We had not yet been to Arc de Triompf so we decided to see it Saturday.  Since it’s outside and a nice day we brought Walnut with us- I’ve already posted his pictures from that day.  We took the Metro red line just a few stops and discovered a market at the square.  We’re not sure if it’s a small Christmas market or if it’s an occasional market that we just happened across.  We also passed the Central Catalana de Electricidad building, which originally housed steam generators for the production of electricity.

After the Arc, we walked to the Cathedral to visit the main Christmas markets.  On the way, we past through some neighborhoods new to us.  We passed an ‘experimental xocolatier’ but they didn’t seem to have any in stock.

Here in Catalonia, there are a few Christmas traditions that are new to me.  There is the Caganer figurine (caganer means “the crapper”) which is a figurine of someone taking a dump.  These figurines are hidden in the nativity scene.  Another tradition is the Tio de Nadal or Christmas log.  Beginning in early December, the christmas log is ‘fed’ every night and well cared for by the household’s children.  On Christmas day, the log is placed in the fireplace and told to poop out presents.  To facilitate this, children sing songs (ordering the log to poop) and strike the log with sticks.

We’ve been in Spain for about 9 weeks now.  I haven’t been very good about keeping friends and family up to date with Walnut.  He had been diagnosed with a portosystemic shunt the third week of August and had lost about 4 pounds.  He’s been on a new diet and medicine regimen that has helped him a lot.  He has regained his weight (actually I have to cut back on his kibble!) and energy.  He’s doing great!  We live close to a very active dog park and on our evening walk it is common for him to greet 20 dogs.  He loves it here.

We went up to Montserrat today (from Barcelona) and it was fantastic!  The weather was a little cool but clear, and it got a bit cooler as we went up the mountain but it was pretty nice in the sun.  We didn’t bring Walnut mostly because we didn’t know where he’d be accepted, but I think the next time we go we’ll bring him.

We left from La Sagrera L1 early and picked up the R5 from Pl. Espanya.  It took about two hours total to get to Montserrat Aeri, which is where we picked up the cable car and rode up the mountain.  Aeri was built in 1930 and has a bit of old school charm to it.  It was heartening to see the workers climb up into the works with a grease gun, lubing the works before the first trip into the sky.  They also sent their crew up before opening for passengers.

The ride up was very tranquil.  The car didn’t sway much and climbed at an even pace.  Once at the top we went into Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey.  The basilica is beautiful.  It’s a little dark, with a gothic feel.  In the afternoon, we had a chance to listen to the boy’s choir sing- they were really good!

We rode the Funicular up to Sant Joan and hiked a little bit.  The views from that vantage were astounding!  We looked out over the clouds between the peaks.  We brought a picnic lunch with and sat and had sandwiches.

It was a great little day trip.  We could have spent more time on the mountain hiking if we’d brought Walnut.  We took the rack train back to the FGC and headed back home.

So we’ve been here a month!  While there are pros and cons, I love it so far in Barcelona. The city is very easy to get around in, with significant Metro and bus coverage. I haven’t really learned much about the buses- only that the N4 takes us back to Gracia late Monday night.

There are beautiful little squares and plazas all over. We frequently walk Walnut to a square and just sit awhile, people watching. It’s uplifting to see people out doing things, children playing with or without toys and playground equipment, other dogs walking or playing about. The weather has been wonderful, but I suspect we arrived at the best time for that.

We’ve been going to Park Guell a lot. It’s a beautiful park designed by an eccentric Spanish architect. Walnut loves it.

I shop at small local markets most days.  We don’t keep much food on hand at any given time- this is very different from how we lived in the states.  There is a fruit and vegetable market next door to us, I buy bananas almost every day there.  The bakery down the street always has my pan de coco and I buy chorizo from the charcuteria often.  I love chorizo sandwiches!  We’ve made soup for dinner pretty often, we can make a giant pot for about €7 and eat it most of the week.  Of course, we’ve also enjoyed a lot of delicious tapas, too!

We’ve met some very nice people.  Though we’ve gone to a handful of expat meetups, it’s the Spanish people we’ve met that I keep in touch with.  It’s crazy, but we can have very poignant discussions regarding the state of the world, including America and it’s politics.  The people in Europe are incredibly well informed about America’s state of affairs and are interested in chatting about it.  It’s fascinating.  And, it’s a bit sad that it is such a struggle to evoke a similar response with Americans in the states.  I like that everything feels more communal here.  If we sit in a square or even at a table outside at a restaurant, people nearby will join conversation with us or offer advice or directions.  It seems as though random people feel ‘we are all in this together’ and act that way.  In the grocery store, I couldn’t tell the difference between liquid fabric softener and detergent so I asked a woman shopping nearby.  She couldn’t understand what I was asking, but a guy walking through the aisle said ‘no that’s fabric softener.’  Understanding then what I needed, she walked me to the end of the aisle to point out the detergent.

I am struggling with the next step in the Visa process- our residence cards.  I will be meeting with a Gestor this week to hopefully get it all figured out.