Costumes

Carnestoltes (or carnaval in Castilian) was banned when Franco was dictator, but it has returned and looks to be something big. Stores have been selling costumes and the city put out the list of events. Here is the translation from Catalan.

"A celebration which will start on 23 February with the takeover Midnight Carnival, which will run until Wednesday, March 1, when there will be a procession for burial. Among other activities, will be held on Friday cercatasques and Saturday will be the day of the Gypsy Dance and parade troupes. As always, the more children will be the stars of Sunday."

I wish I could read the books for sale.

The one thrift store has costumes.

The party store has costumes, too.

Super heroes are popular

I was surprised to see what they call indi/india costumes.

This is outside a childcare place.

I hope I'll have more pictures to post later.

Playing tourist

Our friends' cruise ended in Barcelona and they decided to spend a couple days in town.  Today I played tour guide.

Our first stop was Guadí's Park Güell.

 After lunch we walked to Guadí's Casa Batlló. 

We also took a look at Casa Lleó Morero.

And enjoyed a little look into the lobby of Casa Amattler.

I was so excited when I looked down. I wonder if these are original

sidewalk tiles, similar to the ones found on the sidewalks of Barcelona.

A full day!

Health care

We are required to have health insurance to get official identification, which is a challenge since in order to get health insurance the company wants to be able to automatically withdraw from your bank account, but most banks require you to have a official identification in order to open a bank account. Where D. works they deal with a lot of people from out of the country and he was able to open a bank account, but it wasn't easy.

The good news is that we have health insurance and I was the first to use it.  I take thyroid hormone replacement, which is fairly common.  I had brought enough to get through almost the first six months, which was lucky.  This month I needed to renew my prescription.

D. figured out a place that was close and accepted our insurance and I called for an appointment. They apologized that the thyroid specialist was in town just once a week so I couldn't see someone for a few days.  I thought there was no need to apologize.

I figured out the right place to check in and the right place to wait.  The doctor was not impressed with my language skills. ("You should learn the language.  It is easy.")  He ordered ultrasonic imaging of my thyroid and a battery of blood tests.

The ultrasound was done at the same location and afterward they gave the results to take to my next appointment.  I guess that cuts down on worries about where to store files and who will look at them.

The lab for the blood draw was in a different location and had to be done after fasting.  I was welcome any time between 8-11am M-S.  There was no line and I could pick up my results a week later.

sample of both units

I was given the results to take to the doctor and they were listed in both US and 
Système international (SI) units.  The US measures many things by weight (e.g., mg/dL) and SI is by concentration (number of micromoles/liter).

I was able to get a follow-up appointment the next day the specialist was in town.  I spoke as much of the language as I could and was able to understand most of what he said. I sat while he typed in all the results, which were good enough to get a prescription.

from Google maps

I took the prescription to the pharmacy across the street and used my best Spanish to ask how long the wait would be to pick it up.  They were confused.  How long does the medicine last?  I asked a different way.  How long after taking the medicine can I eat?  I put the question into Google translate and still got blank stares.  She looked at the prescription, repeated the question, and put the medicine in her hand.  I guess the concept of waiting for a prescription made no sense.

That was it.  The process took a little while and the only thing I paid for was the medication (5.85€). The whole thing gave me great sympathy for anyone coming to the US and trying to figure out that system, which would be a challenge in any language.

Out and about

I think D. could have cycled there faster, but this time he joined us on the train and metro for a family outing to Plaza de les Glòries Catalanes.

First up was Nou Mercat dels Encants. Barcelona Flea Market. Els Encants Vells. Mercat de Fira de Bellcaire.  All names for the same thing.

It has been around since the 14th century, but in this location only since 2013. 

I like the mirrored roof. 

I also liked the little views of Torre Agbar.

There were lots of used things we didn't need,

maybe because a lot of looked like my childhood basement.

The new things were a lot like the Thursday market, lots of underwear, purses, and bedding.

I was surprised how much material was for sale and how hard it must be to get the bolt you wanted.

From the flea market we headed across the square to the design museum, Museu del Disseny de Barcelona.

Construction on the cathedral can be seen from the museum.

Even before mobile phones graphic artists were promoting traffic safety.

D. liked this design of the cubes creating a star.

There was both old and new ceramic pieces, including a display of some of Miró's work and 

some of Picasso's ceramic pieces.

And what would a design museum be without chairs?
I wish they had been displayed together so I could get all the chairs in one picture.

I didn't get a single good picture from the clothing exhibit so this picture is from their video.

Unfortunately the library in the same building was closed, but I enjoyed checking out their exhibit.

D. enjoyed checking out the Bromptom club that had been having lunch at the museum cafe.

I would be happy to go back to the library, but I would pass on the another visit to the flea market.

Tres Tombs

Traditionally the Tres Tombs (Three Tours, also known as the Feast of St. Anthony) parade is scheduled close to 17 January, but because of weather it was postponed until 12 February in our town.  The weather was overcast and windy, but it was dry.

There was only one tour and it was led by this group. 

Because there is no St. Anthony church here they had his statue.

Each riding school had its horses and students in the parade.

Some students walked and handed out the school's cards, which had calendars on the back.

You can't see it, but I was surprised the see a guy smoking a cigar during the parade.

Next came horses pulling various loads.

Most of them were dressed up for the occasion.

There wasn't as much candy as for the Three Kings parade,
but there was still more than people picked up.

We knew it was the end of the parade when saw the sweeper

and washer.

We did not go to the blessing of the animals, but I was glad to see that it was not just for horses.