FIELD TRIP #2...GERMANY!

So, I thought I´d try to fit another field trip in to my very busy Euro schedule and headed to Germany to visit my long-time friend, YiYi (and before you get a chance to butcher her name it´s pronounced GiGi). YiYi is from Puerto Rico and we met back in 1986 when she lived with her cousins who lived next door to me. She has since married a wonderful German guy, has two of the cutest boys and lives in Trier, Germany. I hadn´t seen her since her wedding 9 years ago!

Trier is just an hour and 40 minute flight from Barcelona, but when you want to travel Euro-cheap it becomes a bit more complicated. It was like a scene from ´´Planes, Trains, & Automobiles.´´ I flew Ryanair which is like Southwest Airlines on crack. It doesn´t fly out of Barcelona. So, I metroed it to the bus station, took an hour-long bus ride to Girona and arrived at the airport to find at least 10 different check-in lines based on your destination, with each line being 75 to 100 people deep. After standing in line for about an hour, I finally checked in, but wait..there´s more. I had to go to a separate counter to pay a special 5 euro tax, and then return to the check-in counter to finally receive my boarding pass. So I go pay the tax and also paid another 5 euros for a priority pass which is semi-VIP. It allows you on the plane before the masses. After getting through Security, I then had to stand in line Southwest-style at the boarding gate.

Once I finally arrived in Germany, YiYi´s lovely husband picked me up from the airport and we made the hour-long trek to their house. Whew! It makes me tired just thnking about it again.

But, it was all worth it! It was great to see YiYi and see this cute town her new German-Rican family call home. In between re-living our junior high memories of ´´Dirty Dancing,´´ ´´Pretty in Pink,´´ and ´´The Breakfast Club,´´ I got to experience this cute, semi-little town of Trier. It´s located in the southwestern portion of Germany near the French border. It has a population of 100,000 and some very, very sad looking people. We think it may be because of the cold winters and lack of sunshine. I´m not sure if these people know how to smile. It was fascinating!

While there I learned that Germans like to tell it like it is. They are very straightforward and to the point. For example, we call it a ´´refrigerator,´´ they call it the ´´cold closet.´´ ´´Gloves´´ are ´´hand shoes´´ and ´´envelopes´´ are ´´letter covers.´´ It´s so simple! And movie titles are hilarious. For my fellow 80s lovers, you know ´´Say Anything...´´ Why give it such an obscure title when you can call it ´´Teen Lover.´´ Or how about ´´Prime.´´ For those of you who haven´t seen it, you may not know it´s about a woman and her therapist. But, in Germany, they want you to know what you´re getting into beforehand and call it ´´Couch Talk.´´ So simple! Why complicate things when you don´t have to?

While in Trier, I also got a chance to see the EuroCup 2008 soccer games kick-off. YiYi and I caught a game at ´´Louisiana´´ - their take on American cuisine. I had a cheeseburger...it was interesting... Anyway, it was Portugal vs. Turkey. I learned that many Germans are not fans of the Turks and I´m sure the feeling may be mutual. So the entire restaurant was cheering for Portugal except for this one table of about seven Turkish twenty-somethings. Whenever Portugal did well, the entire restaurant cheered, but when the Turkish team was on the up-and-up the restaurant fell a bit quiet except for this one table...can we say awkward.... I was secretly wishing for the Turkish team to win as well, but worried a bit about what might happen if they won. Yikes!

My last day in Germany brought me back to my espanola roots. Once a month YiYi has brunch with about 7 or 8 fellow Hispanic friends who all live in Germany. It´s a nice network of friends for YiYi and was a great opportunity for me to practice my espanol - which was a good thing considering I had been skipping class. During this ´´practice session,´´ I discovered that I´m good for about an hour, but after that you lose me and English translation is definitely needed. I guess I have Spanish ADD!

Saw this poster posted in a restaurant...hmmmm...don´t seem to be big fans of ours either...

These bronze plates were located in front of the house below. It´s in memory of a father and son who were killed in a concentration camp. Very sad, but a nice way to honor them.

FIELD TRIP #1...MADRID

I headed to Madrid for the weekend meeting up with my former Dutch flatmate. She´s from Netherlands, but lives in Northern Spain. I took a one hour and ten minute flight there. We had a nice time. When comparing Madrid to Barcelona, I think it´s like comparing DC to New York. To me, Madrid seemed cleaner and slightly slower paced. Whereas Barcelona is more like NYC - more crowded and a little rowdier and lots of activity all of the time. I liked Madrid, but think I definitely prefer Barcelona. As a tourist, I think there´s more to do in Barcelona and I love the energy of Barcelona. But I also liked the calmness and many beautiful parks of Madrid. Madrid also has a number of well-known museums. And for those who know me well, you know I don´t dig museums. So, didn´t hit any of those, but I´m sure they are lovely.

So we mainly just walked the city, saw the palace, enjoyed several cafes and just had a nice, relaxing time. I´m not sure if pickpocketing is quite an issue in Madrid as it is in Barcelona. I hadn´t read about it in any of my books and I hadn´t gotten that vibe, so it was a nice change of pace after my Barcelona pickpocketing episodes.

PICKPOCKETERS

Before arriving in Barcelona, I had read and heard many warnings regarding pickpocketers. I was always very cautious, and remember when I came back to the States that I was having a hard time relaxing with my purse...always on guard as I had been in Barcelona. Of course, you should always be on guard, but more so while in Barcelona.

One day I had a lovely day at the beach with some friends...but ended it with a huge annoyance...I was nearly robbed! I never thought I´d be a victim and am still appalled that I nearly was. My friends and I were on the metro heading home. A group of about four people rushed on the train pushing through the closing doors and laughing really loud about it all. So that was Strategy #1 - distract the people.

The metro was packed. The next stop was mine and for me to get off the train I had to push my way through a bunch of people. I was having the hardest time getting off and later realized that those four individuals were purposely making it very difficult for me to get off. That was Strategy #2. I finally made it to the door, but this one guy was just not letting me through. That was Strategy #3. He was pushing me and at the same time trying to get into my purse, but I hadn´t realized it. Luckily I looked down to find his hand digging through my freakin´purse. I COULDN´T BELIEVE HIS HAND WAS LITERALLY IN MY PURSE! I yelled ´´what the ****´´ (insert whatever word you´d like...I´d go with one of the worse ones), pulled his hand out and shoved it back at him. He starts laughing loudly - so Strategy #4 - distract with more laughter so no one realizes anything is going on. And it worked. Thank goodness I´m a pack-rat and he couldn´t find my wallet through all my junk!

Because of this mayhem I got slammed between the metro doors and had to squeeze out. It was crazy! I tried to yell to my friends to watch out, but two are from Japan and two are from Brazil, and we only speak in Spanish (a very bad, elementary Spanish, of course) to each other. I couldn´t think of what I could say quick enough. I just said ´´that guy tried to rob me!´´ and almost got my armed slammed in the door. And, as the train pulled away, I tried mouthing something to the two Brazilian girls, but they just waved and smiled good-bye thinking I was doing the same. That was actually pretty funny and we laughed about it the next day. I also learned that one of the four pickpocketers tried to get into one of their purses as well. These people are relentless!

After that, I was completely on edge, constantly looking around me, behind me...it was terrible. Then it almost happened again, but to my dad. When he came through the metro gate I noticed a woman had snuck in free behind him. My dad didn´t even notice, and I think she thought ´´we´ve got a winner!´´ When we got on the train she tried to cover his ´´man purse´´ with her jacket. (Yes, he was carrying a small bag with him as it´s the very Euro thing to do and is a better defense against pickpocketers vs. everything in an easy to access wallet in your pocket. But no worries, he´s forbidden from carrying this lovely bag in the States). She was about to try and get into his bag under the jacket when he realized what was going on. He grabbed her jacket and threw it at her and said ´´You stay away from this!´´ pointing at his lovely ´´man purse.´´ That line still cracks me up!

THEN, that night I´m waiting for my train. On the other side of the track a man comes down and passes out on one of the benches. He´s out cold. Then two guys come and take his wallet. It was appalling! They then sat on a bench next to him going through his wallet and looking so proud of themselves! It was sickening. I felt horrible for not doing anything, but I thought 1) I could yell and this guy may still not wake up and/or 2) these guys would then come after me! Hopefully the guy learned his lesson and will never pass out in the metro station again.

And I´ve got one more for ya. My parents and I went on a walking tour and the guide continuously warned us about pickpocketers as we were obviously easy-to-spot tourists on this tour. We´re all wearing headphones and our guide talks to us through a microphone. At one point, we´re in a cathedral and she says ´´you see these two women here. They are not with our group and are pickpocketeres.´´ Sssshhhwwwooooopppp...all heads turned to them. She then kicked them out. They were right near me. I hadn´t even noticed them as they looked like they were part of our group. They looked just like tourists with shorts on, sneakers, and fanny packs and were even carrying camera bags. These folks are good!

I do hear that the pickpocketers here are a kind pickpocketer and that if they steal your wallet they´ll put it in a mailbox so it eventually gets back to you with your ID - minus the cash, of course. How nice!

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)

Montjuic Magic Fountain

One night we made sure to check out the Magic Fountain show at Montjuic. I kept hearing about it in class and read about it in one of my tour books. It´s a fountain on the grounds of Montjuic and I think it may have been part of the opening ceremonies for the Barcelona Olympics. They have a show on Friday and Saturday nights.

We made our way down there about 20 minutes before showtime and were looking forward to seeing this exciting show. Well...it was not so exciting...in fact it was...how can I put it...LAME! OMG! We sat through this very boring fountain show for more than an hour. We kept thinking it would get better. The beginning part (a good 30 minutes) didn´t even have music - I guess that was the warm up. Then the music started, but it was very slow and not very exciting.

This magical fountain had very little magic. The fountain would spurt into some sort of formation for a mintue or so and then change colors and then onto maybe a new formation and so on and so on and so on. If you´ve ever seen the fountain show at the Bellagio in Vegas then you know how a fountain show should be done. It´s fast paced, goes to the music AND they have multiple shows EVERYDAY! Now when people mention the Montjuic fountain show I urge them to go to Vegas to see how it´s done.

I guess if you had never, ever, EVER seen a fountain show you MIGHT think this one was cute. MIGHT...

True Barcelona Tourists

One of the first stops my sister, my friend Traci and I made was to La Sagrada Familia. I had been once before at night, but had not had a chance to go inside. It´s amazing! Gaudi, the designer, had worked on it for about three decades before he died and knew it would take generations to complete. Some literature says it will be complete in 2020, but others say 2030!







Sorry, I couldn´t figure out how to rotate this darn photo. So, just tilt your head slightly to the left...a little more...there, now you can see it! :o)



















































We also went to the Parc Guell. If you recall, I had made the trek up to this park the day before I returned to the States. So I wasn´t feeling 100% - more like 30%. And, was not prepared for the San Francisico like hills. It was nice to return and be able to pass the elderly folks vs. them speeding past me like they had the first time. I love this park. If it wasn´t such a hike to get to, I´d go every day.

We also decided to take a short trip outside of the city. We took a group bus tour to Girona - a small town just an hour outside of Barcelona and then to Figueres - which is where Salvador Dali is from. He had created the Dali Museum before he died. Traci and I had studied Dali a bit in a Spanish class back in high school so we wanted to pay homage to the man...as strange as he was. His museum was as quirky as we imagined it would be, filled with images of bread and eggs. We later read that he ate bread and eggs often as a child so it´s his childhood memories that he´s pulling into his art, hence the beautiful woman statue with the loaf of bread on her head. Interesting....

As you can see from these photos there is no sign of my sister and Traci. But, I swear, they came. They just refused to sign the photo release form. :o)