MEET THE PARENTS...IN BARCELONA

So, two days after my sister and Traci left, my parents arrived. This was my dad´s first trip to Europe since he was stationed in Germany back in the 60s and my mom´s first time in a non-English speaking country - except for the time we crossed the Mexican border for dinner when driving through Texas nearly 30 years ago.

My dad was ecstatic about their Barcelona trip, but my mom...not so much. She´s never had a huge desire to travel to Europe and had I not been living in Barcelona and my dad had not already decided they were going, they probably would never have made the trek. I was a bit anxious myself. The folks of Barcelona are not a warm and fuzzy bunch and NO ONE was going to be mean to my parents!

Our first day, we had drinks and snacks at a cute cafe at the top of Las Ramblas. My mom ordered herself a lovely Diet Coke. She ordered it really LOUD and really s-l-o-w....oh dear, I thought....we´re in trouble. But, either our waiter didn´t notice or he had a sense of humor finding tourists quite comical. My family and I laughed it off and ended up having a fantastic time together in Barcelona. And, my mom went away agreeing that she had enjoyed herself and Barcelona.

They/we (I couldn´t relive all of Barcelona with them) did it all...Gaudi, Gaudi and more Gaudi, the double-decker tourist bus, walking tours, flamenco show, tapas, cerveza, paella...you name it, we did it.

And, one of our highlights...on their last night we were having dinner and had great people-watching seats right at the window. A very nice African-American-looking couple were walking towards . I said, ´´They look American. Let´s smile at them, and if they smile back at us they are.´´ So we´re cheesily smiling at them, they smile back at us and all of a sudden there´s complete recognition! My parents know them! They grew up with them in Omaha, Nebraska and just happened to bump into each other across the Atlantic! I still can´t believe it. That just proves that it is truly a small world!

Oh, I forgot one other highlight from the trip. After my visit from my sis and friend, I got the chance to experience a senior citizen perspective of Barcelona with my parents. The hotel had given my parents a comment card about how they can better serve their guests. My mom took this very seriously and knew exactly how she was going to respond. At the top of her ever-growing list is that they needed to add rubber strips to the bottom of the bath tubs to prevent slipping AND a handrail. Good enough...

Then one day we were walking through this beautiful plaza called the Placa Reial. It´s a large square with numerous restaurants outlining it. There´s also a two-inch step that outlines the plaza as well. My mother was appalled that the step was not painted with a bright yellow strip of paint to caution folks that there was a step down. I, of course, am more for their asthetics of the plaza than it´s safety. But, about a week later I saw an older woman land flat on her face when she didn´t see a one-FOOT step down on the boardwalk at the beach - however, in the boardwalk´s defense it did have a faded white painted stripe. Oops...guess she missed it...and I guess my mom is on to something with her support of the bright yellow stripe!

Hope you enjoy our pics!

My mom ordered shrimp, but I warned her that the head, eyeballs, legs and all would still be on them. She wasn´t going to get them, but I encouraged her to step up to the challenge and have a true Spanish experience. So she got them! YAY, MOM! She then offered me one and I, of course, said ´´Heck no!´´ :o)














Our surprise Omaha visitors - the Dickersons!














While walking through the city we came across the traditional Catalunya dance known as the Sardana. Several of our books mentioned that many Catalans think it´s a boring dance. There´s not a lot of hip action or anything, but it was fun to watch!














My mom took a bit of a spill while walking down Las Ramblas one night. It was unfortunate that that ice cream sandwich had been waiting for her to slip on it. But, for those who weren´there, I thought I´d share with you my re-enactment captured by my father. Yes, we had a good time with it! The great thing was that my mom found out she could actually do the splits...who knew?! :o)