Ada woke me up this morning with her laughter and chatter around 7:55, but I was reluctant to get out of bed until about 8:20. It was a very different change of pace waking up to a little kid, and in my opinion a very good start to the day. I took my time getting ready, which I hope didn´t bother Roger and Maria too much, but I like to look at least half way decent on my trip. The adapter I brought from home for my hair dryer and straightner doesn´t quite fit into the outlet here, so I constructed a little prop to lean against it and make it stay plugged in. I was proud of my "thinking on my feet" capabilities. Once I was ready and emerged from my room, Roger and Maria served breakfast. I enjoyed coffee, fruit and cereal...yum. After breakfast we left the apartment and waited for a bus. On the bus I enjoyed watching the passing streets and sights. I think Barcelona is the prettiest city I have seen in Europe to date. The architecure is wonderfully unique and I could easily live here.
Once off the bus we made our way to La Pedrera, an apartment block designed and built by Antoni Gaudi. Roger had the tickets already so we didn´t have to wait in line. The building is beautiful and clearly a piece of art. The attick is built with arches and it almost replicates a skelital back of an animal. The roof terrace is beautfiul and has great views of Barcelona. They had an apartment set up for display with furniture from the era, 20´s. It was a circular aparment with all different shaped rooms. Almost the entire apartment was lit by natual light from windows going around the center. Genius and most certainly beautiful. It was great to see the inside and get a little tour to understand the artist and his reasonings. The gift shop had lots of fun things as well and I believe I got lost in there for a little while before I finally left to find my hosts.
Ada is walking quite well now and holds on to your hand as she makes her way around. She decided she likes me and likes to reach out for my hand to help her walk. I really enjoy helping her, she is so darn cute and always makes me laugh. She also came to me to hold her a few times and Roger said she is really taking to me. :) She is also using small words and just recently started liking the word "no" and uses it very often. Whenever she does something she is not supposed to, Roger and Maria say No and I end up just laughing. I know its bad, but she just makes me laugh so much. I helped her walk around the roof of La Pedrera with Maria and around the inside attick. I think I am really going to miss her when I leave.
We left La Pedrera and went to a really fun shop right next door called Vincon. They had such modern and unique things, mostly for the home or office. I could have spent hours wondering around. I saw things there for almost every person I know, but it was pretty expensive. We spent about a half hour there and then walked the streets of Barcelona and did some more shopping. Roger and Maria lead the way and picked most the shops, I can´t afford too much so I´m not too desisve on the shops I go in and out of. We did go to a great chocolate shop called Cacao Sampaka, they have chocolates mixed with anything you can think of...liquor, flowers, fruit, nuts, tequilla, cinnamon...you name it! I only bought on bar though, White Chocolate with Cinnamon. I think I will save that for Christmas, but I´m excited about it!
We wondered the streets and did some other shopping. I mostly just looked at all the shops and buildings. Like I said earlier, Barcelona is so pretty, I am in love with the city and its only my second day! We walked down Las Ramblas and saw all the artists who painted themselves up as different statues or characters and stand in the street for money. Some of the costumes are very impressive. The street was full of pet stands, selling birds mostly. I thought it was very odd to see so many birds in cages along the side of the street. After Las Ramblas we walked down a few different alleys and squares and made our way to the restaurant for lunch with Nuria, Roger´s mother. It was just about 2:00 and I was starving so it was great to get to the restuarant. Nuria was sitting at a table waiting for us. As we walked up she took my face in her hands in a very motherly way and kissed each of my cheeks in a traditional Catalanion greeting. She told me in Spanish that I am so grown up, the last time she saw me I was 8 after all! And of course she had to continuously tell me that I look exactly like my mother! She couldn´t get over the resemblense between me and my mother, which I of course just nodded my head and said, "yes, I get that all the time." She asked me in Spanish if I speak Spanish, and I replied¨" un pequno." (I don´t even think I spelled that right, I haven´t studied Spanish in 6 years and I am very rusty). But I was able to understand her basic questions like, how are your parents? How is Grace?, etc. And I was able to respond in very childish responses. For the most part Nuria speaks English, she claims she doesn´t, but she does just fine and it was enough that I could understand her. Lunch was very good, we began with Fried Calimari and wine. My second course was Salmon and Prawns with Guacmole, delicious. Its so great to be by the coast with fresh seafood! I was already stuffed, but we ordered another round and I had Hake fish with roasted vegetables...again delicious! We were all very full by the time lunch had ended, but it was a great time to chat and relax. I think we sat there for 2 hours or so. We talked a little about my family and the time we spent in Barcelona in 1992, it was fun to hear all the stories that I don´t remember. The best was Nuria telling me that my mother didn´t speak Spanish, but my parents had an electronic translater (that I distinctly remember) and they would use it to communicate when Roger was not around. I remember that translater being so high-tech and new. It´s hillarious to think back about how big and clunky it was.
After lunch we walked to a nearby Christmas Mart near the Cathedral. Nuria and I held one of Ada´s hands as she walked almost the whole way to the square. Roger and Maria needed to go change Ada so Nuria and I went to look around. First thing I knew, Nuria grabbed my hand and lead me into the crowd. She was on the search for a balloon for Ada. We walked around for a long time looking, but we didn´t find any balloons. Finally, Nuria asked someone where they bought thier ballloon and we spotted a vendor down the street. She lead me there, still holding my hand and asked the man for a Dolphin balloon. He had no dolphin, so she settled for the largest balloon they had, a very large pink flower with a smiley face in the middle. She grabbed my hand again as we headed off to meet up with Roger and Maria and explained that she didn´t want me to get lost. I laughed as I tried to explain it would be impossible for me to lose her in the crowd with the huge balloon she was carrying. I am not sure if she understood me because she didn´t let go of my hand until we got into a clearing a we waited for Roger and Maria. As we waited, Nuria explained that in this area long ago, my dad and brother John got lost in the crowd. The group spent a very long time looking for them, eventually Nuria went home and found Dad and John taking naps in the apartment. She told my dad her and my mom were so angry, he was "a man dead." Nice one Dad. :) At least this explained her reasoning for holding my hand the entire time. I thought it was very motherly and nice. Roger, Maria and Ada met up with us and Ada was very excited to see the balloon her Grandmother had bought her. Roger and Maria on the other hand were far from pleased, they now had to carry around a very large balloon for the rest of the day. Roger explained, "Grandmother´s they always do what they want."
We walked through the Christmas mart and right away Nuria bought me what I want to call Mistletoe, however I think I´m wrong. It was very common and every other stand was selling it. She bought me a large bundle of the plant and explained that I must wrap the plant in newspaper and stick it in between my clothes for good luck. Heh, I can use all the luck I can get, so I gladly excepted the gift. After that we said our goodbyes to Nuria and continuted on our way. Nuria gave me big kisses on my cheeks and wished my family very well. I thanked her for everything and said goodbye. It was so very good to see her.
Roger and Maria lead me through a lot of very neat alleys and streets. The streets were filled with very artisitc shops, each one unique. We quickly stopped at the Santa Maria del Mar and Maria and I had a quick look inside. It is a beautiful Gothic Cathedral with very large ceilings. We also stopped at a small candy store where they make the little hard candies with the designs in the middle, they called them Caramels, but I think we might have another name for them. There were 2 candy makers in the shop actually making the candy right in front of us and it was very fun to watch for a while. We continuted our walk home and eventually jumped on the metro to take a short ride back. After walking for a few blocks we arrived back at their apartment.
Back home it was their usual routine, Ada´s bath and dinner. I spent most my time blogging and talking to Mom on Skype. At around 10, Roger prepared some left-overs from last night and some mushrooms we bought at the marketing to snack on. We were all still very full from our lunch today. We ate a small dinner and talked a long time about different things. It is great to talk to Roger about the past and the present, his experience as our foriegn exchange student in Lincoln and Catalonia. I mentioned that I would love to move here and speak fluent Spanish and learn Catalan. They said they have many Americans living here, so it was an idea! After dinner Roger and Maria went to bed and I am on my way. I know I will get another early wake-up call with Ada.
Buenas Noches, Anna
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