Barcelona

Hoping for some sun and warmth to break up the endless cloudy skies that characterize a Luxembourg winter, we headed south for Spain. The drive time to Barcelona was 12 hours, so I planned for us to break up the trip each way with a stop overnight in France. The presence of a morning market nearby was the deciding factor in my Airbnb choices.

On our first night down, we stayed in Sablet, France. It was hard to find the apartment in this tiny hamlet when we arrived in the dark, but we did eventually. It was in the middle of nowhere along a back road. Adam asked, "Why did you choose this place again?" I said, "Because I know you love staying in the middle of nowhere." It's the truth.

Here are a couple photos from my morning walk:

Our host put the "bnb" in Airbnb and provided us breakfast! What a delightful surprise. She'd even made the jams herself. I love little touches like that.

The apartment was two rooms plus this "bonus," a kitchen in a separate room down the walkway. The blue door behind the table is to the kitchen. Really glad we didn't stay more than one night ... that kitchen would not have been good at all. Mom gets to freeze while cooking pasta for the fam? No thanky.

 The place had a trampoline, which the kids always love, and our host showed us how to pick almonds from her tree and crack them open using two stones. Her kids were my kids' same age (although they were at school that day), and you could tell they had a lovely childhood running free in their country yard. The host won my heart by sharing with us some Christmas candy she and her mom had made - none other than my favorite treat of all time - almond nougat! It was made with honey instead of nougat and spotted with lots of almonds. She sliced the log, handed us each a chunk, and I almost died. It was a perfect moment. Hence, no photo. Then off we went to the next town over for the market.

 Vaison-la-Romaine had a very small market.

 I didn't get a great picture of this, but we chomped on rotisserie chicken, fries, potatoes, and sausage for lunch. With our fingers! We were a greasy mess at the end but oh so satisfied.

Back in the car and we were ready to hit Barcelona. The next morning, we got up and went to Sagrada Familia, the most famous structure in the city.

 What a place. It was unusual at every turn. We really loved it. Just so unbelievably different!

 The stained glass was to die for.

 I was a shameless tourist and took a million pictures.

 I also let the kids take pictures ... anything to keep them occupied while I listened to the audio guide.

 A slug fest ensued and we were done.

We walked a looooonnnggg walk to Park Guell. I always enjoy what a city has to offer graffiti-wise.

 Park Guell was interesting ... Antoni Gaudi had planned to make it a high-end community but it was never finished. This is where he lived for awhile.

 The bubble dude was super impressive in this park. Look at that contraption!

 I'm not crazy about Gaudi's design/architecture, but I respect the man for just owning it and leaving a significant mark on the city.

 Adam summed it up really well, "At times I feel like it's nature coming to life and at times I feel like I'm in a swimming pool." Gaudi manipulated stone in a way I've never seen before, and he created stunning tile mosaics. Whenever he used color (tiles, stained glass), I was a fan. The rest kinda left me scratching my head. To each his own.

Churros and dipping chocolate were calling my name when merienda (the afternoon snack) hit. Yes, please!

 The kids never see donuts in Luxembourg, so whenever we spot one, they are ultra excited.

 On the way home that evening, Christmas was still very much on display in this beautiful square.

The next morning, we went to the Picasso museum! I was inspired by Noah's kindergarten teacher, Joffer Paola, who had taught his class about Picasso at length last year. They had done many drawings and paintings inspired by Picasso and it was so adorable to hear Noah talk about him so often. I never take my kids to art museums because it is the last place I want to be with their energy, but this one was different. It was small and doable and the audio guides were light enough for the kids to wear and use. Noah puttered out halfway and turned into a sour-puss, but Sienna ate it up. She said, "I want to do this when I grow up...draw something and put it in this {a frame} and have someone write this thing here {the plaque}." It was fun to watch her excitement. 

Aaaaand my camera died about 10 minutes in. So this is all the photographic proof we have of this visit ... but it taught me a lot about the man and I'd be interested in seeking out his other works at other museums.

 This place was good for lunch. I had veal stuffed with bleu cheese and pears and Adam had some delicious steak.

 Next up: Bike riding around Parc Ciutudella.

That evening we went to the Three Kings Parade. It's one of the biggest celebrations of the year in Spain, always the night before the Day of Epiphany. Spanish kids write letters to the Three Kings (or the three wise men) instead of Santa asking for gifts, and the next day is their equivalent of Christmas.

 We couldn't see much and lasted an hour.

 When we got closer to our apartment, we happened upon a smaller parade happening in our neighborhood. That's where our kids got a ton of candy, including candy "coal." Really fun.

The next day much of the city was closed, so we walked 10 minutes down the street to the beach! It was chilly but we enjoyed the sun anyway.

 

 We hung out at our apartment and relaxed, then a few things opened up later in the day and we went out for pizza and croissants (and donuts!) dipped in chocolate. P.S. The chocolate dipping drink was like warm pudding that wasn't too sweet. It was a nice treat that didn't make your teeth hurt. Great job on that one, Spain.

Adios Barcelona! Last stop for the last night was Lyon, France. We stayed in a French man's lower basement apartment and he didn't speak a lick of English! We got by and I understood enough, so it worked. That morning we bundled up and hit the Marché Saint-Antoine. 

 It was a magnificent market and made my heart sing!!!

The kids always put up a fuss about being dragged to another market, but if you feed them, they will come. Just remember that, folks.

 We munched on sausages, croissants, baguette, cheese, oranges and raspberries. Breakfast heaven!

After that: homebound. Great trip, lots of driving, a couple days of sun, good food & architecture in abundance. Road trip success!

Book Report: July - December

JULY
July shall be known as the month that (a) I said out loud that I cannot in fact finish Hamilton by Ron Chernow that I had started with Adam. It felt good to get it out in the open and move on. And (b) I figured out how to download audio books from the Seattle library onto my phone. BOO-to-the-yah. Move aside, podcasts. Books are king now.

Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein (audio book)
I've been a fan of Carrie because she's on the hilarious TV show Portlandia. When I chose this book, I thought it'd be full of laughs and clever observations. It was not that. It was darker, very serious, and not about Portlandia at all. There is one line about Portlandia in the epilogue. This book was all about her growing up and being in the band Sleater-Kinney, a three girl indie-band that was together for 10 years, touring the world, and even being named by TIME magazine as the best band ever, or something, I can't find the reference. The band recently got back together. I learned a lot about the inner life of indie-musicians on the road. And about channeling childhood pain into her music and lifestyle. She's a really insightful human, and I enjoyed hearing her read her own story.

Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own by Kate Bolick
This book gave me a very different perspective on life. I grew up with the expectation that a woman gets married, she has kids, and she minds home and hearth. All of this works well for me, for the most part. The marriage and kids thing, I feel like those were all good choices. The minding home and hearth thing can stay or go, I always know I have options at least. The author of this book grew up in the same world. Yes, even if you don't grow up Mormon like me, you still have the generally accepted societal expectation that you want the same thing: family and stability. Yet, she is questioning all of that with this book. She features four (five?) women from the past, most of them famous writers, who at some point chose the single life. Kate Bolick, now 40+, has chosen the same life. She's had plenty of eligible suitors, but has chosen to remain un-married. Why? The delicious freedom to do everything she wants to do! Since she and I chose very different paths, I had a very hard time agreeing with her that the choice to remain single is the best choice. OF COURSE it's amazing to do everything you want to do all the time. Nobody can dispute that. But at some point, it makes sense to me to choose to build a family. But, if I'm happy with my choices, I can let her be happy with her choices. Who am I to say what life is best for other women? We all get to choose, and the less we judge each other for our choices, the better off we'll all be. Amen and the end.

All the Light We Cannot See by (audio book)
Pulitzer Prize alert! That made me "read" it, and also the fact that everyone and their dog and my mother read this book and wouldn't stop the gushing. SO. I "read" it. And I didn't care for it. Being in Europe helped me imagine the scenery, so I guess that was nice. But the ending didn't thrill me or anything. I feel lame about not liking it. Why am I so lame?!

AUGUST
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Well this book was a surprise. I thought it was self-help. You know I love me some self-help (do you?)! But it was very much just Joan Didion's stream of consciousness in the year that her husband died and her daughter was in and out of the hospital, near death. In fact her daughter (her only child) did die after the publication of this book. I can't imagine the stress she was under. So, I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that the book felt like one long run-on sentence about where her brain was and wasn't.

Princess: A true story of life behind the veil in Saudi Arabia by Jean Sasson
This book made me irate. Where to begin? The author lived in Saudi Arabia for ten years and got to know this woman who was part of the (vast) royal family. The voice in this book is the princess's. It's her story. And it is infuriating. She talked about being raised and becoming a young bride in her world, a world in which money is abundant and respect for women is almost non-existent. The boys and men are highly valued, the women are only valuable based on their ability to birth a boy. The women stay home and do nothing but chat and hang out because their children are cared for by nannies and they have cooks, cleaners, and whatever else they need. Lear jets, limousines, multiple palaces, various residences all over the world. But the one thing they lack is a belief that women are valuable and have anything to offer except male babies. It. Is. Unreal. And this is how it is TODAY. RIGHT NOW. I can't even keep talking about it, it's so terrible.

SEPTEMBER
A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy
Awwww, mindless prattle. What a nice break. This book, as soon as I just let it be a mindless book, was delightful. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to take a vacation in their mind with a variety of silly characters to the windy Irish coast.

The Idle Parent by Tom Hodgkinson
Best. Parenting. Book. Ever. I laughed out loud. I wanted to move to a farm. I re-thought American ideals. It was refreshing. My takeaway line: "Don't ever teach your kid that a toy is better than a twig." Hahahahha. But seriously, it made me re-think so many things in life. But be prepared, it's not only a book about parenting, it's the relentless world philosophy of the English author, and he just won't shut up about it. So, yeah, I skipped some stuff (the chapters on animals and screen time, because I don't want animals and I'm happy with the amount of screen time my kids get).  But taken with a grain of salt, it was very enjoyable, and honestly helped me get back to enjoying being a parent with a lot less guilt. It reminded me a lot of the way I was raised. My parents were very hands-off and they gave me a lot of freedom (probably because they were exhausted by taking care of six kids and running a business) and I love them for it. So this book reminds me of them ... without all the drinking.

OCTOBER
How to Raise a Wild Child: The Art and Science of Falling in Love with Nature by Scott Sampson
If your child has ever watched Dinosaur Train, you've seen the upbeat "Dr. Scott, the Paleontologist!" come on at the end of each episode and really drive the point home about the importance of exploration and asking questions about the world around you. He was the author of this book and his enthusiasm about nature is infectious ... however, it wasn't infectious enough for me to be able to finish it. It was kind of heavy handed. His thesis was that we should get kids to enjoy nature so they'll be interested in saving the planet. While I completely agree that environmental conservation is important, I don't want to overthink nature. One of his chapters had to do with prodding kids with questions while in nature. How about I just let them BE in nature? I mean, I get it, this is his job. But I just don't have enough expertise with nature to really be able to explain much even if I do get questions. So, I just want my kids to enjoy nature because enjoying nature is fun and feels good and is important to mental and physical health. Since I am already convinced, his message was not as vital. But what I read was interesting.

The Sound of Gravel: A Memoir by Ruth Wariner
How about ugly cry times 1,000. I've read books about people escaping polygamy before, but this one was especially harrowing. I can't even recommend it because it's so terrible. But also I don't want to give spoilers because I feel like this kind of thing is important to know about, too. There's my half-hearted recommendation. I feel a certain level of responsibility for these people because they are an offshoot of my religion. I hope someday I can do something to help them.

NOVEMBER
C'est La Vie by Suzy Gershman
I have a secret dream to move to Paris. This book let me do that vicariously through a 50-something woman. Suzy Gershman traveled the world during her career as a journalist who wrote the Born to Shop guide books. After her husband died of cancer, she left her life in Connecticut and tried a year in Paris, just to see if that's what she really wanted. This book documents that year. It brought to mind so many of the things I experienced moving to Luxembourg, especially finding an apartment and then paying crazy amounts of money to get into that apartment. The rest I believe was a lot harder for her since she was forced to speak a lot of French and I have been able to use English quite a bit. Still, really fun to get a peek into what it might really be like someday ... when I move to Paris with my sister when we are 80. That's the plan!

It's Not Okay by Andy Dorfman (audio book)
Fine, I'll admit it. I listened to a memoir of a former Bachelorette. I just wanted to know what really happened with Nick and Josh. And now I do. Case closed.

DECEMBER
The Sound of Music: The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp
What a dear, dear woman. You thought you loved her when she was played by Julie Andrews on the big screen. But little did you know, there are about 4 million other amazing things she accomplished in her lifetime as the matron of this large, loving family. After they escaped Nazi-occupied Austria, they were able to get a contract to sing all over America. They didn't stay forever on the first visit, but subsequently were able to. They eventually settled in Vermont and farmed and held singing camps every summer and they created a charity to assist Austrians in dire need after the war. They were an absolute inspiration. The kind of people you could only hope to be. What a legacy.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalinithi
Paul was in his last year of residency to become a neuro-surgeon when he found out he had cancer. It took him quickly but not before he wrote this stunning book about his thoughts on life and death and what it's all for. Really, really beautiful and thought-provoking.

Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West
She's loud, she's brash, she's fat, and she's a feminist. Oh, and she is HILARIOUS. She taught me a lot about being a feminist and what life is like for fat people. It needs to be talked about more, and she's doing it. I admire her a lot.

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer (audio book)
She's funny, indecent, and kinda endearing. I really enjoyed it! But you must be duly warned that she talks about her crotch. A lot.

And with that, 2017 here we come!