Falafels instead of Waffles...First Few Days of Israel

We left Barcelona at dawn, had gellati for breakfast at the Rome airport, and by 3:00 pm found ourselves in Tel Aviv.

We stayed at the Sheraton right on the beach - the view from our balcony was spectacular. The boys loved being able to play frisbee and build sandcastles on the beach each evening. During the day we went to buy sandals, traded in waffles for freshly made falafels, and tried to get to know a new city. And by new, I mean new.

Our first day of the group tour (36 people mostly from Denver from the synagogue where I grew up), we stopped at Israel's Independence Hall. The lecturer who explained how Israeli independence came about  showed us a photo of Tel Aviv in 1909 - it's the following photo of the sand dunes.

102 years later, Tel Aviv is a cosmopolitan city with shopping malls, skyscrapers, and a bustling city life. It is astounding to think that in only 100 years the desert has become a thriving metropolis. It's also amazing how densely settled it is - there are apartments everywhere.

After learning about how independence took place, we left Tel Aviv and went to a Jewish National Fund (JNF) tree planting nature reserve. I visited here when I was last in Israel and was amazed to see how many more trees there are everywhere. The trees that people have said they planted in my honor and trees I have given to others - they really do get planted! We followed suit and thanks to my father's generosity, our whole group got to plant trees (that said, we put them in the ground, but they were going to be moved to another part of Israel where they were needed more). 

 

The tops of the hills are what the landscape looked like before trees were planted.

What the hills look like after tree planting

In addition to planting trees, we learned how ancient cisterns were created and used and James got to play the role of Eliezer, a young servant who needed to find a wife for his master, who ended up being Rebecca who was the best woman for the job since she was strong enough to pull up ten buckets full of water for someone else, showing she was also kind. James' lesson from all of this was that you should never be standing up in a group when the leader is looking for a volunteer. He also learned what plaster was and the importance of water in a desert.

James modeling biblical fashions

Following tree planting, cistern examining, and seeing an old olive oil grinding wheel, we went to an old kibutz that was also a secret bullet factory that operated in 1945 to 1948. The secret needed to be kept from the British who were in charge of what was then Palestine. The factory was underneath a laundry that cleaned clothing not only for the people on the kibutz, but also, ironically, the uniforms of the British soldiers in the neighborhood. If the factory workers were caught making arms, there was a death sentence, so this was not a duty taken lightly. The majority of the people working on the kibutz didn't know about the factory. The noise of the laundry machines hid the noise of the factory and the entrance to the factory was down a ladder into an underground bunker.  Needless to say the boys were fascinated and are both now sporting bullet-shell necklaces. 

All of this, as well as a stop at Itzak Rabin's memorial site (in the city where he was gunned down), and dinner on the boardwalk where we had both falafels and waffles. 

More photos of our first few days in Israel are here: View Album

Barcelona

We arrived in Barcelona after a six hour drive from Valencia. We found our new home - a gorgeous apartment in the heart of the city. Three bedrooms, a large living room, two bathrooms - larger then my apartment in Cambridge and my dream of having my own bathroom!

After leaving the boys on their own to fend for themselves (read: watching Phineas and Ferb in Spanish), Robert and I drove around the city trying to return our rental car. We managed to find the train station and left the car, what seems like an every day task but was actually quite monumental in a foreign city and had I not rented a car there a couple years earlier we never would have managed. We bought horrid sandwiches from the train station shop and took them home to toast on the pannini machine - not the gourmet meal of my dreams!

The next two days we were tourists, taking the double decker bus to the top of the hill and going to Parque Guell, designed by Gaudi with amazing views of the city. We temporarily lost the boys who insisted on being mountain goats and not sticking to the paths, but we managed to find them and headed back down the hill to meet up with our friends, Laia and Gumer, for lunch at the old market at San Catarina. Lunch was one of the best of the trip and then we headed to the Picasso Museum in the old town. I wasn't able to go last time as it was a Monday and it was closed. That said, I was unable to go this time due to the over three hour wait to get in! Like last time, it was all for the best since wandering through the old streets admiring graffiti and shops was wonderful. There was a great shop called "Happy Pills" that sold candy in pill bottles - you could fill the bottles however you wished from candy bins. Their "Anti-Crisis" cure was a paper cone like you'd get at the doctor's office to fill with water to take a pill, only you could fill this cone with all the candy you could get into the cone for one euro. Amazing to see how much James and Henry could cram into one little cone! We also saw amazing waffles, but we skipped them in favor of tapas on sticks. I did photograph all the waffles we did not eat, however...

The next day we did more wandering through the Rambla and back to old town to buy soccer jerseys and ended up eating a few tapas and then some fresh pasta back in old town. The night finished at the new Espanyol soccer stadium to see a soccer game. Espanyol won and it was great, although the stadium was not nearly as wild as the one in Germany. If it had been FC Barcelona playing, the number one team, it would likely have been CRAZY. But this was fun and we got to see Laia and Gumer and it was an amazing way to finish our time in Spain.

At 3:30 in the morning we woke up and by 6:00 am we were on our way to Rome en route to Tel Aviv. The boys had been promised ice cream at the soccer game, but there was no ice cream at the stadium, so yes, we had gellato for breakfast.

A few photos of the days are here, although the photos of the game are not yet downloaded... View Album

Las Fallas in Valencia

We ended up going to Valencia only out of convenience - it is half way between Granada and Barcelona. Out of sheer luck, the day we needed to stop there was during the weekend where Valencia has its biggest celebration - Las Fallas. This involves groups making thousands of giant puppets out of paper mache (at least in olden days - now they are covered in a plastic coating as well). The puppets are displayed all around town and judged. This happens Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday. All weekend people set off loud fireworks and it's as if there's a war going on, only instead of being scared, people are drinking and eating chocolate churros in the streets. The parties last all night (or so it sounded from the hotel room, I only lasted until 11:30 pm). During the day on Saturday, the streets were filled with people in traditional costumes dancing in parades with live bands. There was no set parade alla Macy's Day, but just groups of people marching seemingly random patterns, music and marchers all overlapping in a colorful display. My favorite part was the little girls all dressed up looking like living dolls. The women also looked like dolls from the past, but then would be gossiping or chatting on cell phones as they walked, brining the past to the present. It was all beautiful and chaotic and I wished we'd been able to spend the whole weekend there. On Sunday, they take all the puppets that had been worked on for months and pile them up on and set them on fire. In the past when they were only paper, wood, and glue, this must have been a sight. Now, however, with the plastic, people say that the smoke is black and your eyes run and breathing is difficult... perhaps I am happy I was in Barcelona by then after all.

Another bonus was getting to see my niece, Emily, who is living in Cordoba but came down to Granada to do the drive to Valencia with us. If only we'd had more time with her too!

Photos are here: View Album

Alhambra

The Alhambra looms over Granada, set on the top of the hills overlooking the town. It is a palace, or more a series of palaces, and a fort, surrounded by a protective wall (or at least parts of the wall still remain). This is centuries of history all in one spot, with the reign of the Muslims layered with the Catholics and even a garden with the Lions of Judah all in one place.

The design is truly awesome, not in the surfer "gnarly awesome" sense, but in the true sense of seeing something that makes your jaw drop open. To get to the Alhambra, you walk straight uphill and enter a giant keyhole shaped doorway. Inside there are many buildings, each built at a different time by a different reign, and each unique in its design. Some of the rooms were once mosques, turned later into churches. 15th century Islamic design then added to in the 1700s, turned into a church with a balcony for the choir with baroque paintings.

 

Some room are completely covered with alabaster plaster. This is not your typical plaster. In New England they mixed horse hair into the plaster to keep it strong. At the Alhambra, they added ground-up marble powder, giving the walls not only strength and staying power, but a marble sheen that makes the whole place shine. There are poems written in Arabic covering the walls, mixed in with the words are geometric designs. I would read this and think it would all be way too busy, but somehow, although every inch is covered with designs, it is so peaceful and serene.

In addition to being visually stunning, there is water that flows throughout the palaces and gardens. In some places this is man-made streams that flow through the buildings and borders, in other places there are fountains. The sound of flowing and dropping water adds another element to the peacefulness of the place. One large fountain is from the Jews - the Lions of Judah all in a circle in the middle of a building.

I took a ton of photos, some of which are still on my phone, but here are a few hundred...not yet edited down, but the variety gives you a glimpse of the different styles and a bit of a feel for the place... View Album

Settling into Granada and Shopping

It's lovely to be in a place longer than a few days. We are no longer living out of suitcases (which means rather than telling the boys to put stuff back in their suitcases, I'm telling them to put them back in their closets - the mess hasn't changed). It also means we are no longer eating out all of the time, but have an apartment and can cook for ourselves. Here's how it began:

The first day of class, Monday, the boys learned words for going to the market and then went to the market. I gave their teacher some money and said that they could each pick out one thing and I would cook it for them later. I then went off to the market to get staples - milk, bread, yogurt, fruit, vegetables, cereal, etc. I figured we would eat out some, but this was a time when we could save some money and eat more healthily than our past 10 days of waffles, snails, and chocolate.

One of my favorite things to do in a foreign country is go to a grocery store. You learn so much about how the people eat by seeing how they shop. What are there lots of? What can't you find? I'd heard from my mom and brother that the food in Spain wasn't good - no vegetables, lots of fried things. This must have just been restaurants since the grocery store had every produce imaginable and then some. The store I went to had two floors with an escalator ramp connecting them so I could drag my little handled plastic basket down the ramp to get to the lower level. I had to think about what to buy since everything I got had to be carried home - no car to load up with Costco-like amounts of supplies to bring home for the next month. I picked out two cheeses, a large package of yogurts, strawberries, milk, chocolate-covered-rice-cakes (my new favorite thing), sliced turkey, whole wheat bread, cinnamon tea, brown rice and black beans.

What I didn't buy that I wanted to buy: olives (there are rows and rows and rows of them - I'll get to them at some point), many types of flan, different types of cookies and pastries for the boys since they look so different from the French types - less refined, more rustic yet just as delicious looking, a trillion types of cheeses, and gaspacho in bottles that looks good but too heavy to carry once I already have a basket full of items.

I paid and loaded up my bags and carried them home (passing all the clothing stores and SHOE stores along the way. I emptied the food into the cabinets, and went off to collect the boys from school. When I got there, I was greeted with smiles (the day had gone well), but also greeted with four more bags of groceries. The boys had spent the 20 Euros I'd given the teacher for the week for small snacks and then some - I owed the teacher another 12 Euros. In addition to what I bought, the boys bought brie, a large loaf of Spanish bread, apples, pears, a lemon, half of an uncooked chicken, tofu, a loaf of gluten free bread, more milk, eggs, carrots, lettuce, and a tomato. They were so proud of all their work, especially the things that they bought with me in mind such as the gluten free products and the brie. Very cute. We all trudged up the hill to our house to unload more groceries and to have lunch. James then said, "I want Spanish food! I want to go to a restaurant!" We had lunch at home.

Our afternoon ritual, after lunch and doing some math and/or writing homework, is to go out for ice cream and then to recess at the exercise park.

After exercising, James declared, "I want Spanish food. We should go to a restaurant."

"Nope. You guys spent over 30 Euros on groceries, we have to eat them first." Yes, I'm mean. But James helped cook a delicious dinner of rice and broccoli and squash and chicken and fruit salad. Henry read - he was addicted to his new book (and how can a mother argue about a kid wanting to read?)

Today our friend, Varpu, arrives from Finland so we will indeed go out for Spanish food. Then tonight we will try to find some Flamenco dancing and music. The boys are getting used to staying up until 11:00 but are tired in the morning. Tomorrow is a day off of Spanish school, so they will get to sleep in (but will still have to do math and writing!)

More soon, but for now I am off to try to go shopping with the remaining one and a half hours I have to myself. 

More photos of Granada are here: View Album

True-False Quiz

True or False Quiz

True or False: James lit himself on fire in a church lighting prayer candles.

False, but almost true. Check out the photos of him lighting candles and note his sleeve from one photo to the next. He realized he was just about to start smoking and jumped back and pushed up his sleeve. (He says true, he actually did burn himself a bit, but Henry came to the rescue and put the candle in while James fled the scene.)

James lights a candle

James jumps back as he starts to burn

James tries again, but this time with sleeves out of the way

True or False: Jenn thoughtfully left apartment keys for Brad so he could get into the rented apartment after his long flight from Boston to join the trip for a few days.

True, she left them on the table with a note where to meet them later at the Eiffel Tower along with the vouchers needed to get on the tower tour. He phoned her from the apartment asking where the keys were. She told him, “On the table.” He pointed out the obvious, which was somehow not obvious to Jenn that morning: the table was INSIDE the apartment and without the keys to get into the apartment, he could not actually get the keys. Oops. Brad took a taxi to meet up with us when we were having our macaroon cooking class and was fed coffee and lunch and all turned out well as we didn’t actually need vouchers to get on the tour.

True or False: Jenn was run over by a car in Amsterdam.

False, but too-close-for-comfort-and-almost-true.  She crossed the street when the crossing light was red and a car had to slam on its brakes to avoid smashing her into the cobblestone. In her defense, Jenn was watching the numbers count down on the crossing light. In the US and Spain, the numbers count down the amount of time left to safely cross the street. In the Netherlands, however, the numbers count down the amount of time you have to wait before you can cross the street. If getting almost run over wasn’t enough, the second car in line took the time to honk and make evil hand-gestures at her. “I’m a stupid tourist, I get it!” she yelled at the car in vain.

True or False: James rammed into a wheelchair while playing soccer in the Place de Concorde in Paris.

True. Here’s the video.

True or False: You need to drink a lot of tequila to make a fool out of yourself in a Mexican restaurant.

False. James and Henry just needed matching shirts and a pair of sombreros.

 

True or False: Belgian waffles are thick, gooey, and filling, so you only need one.

True, but need and want are clearly different concepts on this trip.

 

 

Random tourist enjoying a waffle

 

True or False: The Spanish understand rude American finger gestures.

Hopefully false, since Henry flipped off a female driver who almost ran him over in a parking lot. He must have learned this from a Boston-driving dad?

For Johanna - Motherhood as seen at the Louvre

Not sure this is a recommendation on motherhood, but it was a significant theme on the way to see the Mona Lisa...