Weekend in town

It was only a light drizzle so we headed to the citywide yardsale a couple weeks ago and figured out it was cancelled when we couldn't find anybody else.  It wasn't there last week, either.

This Saturday was a beautiful day and there were about forty tables set up with people selling things, mostly women's clothing and children's toys.

Our only purchases were a paddle (we bought the balls separately later) and a scarf.  A. has been playing paddle tennis at school and now plays at the bottom of the driveway.

The highlight was playing with the creative machines made with parts rescued from broken things.

A. headed off for his first haircut of our stay and we were all happy when he declared that it was perfect.  D. may try the barber school on campus.  Stay tuned.

I headed home but was distracted by the sound of loud country music.  I was amazed to see a large number of people in cowboy boots doing line dances! When I asked the name of this type of music I was told it is la música country!

It was a great day to be out and about!

Unfortunately

Have you ever played this game?

The Game: Making a fortunate situation out of an unfortunate situation
The Rules:
• One person starts by saying “Fortunately” and mentioning something fortunate
• The next person has to follow by saying something unfortunate about the previous situation
• Move clockwise around the car switching between fortunate and unfortunate situations
• If somebody stumbles, they get a strike. Three strikes, and you’re out
• Last man standing wins
Example:
• Fortunately, this will be my first time seeing the Grand Canyon
• Unfortunately, it was invaded by Martians just last week
• Fortunately, I just finished my course in extraterrestrial communications
• etc.

We had a bit of our own version.  It started Monday when we visited the Brugge train stations to buy tickets.  "To Amsterdam and back in one day?" she asked in astonishment.  The train ride was only three hours, which did not seem so astonishing.  When she told us the price for the fast train it was our turn to stand there with our mouths hanging open.  We decided it was worth getting up at 6:30am to catch the slow train.  Coming home there were a couple evening trains and all was fine.

Heading north we changed in the Antwerp Berchem station, which was not so special, but did have a lot of bicycles - on this side, on the other side, under a roof, in a locked room, near the bicycle store.

We also liked the bread vending machine.

We arrived in Amsterdam and enjoyed our day.  We were dilly-dallying a bit (should we stop in Tiger so we can say we have been in one in a fifth country?) and not feeling like we need to hustle to catch the earlier train.  But then we were so close so we decided to go for it.

Each track had an A and B sign on each side of the center hall.  We hustled up the escalator, didn't see the A track and headed farther down the track, just as we had had to walk quite a way when we got off the train.  Unfortunately we hustled the wrong direction.  Unfortunately we didn't see that this last track did not have an A and B on both sides.  Unfortunately we figured it out just as the doors closed. Fortunately a different and faster train was going to Rotterdam and we could take that and then switch to our original train. Unfortunately we did not think we had the right tickets so we decided to simply walk a bit more and catch the next train.

Unfortunately when we came back we saw some Dutch words under the listing for our train, which was now listed in gray. Unfortunately the words said the train was cancelled. Fortunately there was another fast train to Rotterdam and we decided we would take our luck with the tickets we had. Fortunately we caught the train and had no problem.

Unfortunately when we got to Rotterdam there was no train listed that would help us. Fortunately we met a very, very helpful person who took us to another helpful person. Then four helpful people were standing together and shaking their heads. And the second helpful person went off to ask more helpful people. A. was especially sad at the thought of missing the breakfast at the B & B (pastries, homemade cider, local walnuts, nutella, schenkstroop, homemade jam, fresh bread).

Fortunately we were told that the station officials were going to escort us to the track and when a train headed to Paris made a stop they would ask if we could ride to Antwerp to make our connection. We said farewell to the first helpful person and walked with two more helpful people to the track and tried to look like the kind of people the conductor would let on the train. Fortunately it worked because he said yes, but we would have to sit in the bar area.

Fortunately this was easy to do. We had a table, we had power, we had seats, and we had hope.

Unfortunately we had only a few minutes to make the connection in Antwerp.  Fortunately we met someone headed the same way and he knew which floor we had to go to.  He decided to take the elevator and unfortunately we decided to take the stairs.  He realized he was in the wrong elevator and unfortunately by the time we realized that we were on Track One instead of Track Two the train was leaving the station.

Fortunately Antwerp Centraal is a beautiful station. Fortunately the train we thought we were changing to before we went to Rotterdam would be there in an hour. Fortunately we had a warm place to wait.  Unfortunately we did not want to be there.

Fortunately we had no problem catching the train.  Fortunately when we needed to make another change we did not get off at Gent-Dampoort because our train was in Gent-Sint-Pieters.  Fortunately we had no problem making the connection.

Fortunately we were able to sleep in and enjoy a fabulous breakfast.

Just to add to the excitement when we were leaving for the airport the next evening we decided not to hustle for the earlier train.  But then we were so close! We did hustle and as we got to the track the conductor signaled for us to get in.  Fortunately we got seats.  Fortunately we did not have to change trains in Brussels.  Fortunately I had bought the special airport supplement when we were waiting in Antwerp.

Fortunately we had no adventures traveling back to Sant Cugat.

Whirlwind visit

A. has been doing some of the same work as his classmates in the U.S., including some of the readings.  He borrowed The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and then expressed interest in going to see her house since he did not remember being there six years ago.

I didn't take any pictures but this video captures my feelings about the visit. 

After having poffertjes we decided not to squeeze in a second museum and decided to explore the town on foot.

This picture reminds me that we didn't see any Sinterklaas parades
and we forgot to put out our shoes.  Next year.

We didn't have time to visit the Rijksmuseum this trip but
we visited the gift shop, which was a bit of a tease.

The passageway underneath the museum is limited to pedestrians and bicycles.

I love the train station, but this picture does not really capture its beauty.

note - maybe it is not your thing, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading the obituaries about Victor Kugler and Miep Gies, two of the people who helped hide the Franks and others for over two years.

Belgium

I am grateful that the school sent out the calendar before year began so I would have the holidays marked down.  I often think of the story told by friends who were in Denmark for the first time and sent their kids to school not knowing it was a day off and having to buy food at the convenient store because they had invited company on a day that was a holiday.  I do make mistakes, but I try to make new ones.

Monday was a floating holiday so there was no school and Tuesday was a day off for Constitution Day.  I can't tell you a thing about it except that the referendum was held 6 December 1978. Wednesday there was school, but A. missed it, and today there was no school for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (don't know anything about this either, but it is nine months before the feast of the Nativity of Mary, which may explain why school here does not start before 8 September).  Tomorrow there is school, too, and I am curious how many kids will be there.  Obviously their funding is not based on attendance.

We looked at ticket prices and decided not to venture too far. A. poked around and chose Brugge based on the pictures.  I will post some that we took, but I can tell you I took so many more and finally at some point I stopped taking pictures because it was too much - just too many beautiful scenes.

The view from our room.

The view from a bridge on the edge of town.

One view from the clock tower.

One of the city gates.

A view from the other side of the city gate.

On the main square

Civil registry right next to city hall

Coat of arms

Another bear, this one said to be the first resident of the town.

Just part of the historical museum
(hard to get a better picture with all the Christmas market structures).

A rare wooden building.

At one time there may have been as many as 25 windmills, but only four remain.

There was a fence around the farther windmill and it was designed to look like lace,
which is something the city is know for, along with chocolate.

A couple years ago the new thing was to make chocolate tools.

The view from the second windmill.

It may have been sunny, but the even the statues were cold!

Days go by

How does the time get filled?  I was waiting for things to settle down so I could write about at typical day, but it seems that what is typical is that each day has one element that makes it different.  It might be a field trip with my class or needing to pick up a package at the post office, but most days seem to have a little something.  Maybe I look for something and add it into the day?

One amazing difference has been the way each day starts.  At home my alarm goes off about 5am in order to get ready and to cycle to the pool for swim practice.  The other days it goes off in order to run and get back before the kids leave for school.  I do not use an alarm clock here and most days I get out of bed after D. for the first time in our 20+ years of marriage.  The bizarre thing is that even though I am sleeping many more hours each night I do not wake up as energetically as when the alarm goes off (although I am less tired later in the day).  I do still swim or run before breakfast but I leave after A. goes to school instead of returning before he leaves.

Without a car I tend to go to the grocery store more often.  At first I was puzzled why the flour was sold in 500gm bags.  Don't people bake much?  Then I saw a 5kg bag of flour and realized I had no desire to carry it home!  The same goes for most food, which means I go to the store often.

Time also gets filled with food preparation.  We do not eat out here so we can save money for eating out when we are traveling.  And I do not buy prepared or partially-prepared food like I would find at the local grocery store in the US.  I thought I always cooked from scratch, but I am reminded that now I am really cooking every meal from scratch.

Time also gets filled with language issues.  I go to class, I come home and try to figure out the bits I didn't understand, I do three languages (Spanish, Danish, Hungarian) on Duolingo, and I spend time typing into Google Translate.  Every interaction takes more time than in English and I still have not learned to ask people to write things down.  I have two language partners, one is someone who wants to improve his English and one is a neighbor who helps me by patiently speaking Spanish with some English tossed in.

I don't know if I actually wash more clothing, but do laundry more often.  You may remember that A. was issued one set of gym clothes, two school shirts, and one pair of pants.  D. rides to work and has only two pairs of cycling shorts.  It means some evenings are spent doing laundry, although sometimes I do it during the day so I can hang out on the upstairs balcony to catch a bit of sun.

Writing the blog takes time because it means gathering pictures, sorting pictures, doing some research, and pulling it together.  After our we returned from Denmark I had the blog printed into a book, which I keep with photo albums and enjoy going back to read.  I refer to the electronic version occasionally, too.

I listen to the news and in the last few weeks I have started listening to more podcasts and even an audiobook, which is good when I cooking, cleaning, or doing a jigsaw puzzle.  I read headlines, some articles, and the comics.  I also read clippings and magazines my parents send along with books from the library.

Some time is spent keeping in touch with people, some on Facebook, some by email, some by paper, some by phone.  I always seem to be behind.

I tend to waste time imagining trips we could take.  We looked into a trip to Canary Islands, which was lots of fun.  It is always a balance to find a location with things to do that we would enjoy and the prices we can afford.  To look is free!

And there is always more to do - I could be using more of the health club, doing more shoulder-strengthening exercises, using the Spanish cd that came with the book, read more books, write more letters, cycle to different grocery stores, clean more thoroughly, invite more people over, more, more, more.  Should I be using the time to more?  Or should I be frittering away even more time because when will I have the chance again?

I am lucky to have so many choices about my days and so little structure. I am trying to soak it up!

Season opener

As I passed through the square I could see people working
with colored replica's of the monastery's rose window.

The next day the Christmas market tents were going up.

I could see that the rose windows were on the large tree,

but I have no idea what is in the big red bags.

This evening was the grand lighting of the tree

and the replica rose windows

that are near the monastery

and lining the pedestrian mall.

The booths were selling locally made art and lots of Christmas decorations.

My favorite nativity scene was in the stained glass showroom.

What would Christmas in Catalonia be without the caganer in the nativity scene?
This is only one of two famous Catalonian Christmas traditions involving defecation.

You'll want to know more, I am sure. Below is someone else's post
and I will copy it in its entirety because it explains both traditions

It's Christmas Eve, which means children across Spain's Catalan region are gathering in their homes for the traditional whacking of the festive shit log.

Tió de Nadal (Christmas log), a hollow log with stick legs, a smiley face, and a floppy red hat, is a yule branch with a scatological spin. (Its other name is Caga Tió, or "shit log," for reasons that will shortly become apparent.)

On December 8 each year — the Feast of the Immaculate Conception — families bring out the happy log. Every night until December 24, children are tasked with "feeding" the log by offering him nuts, dried fruit, and water. Kids must also cover Tió de Nadal with a blanket to ensure he stays warm and comfortable.

On Christmas Eve, it is time for the little shit log to shine. Children gather around the red-hatted branch and beat him with sticks while singing the traditional Tió de Nadal song:

Shit log,
Shit nougats,
Hazelnuts and mató cheese,
If you don't shit well,
I'll hit you with a stick,
Shit log!

Then comes the miracle: the kids look under Tió de Nadal's blanket and discover that the dear log has pooped out a pile of candies and presents. (The end of the defecation session is signaled by the presence of a stinky herring.) When everyone has collected their gifts from Tió de Nadal, the family burns him for warmth.

The poop log is not Catalonia's only defecation-based festive tradition. Take a close look at any nativity scene in the area and you'll spot Caganer, a porcelain man copping a squat in the presence of Mary, Joseph, and the Three Wise Men. Caganer is not meant to be sacreligious — his fertilization of the holy ground heralds a prosperous harvest in the new year.

Extras

A random assortment of photos.

 Yesterday I saw *both* of the sidewalk tiles I had been missing!

I am on my second set of insoles.  I am not sure why I am wearing out my right one faster
on both this and the previous set.  Maybe I should be looking at some new Spanish shoes?

Such a cute European car with an American car across the street.

I like the different tiles outside of apartment buildings.