Part 20: Tapas, tapas and more tapas!

Daddy and Jacob took an early morning bike ride to return some movies before heading to Barcelona. It was super chilly!

Public transportation can be your best friend or worst nightmare. In terms of our trip to Barcelona, it was our worst nightmare. Amanda and I really try to live within the environment; so naturally, we try to take advantage of the public systems because “everyone does”.

The plan was the bus to Den Haag Central, train to Schipol airport, fly to Barcelona, and train to the hotel. The first part went pretty well, but then again, we know that system cold. We left with plenty of excess time, just in case, and used all of it; this vacation happened to coincide with the Holland’s fall break. By the time we reached the Barcelona airport, filed a claim for the broken luggage, and found our way to the train station, 6 hours had passed. Nevertheless we persevered…

The Barcelona airport is located just 30km from the downtown area, so we thought taking the train would be a snap. It wasn’t. To start, we had to catch a bus to the train station – not a good sign. It was crowded so not everyone could sit. When we reached the station we learned it is designed similar to Paris – no consideration for the handicapped; in other words, lots and lots of stairs. It literally seemed like we went up twice for every time we went down.

After two hours of sweating our way through the system, we found our way to the hotel. Much to our appreciation, the hotel exceeded all expectations.

For this trip, we had the good fortune to travel with a close group of friends. Our friends also have a young child, so both families were well matched. As you probably know, traveling with people can be good or bad; and, you don’t really know until you get into it. For this trip, the odds were actually stacked against us; we generally pack too much education and touring into our vacations and they like the relaxed, no schedule, no pressure, “if you don’t see it, don’t worry about it” method. Lucky for us, this trip ended up being a “perfect blend of education and relaxation” – not our words.

We arrived at our hotel around 4pm and decided to meet up again at 7pm to head to dinner. It is very normal for Spanish dinners to start around 9pm and last for hours. I guess the afternoon siesta gives everyone a little more energy at night.

The hotel was nice – probably the first Euro-hotel that seemed like a US hotel. It was very new, modernly decorated with wooden floors. The wooden floors turned out to be a real treat for Jacob because it gave Mom and Dad the confidence that it wasn’t overly skeezy.

We met at 7pm and headed off toward downtown Barcelona. The walk was only 15 minutes from our hotel and it was good weather.

When you first get to a new town you have to spend a little time getting your bearings. Unless you have a very well-traveled compadre, finding restaurants, directions, and “things to do” can be difficult. The worst is finding a good restaurant – we learned our lesson the hard way in Paris and struck out with every meal with my Dad and Kay.

I think upfront research can be helpful, but it isn’t a guarantee. We didn’t have a Spain expert nor did we do any research. We just relied on instincts and luck.

The first night we struck gold. The downtown area was like a picture from a tourist book: narrow cobblestone streets, laundry hanging from the windows, and plenty of small boutique stores. We maneuvered ourselves toward the “old-centre”, just west of the La Rambla, and found a really neat restaurant named Origins.

Most restaurants in Spain (or at least in Barcelona) is a Tapas restaurant. Tapas is a family-style of eating. Instead of ordering one meal per person, you order a bunch of smaller “meals” and then share with the table. It’s kind of like ordering a lot of appetizers. As you might expect, I tended to over estimate my ability to consume the food and always ordered too much; let’s just call that one a character flaw.

This restaurant was a sight of perfection. The food was authentic and really tasty, the table location was perfect (plenty of room right by the front window), and the ambiance was peaceful.

It was the best meal of our trip.

We finished eating at midnight (Jacob slept through the whole meal) and made our way back to the hotel. It was a great end to a very, very long day.

The next morning we decided to just do some exploring. We met at 9am and started off with a little Spanish breakfast at a nearby café. A normal breakfast generally consists of a pastry (or two or three) and a coffee (or water or hot chocolate).

We didn’t have an agenda, so really we just wandered around. We walked past the Arc de Triumph (Barcelona’s version of the famous one in Paris). We also found a nice park just south of the Arc. The park was nice because it had a little kid’s park and a zoo. Jacob clearly liked the swings and the zoo.


And, like most big parks, they were full of great flowers.

We started toward the beach (or port). Whenever you visit a town on the Mediterranean, it is generally accompanied by a lot of really expensive boats. Honestly, it is amazing at the display of wealth.

What was particularly interesting about this port, however, was the statue dedicated to Christopher Columbus. While this wasn’t the port that Columbus sailed from (that is located in Palos, Spain), he is still the most notable Spanish explorer. The statue points towards the Americas.

I don’t know what it is, but I really like retracing the steps of people like Columbus. It makes you feel like you are really seeing something special.

One aspect of Barcelona that was exceptionally striking was the architecture. Most cities we’ve seen carried the typical European mystique, but Barcelona was different. It had really exceptional buildings all throughout the city. They weren’t bigger or newer or cleaner, just uniquely special. I don’t know if it is the Gaudi exposure or a deeper, richer history of building art that has influenced Barcelona. But, no one can argue it is something special.

We ended the day by walking the La Rambla (Barcelona’s most famous street) and touring the cathedral in the old city.

The La Rambla was nice, but honestly, I didn’t see the allure. It was wide, filled with restaurants, and very busy, but it lacked the small, old-town feel. The high-end shopping was probably good (we didn’t really check it out), however, there weren’t any small “only-Barcelona” shops.

After La Rambla, we headed off toward the cathedral. On the way we found a Starbucks and an Ice Cream shop. It was a nice detour.

After the ice cream, Amanda and I decided to tour the church. The inside was really beautiful (they all are), but not overly distinctive. The outside looked nice, but was covered with scaffolding. The only thing that really set it apart was the “pope exhibit”. During most hours, one of the past popes is on display (like really on display – in a glass coffin). Unfortunately, the pope was resting when we came through – rats! It would have been cool to see a well-preserved 300 year old corpse.

We ended the day with another great meal. Not quite as good as the Origins, but still really good Tapas. And, true to form, I irritated the entire table by ordering too much food. I will work on that for next time. Remember, character flaws don’t change over night.

We planned to visit Montserat the next day: a monastery in the mountains of Catalonia. This place was highly recommended by several people, so we made it a day trip and off we went.

We traveled by public transportation (you would think we would learn) and it took about 2hrs longer to get there than we expected. The last leg was most capably traveled by gondola.

When we arrived we were impressed, but it looked just like the pictures. Some places that you visit in person look and feel completely different than the pictures; this one didn’t. We toured the grounds for a little bit basically because we didn’t know what was out there.


Finally, we found our way to the main attraction – the chapel. It was maybe the most impressive that we have seen yet; literally, it rivaled Cologne Cathedral. It was different though. Cologne is special because of its raw size. This cathedral was very clean and very high quality. It just took your breath away.

The centerpiece attraction was “Our Lady of Montserat”. This is a “black-colored” Virgin Mary. The legend says that the lady was found in a cave in the 8th century by some farmers in the area. From that legend it was decided to build the monastery. It is in a fairly inauspicious location – located near the top of a relatively unapproachable mountain. Nevertheless, it was decided to build on that spot.

The black Virgin Mary was originally thought to be colored black because of the Moorish roots in Spain; however, subsequent non-intrusive forensic testing indicated it was actually lead paint that turned black over time. People routinely line up to see / touch the statue of the Lady.

It was a moving experience. We just sat in the cathedral for a while and soaked it up.

We made it home by 7pm and headed off for a quick dinner (this one was only 2.5 hrs long) and then went back to hotel to hit the sack early.

The next morning we woke up a late and engaged in our final day of vacation. Like the first day, we just planned on wandering around, but instead of going south toward the sea, we went north toward La Segrada Familia.

Barcelona is best known for two things – La Rambla and Gaudi. Gaudi was an eccentric architect that created gravity / mind-defying works of art. He was the type of guy who really saw things differently. There is Gaudi park which hosts his smaller works and the cathedral which is his crowning achievement, or rather, idea.

The church isn’t finished yet; however he left very detailed plans on precisely how to construct the building. The artisans currently completing the work are doing so without any government funding (i.e. donations only) and using only the tools available to him. This is a painstaking process and remarkably similar to the Crazy Horse Monument in South Dakota.

The church is like none other. It is almost like a cartoon. The ceiling is made to look like trees, exterior walls are decorated with numerous Christian dioramas (i.e. using cubism techniques), and the key structural pillars resemble candles.

Some people may be offended by the gross interpretation of the work; it definitely defies the traditional view of a Christian church. However, it is still very professionally done.

Unlike Crazy Horse, I believe this Church will be completed in my lifetime.

We didn’t push it on the last full day; instead we just took it easy walking through the town. We ended up having lunch/dinner on the beach.

The next morning part of the group had to leave really early to catch a flight for work. The rest of us just hung out in the morning, quickly visited a Picasso museum and then headed back to the airport.

By the way, on the way back to the airport we took a cab. It cost 30 Euros (10 Euros more than the train / bus route from before) and got us there in 20 minutes (about 2hours quicker than before). Guess which way we will be traveling next time…

Everyone had a good time…

Part 19: Jacob is One, Come Join the Fun!

It’s hard to believe, but Jacob is already one year old. We celebrated his first birthday by having lunch with another expat family that moved here around the same time we did. And, of course, we ate cake! Jacob had his first taste of cake and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Later that day, we had a Skype party with family and friends. We were able to talk with and see many of you back in the States. I think Jacob had a unique birthday celebration.

Now for a one year Jacob update:

He is crawling and cruising all over the place and keeping Mommy on her toes! He’s getting braver everyday. He now lunges between furniture that is just out of his reach, but he still hasn’t taken that first step. He stands for a few seconds on his own, and I think he surprises himself every time he does it. It won’t be long before he takes off running.

Jacob also loves to dance. Whenever he hears a catchy tune, he starts bouncing up and down to the music. It’s adorable!

He has a few different toys where he has to put balls into them to get music to play. He has figured those out and now puts everything in them, not just balls! I’m constantly digging out his blocks and fish and whatever else he has found to stick in these toys. He has a shape box as well. So far, he has only been able to put the circle in (with some guidance). The other shapes present a bit more of a challenge.

Jacob loves books! He’ll sit and entertain himself flipping through the pages. Touch and feel books are his favorite.

He finally started waving back to people on his birthday, and he loves giving himself applause. He also loves to share his toys with Mommy and Daddy. And somehow, he has figured out exactly which household items are NOT toys: like the TV remote and phone and dishes. He really doesn’t like it when we take those away.

I’m still working on teaching him how to give hugs and kisses. Sometimes I think he knows what to do, but he doesn’t do it consistently, so we’ll see.

He’s saying “mama” now (in actual reference to me, we think). And, he just said “dada” for the first time when Dustin walked into the room. Very exciting! He also says a gamut of other sounds, but we don’t think he’s matching sounds to objects just yet.

Jacob is officially off of formula, bottles and baby food. He pretty much eats everything that we do and drinks milk or water from a sippy cup. It’s nice to not have to do the bottle thing and buy formula and baby food, but now I have to worry about preparing well-rounded meals. It makes it easier that he’s a good eater and doesn’t turn his nose at much (not yet anyway).

He is just getting over his first illness. I got a cold and successfully passed it to Dustin and Jacob. It’s taken some sleepless nights, but I think we’re finally kicking it. We know we’re lucky, though, having only had to deal with a sick baby once during the whole year.

I think that takes care of the update. Jacob is a joy and doing well!

Part 18: Relaxing in Paris

Even though we had just visited Paris a few weeks before, we went back for a quick weekend trip. Some good friends were traveling through Europe (Italy, France and England). The closest they got to The Netherlands on a weekend (so Dustin wouldn’t have to take vacation from work) was Paris, so back we went. We took a train out Friday evening after work and came back Sunday afternoon. It was a short visit, but we were able to see some sights we didn’t catch last time around.

We met our friends Saturday morning at their hotel and walked to Luxembourg Park. It was kind of like Central Park in New York: a huge peaceful expanse of land in the middle of a big city. We let Jacob out of his stroller to stretch his legs.
From there, we headed to Saint-Sulpice (the church discussed in The Da Vinci Code). As usual, the cathedral was impressive.

After the church, we made our way to the Paris Catacombs. Terri had already seen them, so she stayed above ground with Jacob while Jason, Dustin and I went down below. To be honest, it was pretty creepy, and I have no desire to return. You literally walk through underground tunnels lined with bones. Millions and millions of bones.

Dustin had gotten a list of restaurant recommendations from a French colleague, so we headed to the Montmartre area of Paris for lunch. This checked off 2 things from our list – seeing the Moulin Rouge and having a fantastic lunch. Our last trip to Paris left much to be desired in the food category. The Moulin Rouge isn’t really much to see. It looks like it does in all the pictures. So, we got our picture and headed for food. Unfortunately, the restaurant was only opened for dinner. So we walked across the street and ate lunch there. It wasn’t on the original list, but was still pretty tasty!

After lunch, we decided to visit the Pantheon. In a sense, it’s kind of like Westminster Abbey for the French. Lots of famous French people are buried there.

For dinner, we picked a different restaurant off of the list. It was in a different area of the city that we hadn’t seen yet. On the way, we passed some sort of huge festival with extremely loud music. And I’m not just being “old”. It was really, really loud – deafening loud! The streets and sidewalks were packed with people of all ages. We ended up taking a detour to get out of the crowd. Pushing a stroller through that is not easy at all. After a short stop at a park while the boys figured out where we needed to go, we found the restaurant and had a traditional French meal. It was delicious. Dustin even tried the classic foie gras (duck or goose liver). It wasn’t his favorite, and I thought it looked disgusting. It was served as a chilled pate with jelly and toast. I’ve heard that warm preparations taste much better.

We ended the night in front of the Eiffel Tower. It is a fantastic sight at night!

Part 17: A Slice of Holland

After Dustin’s parents left on Monday, I had a few days to prepare for my Mom and Dad’s arrival that Friday. This visit was going to be different, though, because we weren’t planning any big trips. We planned a few day trips and on our down time, I put my parents to work on some projects around the house.

Jacob and I picked them up Friday around lunch time. They were all smiles, even after the long flight. We headed straight home for a relaxing afternoon (recovery from jet lag).

We woke up Saturday morning with plans to go to the market. My parents really seemed to enjoy it. They even ordered some cheese to be vacuum-packed and picked up the next week so they could take some home.

My Mom was so amazed by the tiny European cars that she had to get a picture on one of our trips out.
The rest of the day we hung around the house making our list of projects. That night we celebrated my birthday. It was nice to have my parents there to help me celebrate. My Mom even baked me a cake. Yummy!

The big surprise for my birthday was flower boxes and flowers from Dustin. We have a balcony outside our bedroom with holders for flower boxes. We just didn’t have any boxes. With my Mom’s help, Dustin picked out some flowers for me. They look so great from the street. Plus, this virtually guaranteed a return trip by my Mom in April / May to refill the boxes.

Sunday we drove to Kinderdijk to see the 19 original windmills of Holland. It was a beautiful day – perfect for pictures!


That night, we had a little celebration for Jacob’s birthday (mainly so my parents could see him open his presents). One of the presents was his Halloween costume – a monkey! He’s going to be so cute!

Monday we worked through our project list – sewing buttons, mending pants, hanging hooks, pictures, etc. I didn’t want my parents to be bored! We also took a stroll to the grocery store so my parents could see what every day living is like. We picked some bread up at the bakery as well as an appeltart for desert.

Tuesday we headed to Amsterdam for the day. The day started out a little slow due to a rain delay. We debated on whether or not to go or wait for another day, but in the end we decided to give a shot. As it turned out, we didn’t have any rain the rest of the day. We first toured Anne Frank’s house. Then, holding true to our past visits to Amsterdam, we had lunch at the Pancake Bakery. After that, we headed to the Rijksmuseum to check out some Dutch masters. Following that, we headed back towards the train station to pick up a canal tour. We needed to rest our feet, so the boat ride was nice. We headed back to Voorburg after the tour.

One thing on my Mom’s list to see while she was here was a Delftware factory. So, we drove to Delft Wednesday morning to see how the famed pottery was made. We took a 30 minute tour of the factory and probably spent 1.5 hours in the gift shop afterwards. We learned that there are 4 Delftware patterns, not just the blue and white that everyone seems to recognize. All are beautiful! It’s amazing that they’re hand painted. It must take some serious patience to do that all day long. We were surprised how expensive Delftware is and couldn’t decide what we wanted to purchase for our souvenir. After walking laps around the store, we decided on what we wanted and made our purchases.
Thursday morning Jacob had his 11 month checkup (he had to get 2 shots). That afternoon, we went to Madurodam in Den Haag. Madurodam is a miniature Holland. You walk through an outdoor exhibit of all the major sights in Holland at 1/25th the scale. The detail in the miniature buildings is unreal, and it really does give you a good feel of the country.

That evening we met Dustin at the beach so my parents could see the North Sea and have a nice dinner out.

Friday, Dustin was able to take the day off from work. We decided to go to Brugge. After visiting the town back in August, we just new my Mom would love it. So, we drove down to Belgium to see some lace and taste some chocolate. We strolled through the cobblestone streets and went in one lace shop after the other. We also learned that Belgium is famous for its tapestries. In the end, my Mom and I each picked out a lace table runner. We also purchased my Mom a tapestry purse for an early birthday present and took a carriage ride through the town. Jacob even rode up front!
On the way back home, we decided on a different route. We drove up along the coast and saw a beautiful sunset!
Saturday we went back to the market and hung around the house the rest of the day. We took my parents to the airport first thing Sunday morning. We had a great visit! I think Jacob had a great time, too!