but you took narrow hallways everywhere it seemed. 

As with all bad luck, it continues to follow... I'm thankful that these were all small issues.  But in preparation for my trip and knowing how picky of an eater I am, I put a caramello bar in my pocketbook.  Maybe the caramel part was a bad idea.  Well, all the heavy stuff in my pocketbook squished it and when I went to remove something from my purse, I thought...hmmnm....what is so sticky all over this??   Good thing we got into Ireland early because I ended up spending 20 mins in the bathroom washing all my possessions down from their caramel bath!  I suppose worse things could happen right?  Sue, you will be happy to know that we saw a starbucks while in the Dublin airport - $8 for a coffee though!!  We also saw a Burger King, so Aidan will be happy for a touch of the US when he comes.  Aww.... just like home!!  Was hoping my luck would change - I found an Irish / Euro penny on the seat next to me as we were waiting for our connection to Barcelona.

So off we go to meet our connection to Barcelona.  We were exhausted and actually slept the entire flight - very much typical of Josh but not so typical for me.  So far so good...no more problems (yet, a little foreshadowing).  Once again, the tailwinds were in our favor and we arrived safely to Barcelona, our home away from home!  First off, let me say that the view of the city from the airplane was breathtaking!  If we weren't meeting our realtor in 1/2 hr, I'd upload the photos but I haven't even downloaded them from the camera yet (actually I'm on Josh's computer so not even sure he has the software to do it).  The view was just stunning and it made me really excited about the next few days to come.  The mountains were in the background with the city nestled between that and the Mediterranean Sea - just gorgeous!! 

We made it thru customs just find and found a cab.  Using our very poor Spanish and pointing a finger at the address we wanted to go to, we were off!!!  Wow, we're in Spain!!!!  All this planning and we are actually here!  We're very excited and are looking all around at the sites as we drive.  Old mixed in with new.  Many places had what they were actually labeled as their store names - Farmacia or pharmacy - we saw the same sign in all different colors and fonts.  It was very interesting because it seems that they didn't have brand names for things like that but we're guessing that the different colors and fonts meant they were different companies.  As we are driving we go past this giant building that will forever be known to Josh and I as the penis building - you'll have to wait for the picture but the name should say it all.  I believe they are actually apartments, but it will be known as Penis building from now on!  Sue,  you will be happy to know I've seen a Starbucks here too...Lisa, I haven't found the Dunkin Donuts yet but we haven't made it to Las Ramblas which I believe is where it is located. 

So anyways, we're in the cab heading to our hotel, the Hotel Gran Silken on Ave Diagonal.  The hotel is gorgeous and very modern.  We go to check in, but wait!!!  We don't have a reservation under Marcus.  What??????  Josh's company made the reservations.  So now we are in a foreign country with no hotel.  I personally begin to panic while Josh being level headed asks, do you have any rooms available??  Ah, my common sense husband, god I love him.  But in the end, I showed him where we were supposed to be.  He looked at it and said, "well you have the right address but the wrong hotel".  So he calls up the other hotel, their sister hotel, and yup, they have us there.  The braintrusts at Vistaprint gave us the wrong address!!!  Oh well... off we go in another cab (he tried to give us directions via metro but we weren't ready to tackle the train system quite yet). 

So we make it to the correct hotel, the Gran Silken Havana.  Still a beautiful hotel but perhaps not quite as fancy - fine by us.  This one is actuallly a little more our style.  And actually, we have a cute little private veranda as well which is nice.  Not that we've really had a chance to use it.  So now that we are checked in, our first priority is to finish setting up our bank account.  We had done some of it online but the rest had to be done in person.  We take yet another cab to La Caixa, our bank.  It's not like banks here where you have a reception area with tellers and then some offices to the side.  This place had 3 cubes, not teller area and then 2 offices in the back.  There was no line, just a row of chairs.  Not knowing what to do, we just sat down.  Thankfully the guy next to us spoke English and told us we just wait our turn and it's first come, first serve.  That was great until some other guy cut us off and we couldn't tell him!  So we sat there for close to an hour.  By now it's after 1 and you need to keep in mind that in Barcelona, and most of Spain, they take their siesta very seriously and most places close down between the hours of 2 and 4/4:30.  We knew that this bank was one of them.  So hopefully they don't kick people out that have been waiting if you haven't been served by then.  Thankfully it never came to that.  It was finally our turn and we asked for our contact that we had been emailing with.  Her English was a little broken but still much better than our Spanish (which we obviously need to work on).  We got everything set up and all of our bank cards.  You actually get different pin numbers for your internet banking and your ATM banking which was interesting.  That and a card to use if you are doing transfers - they may contact you, ask for 3 numbers, then you looking for your corresponding numbers and give them the next 4 in the sequence.  It was very spy-like!!! 

After the bank we took a stroll down the road to the Vistaprint office.  It was in a very modern building right by the ocean.  Nice Josh!!  You have the life!!  Josh knew most everyone there and it was nice for me to meet some people too.  Everyone spoke English - so that was a nice change from the day!   It was a quick visit to the office because we had to meet up with Mele, our realtor.

We decided to try the metro which was rather daunting to us.  We walked the 3 blocks from vistaprint to the Metro station.  We knew we were heading for the Villa Olimpica so we knew what direction based on the map.  The tough part was the automated ticket dispenser.  We were unsure of which ticket to  buy and only wanted a one way token.  We were just about on the verge of giving up when we figured it out.  Victory!!!!  This was a huge barrier to us, taking the public transportation on our own.  It may not seem like a big deal but we could have ended up in Madrid for all we knew was going to happen!  Everything was labeled very well (in Spanish but we do know some!) and we got off at our stop with no problem.  Holding our tourist map, we tried to figure out where we were meeting Mele.  We went in the wrong direction, of course, but we had some time to kill and figured, let's head towards the water.  The Mediterranean is GORGEOUS!  It was a little cloudy out but the sea was still blue and the beach looked amazing and it stretched on forever.  There was a nice boardwalk to walk along though at that point we didn't had time because now we needed to backtrack and find Mele.  The streets are labeled ok - they are great about crosswalks and even the craziest (you thought Boston or NY was bad!) drivers would stop for a crosswalk.

Speaking of crazy driving - these drivers are insane!  The roads, even highways, are much more narrow and I don't know how more cars don't crash into each other.  Most of the roads are VERY curvy as well.  During our house hunt I actually became so nauseous that I had to lean my head out the window in fear I was going to puke (and came very close). 

So we meet Mele, and she kicks ass!  She's high energy, perfect English (she's actually from Puerto Rico and spent a lot of time in the states too) and knows her stuff.  So off and running we go!  We had 6 places to see between 4PM and 6:30... not a lot of time.

The first place was nice - right in the Villa Olimpica... there was a courtyard with a pool and play area for the kids.  They weren't thrilled about the dog thing which I thought Mele had confirmed was ok with all the places we were seeing.  It was 3 stories, kind of like a townhome and a bit on the rustic side.  But the views were great and the space inside was good although a little awkward.  The 2nd and 3rd were in the same building, far from parks which sucks, but brand new.  One furnished, the other was not.  We really need it to be furnished because we don't plan to bring anything over from the US for just 2 years and don't want to spend the $$ on furnishing a place that we won't bring back with us.  The 4th place was a 1970s kind of place with amazing view in the Sarria area.  But unfurnished and a bit dark for us.  We LOVED the rustic feel, yet updated amenities of the 5th place - if only it weren't a 3rd floor walk up.  I was winded by the time we got to the top and still not feeling so great from the cab rides.  Actually I was feeling pretty crappy from the 3rd place on - and had to stop for a quick snack because the apple I had at 10AM, just not cutting it any more.  Finally the 6th place we loved.  By the school and park, though a bit of a commute for Josh.  We'd have to negotiate some furniture in there because it supposedly comes unfurnished but we will see.  It felt the most homey of all of them and was on the 8th floor with a beautiful terrace.  By now, I'm ready to puke and can barely stand straight.  So I didn't take any pics.  But if we decide this is the one we will go back for another visit. 

Ok, we're off to see 10 more places today.  Got to jump because Josh needs the computer too.  More updates later!

Off to Spain we go!

We're heading out for our Discovery Trip this Sunday. I'm excited, anxious and just a tiny bit terrified. If anything makes this move a reality, this will be it. I've been searching the real estate websites pretty much daily to find something I love. Haven't found it yet. I think I'm in for a harsh reality when I get there. Our realtor, Mele, has been guiding us but hasn't actually sent me a link to anything yet - my hope is she's just waiting til it's closer so she can make sure it's still available when we go there. That's my hope. She seems to be on top of things and has been great about educating us about life in Spain.

Apparently she's not educating me enough though. As I said, I've been doing some research on my own and last week I found this fantastic website http://www.johntaylorspain.com/barcelona.html that I was taking a look at. I found a few great properties like this one http://www.johntaylorspain.com/930ba.html that I sent over to Josh. "Hey Josh, aren't these great? Why do you think they are so cheap? This one is only 1.250 euros per month. Do you think it's the area?" He tells me these are fantastic properties (seriously, you should see the crap I've been finding on the other websites) compared to what I had been finding. Here is an example of one of the ones that I had seen before that before I saw this website was at the top of my list. http://www.idealista.com/pagina/inmueble?codigoinmueble=VP0000002796826&secc_inm=fotos So anyways, I send my link of my fabulous apartment to Mele with a note similar to the one I sent to Josh and seeing if at all possible, can we see one of these places?

That night as I sit on the couch I go back to the website. There I notice there is a tab for both rentals and apartments. Hmmm... which one was I on earlier and what is the difference? I click on rentals. Nope, this isn't where I was earlier. These ones are small, crappy and expensive! What's going on here???? I click on apartments and light dawns on marble head. These aren't apartments (well they are as far as Europeans are considered), these are condos!!! And they aren't 1.250 euro per month. This place is SELLING for 1.250.000. Notice my use of decimals. That's what tricked me. Yes, this isn't 1,250.00 (with an extra zero because I just figured that maybe in europe they go to the thousandth instead of the hundreth). This is 1.25 MILLION. Hmmm... just slightly out of my budget. Now embarrassed that I've sent these suggestions on to my realtor, I now must send her an email explaining my faux pas. Thankfully she gets a kick out of it and probably now thinks I'm quite the airhead. Oh well. For just a few hours I thought I was going to be living in the lap of luxury. That bubble has most definitely been burst!!

So off Josh and I go to explore at the very least, the neighborhood we are going to end up in. It would be great if we can find a place too (otherwise he will have to do this in Dec), but we need to first figure out what part of Barcelona we want to be in. Right now we are torn - Eixample and Sant Gervasi are both in between Aidan's school and Josh's work...however, the Vila Olimpica (where the 1992 olympics were held) is close to Josh's work, in a family oriented area and by the ocean. Can't get much better than that. Only it's very likely (we don't know for sure) an hr commute for Aidan to school. We probably wouldn't do the bus for him if that's the case and one of us would need to bring him to and from school. The decision we need to make is do we sacrifice lifestyle for a commute to school? If there are more kids in this area to play with, more parks, a boardwalk and the ocean, do we have him do a longer commute rather than be in an area where there are less kids and few parks to play in? Keep in mind we are not going to have a yard so a park is essential and a boardwalk would be nice for the kids to bikeride on. And we are beach people. I keep finding myself pulling to the Vila Olimpica neighborhood but until I see it and the others, no decision is final. We need to decide where we are going to be happy as a family. http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/albums-en/port-olimpico/index.html

In addition to this, we finally heard from the relocation company this week. Since speaking to them I've received several emails with forms. I've chosen to ignore the emails for the past two days because if I don't open them, then the forms I need to fill out just don't exist. I suppose I should fill them out before our discovery trip. Fun stuff. We also talked about our container for our goods and that it can take 4-6 weeks to ship and get thru customs. So in order for us to have our goods waiting for us when we get there, we will probably need to ship at the end of November. Keep in mind we are gone almost the entire first week of Nov (next week already!) which means that I will have less than 3 weeks to determine what is staying and what is going. How in the world did I go from 3 months to 3 weeks? It's like a blink of an eye. Every day I do something related to this move and yet I feel like I've made minimal progress and now I have to have it all done in about 3 weeks? Just shoot me and put me out of my misery!!

There will definitely be a lot of updates and pictures in the coming week. I'm looking forward to the pictures - I can't wait to see what the city looks like in person.

Post again soon!!

Julie