Saturday, March 14 Ramblejar Les Rambles

What is that noise?! Augh! It is the phone ringing at 7:30 a.m. It is our wake up call, and with a bit of urging from Natalie, I get up and get dressed for breakfast.

The dinning room is nice and our breakfast is great. There is a choice of several meats, breads, fruit, cereals, juices, and coffee. The coffee is not quite as strong as it was in Italy last year, but it still leaves a lot to be desired, especially since it is not brought to me in bed with the right amount of vanilla cream and sugar (Yes, I have a wonderful husband). We fuel ourselves for the walking to come.

Violeta meets us and guides onto the bus that takes us to Placa de Catalunya, the beginning of the Les Rambles, one of the oldest streets in Barcelona and one of the most interesting with its flower stalls, souvenir stands (both tacky and unique), water color and sketch artists, and one of the most amazing open air markets I have ever seen. Les Rambles runs for approximately 2 1/2 miles and ends at the Christopher Columbus statue at the edge of the Barcelona Harbor.

Beginning our stroll down Les Rambles

Entrance to the open air market, La Boqueria, one of 10 in the city

 

A leg of the famous black foot Iberian pig, usually fed on acorns

A colorful candy stand

One of the fresh fish stands

An example of the many fresh fruit stands in the market

One of the many flower stalls on Les Rambles

Casa Burno Quadros, one of the most recognized buildings on Les Rambles

We return to La Placa de Catalunya where we look for a place to eat. We end up at the Hard Rock Cafe, not the most Spanish of restaurants, but a good place to rest the feet and legs for our afternoon adventure at the Picasso Museum.

After our morning of free time, we meet Violeta and our guide for the afternoon, Francisco, at the bus. Now, Francisco is quite handsome, and in our southern, nosey way, we start to think about getting Violeta and Francisco together, only to learn he is married with 3 children.

The bus drops us off and we walk, our pace is too fast for a stroll, through a neighborhood area that is a trendy area for artists. We arrive at the Picasso Museum and begin our education on Picasso.

Here's your lesson: I must preface this by saying that in college I took Music Appreciation. Our class was on the top floor of Lee Hall and overlooked the MSU quadrangle where the ROTC practiced in the afternoon. I spent many a class period watching the marching formations while listening to classical music and wishing I was somewhere else. I tell you all this to say that we had a wonderful Art Appreciation lesson on Picasso and his 4 periods of painting. I understand Picasso more, not that I like his work that much, but I do appreciate it and his transition to cubist painting. Picasso's father was an artist who encouraged his son and who taught at the school for art in Barcelona. Picasso had a lasting friendship with three other artists and they regularly met at a quaint restaurant that became known as the 4 Cats. As a matter of fact, Picasso painted a picture of the 4 Cats that became the menu cover for the restaurant. It is my favorite of all his work, and I bought a print for my son-in-law's office. I hope he appreciates as much as I like it. If not, I guess it is mine. Anyway, Picasso worked his way through studying the various movements in the art world until he honed the technique of cubism for which he is most popularly known, even though he did create some recognisable works in his early years. Picasso's personal secretary for his entire life founded this museum showing Picasso's early works and some of his later works are slowly being bought for the collection. Many of Picasso's later works are in collections around the world since he would not let any of the art go to Spain during the reign of Franco.

It took us a good hour to go through the museum, hitting the high spots and then visited the bookstore to get our keepsakes. While on my trip to Spain, I am forgetting Lance's mantra of the year, "D. K., there is a recession going on." I may never get back to Spain so I have to have my little remembrances.

We continue our tour of Barcelona by traveling to the area of the Olympic Venue for the 1992 Olympic Games, Montjuic,which was once the main stone quarry for the buildings of Barcelona. We get a glimpse of the swimming and diving venue and the Olympic Outdoor Stadium. We stop at the top of Montjuic, where we get a panoramic view of Barcelona and take advantage of picture opts.

A peek from the bus window of the Olympic Stadium

A view of the Barcelona Harbor from Montjuic

We then head to one of the most unusual areas, Ueill Park. The park was designed by Gaudi and contains the last home in which Gaudi lived before he willingly became homeless and spent the end of his life at La Sagrada Familia.

FYI: Gaudi was hit by a car and died in the streets of Barcelona. He looked like a homeless person, and it was not until later that those in charge realized he was the great architect of Barcelona. By the end of is life, Gaudi had given everything he had to go toward the completion of La Sagrada Familia.

Uiell Park exemplifies Gaudi's style based on nature. There is nothing with a straight line, and there are the most beautiful mosaics all over the park. The park is filled with people of all ages enjoying the Saturday afternoon weather.

This is one of the most interesting areas of the park, La Gran Placa. Notice the ledge. It is a tile mosaic that makes a bench on the inside for people to sit. It is also the top for a market area underneath, known as La Sala de les Cent Cloumnes.

Haiden and I sitting on the bench

A mosaic on the ceiling of the market area under the bench area above

The steps leading out of the market area. There is a large mosaic lizard fountain. These are all our group except for the guy in the front in the dark gray shirt. Notice Drew in the very front!

We load the bus for one last trip back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We later meet in the lobby to catch taxis to go to the Chardonnay Restaurant. Again it looks as if we are going on a taxi ride around the town going the long way to the restaurant, but some of my deep-rooted Spanish that has long been stored in the recess of my brain emerges to find a voice that instructs the driver what to do and where we are to go. I think to myself that my friend Senora Steeby would be proud of me.

Again our meal is not the best. Some kind of sticky rice with a meat patty and fries. The chocolate cake on the other hand is great. It is Mary Ruth's birthday, so her cake is served decorated with a candle and a paper parrot. We sing happy birthday and wish her many more trips.

Several of us decide to stroll back to the hotel and walk along Les Rambles one more time, helping Paula to bargain for a watercolor. We make a final stop at the Cafe Zurich, one of the hot spots of Barcelona, and have a cappuccino and watch all the people. The area reminds me of Times Square. There are hundreds of people out enjoying the evening and each other, oblivious to the fact that it is 11:00 p.m. For many the night is still young.

Enjoying our cappuccino at the Cafe Zurich. Debbie, DK, Irene, Betty, Susan, and Paula

We take taxi's back to the hotel. I do not have to be rocked to sleep.

A Side Note: Violeta Del Valle, the best ever

D.K., Violeta, Dianne

Before I post another day's entry, I want to tell you about our wonderful guide for the 10 days we are in Spain. As you know, Americans, especially those of us from the South, are more forward, a nice way to say nosey, and give up information about our private lives more easily than most, especially the Europeans. To say we grilled Violeta would be an understatement, but after a few days with us she began to understand that our questions were a way of connecting because we were definitely becoming attached to her, not only because she was our life line, but because she endeared herself to us so quickly.

We have all heard the term Renaissance Man; well, she is definitely a Renaissance Woman. She lives in Valencia (pronounced Ba-len-the-a) and is a free lance guide. She is well-respected in her field. She has a degree in tourism and went to university in Spain and France. She speaks five languages--Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, and English and has traveled all over the world. If you watch Samantha Brown on the Travel Channel you can see Violeta with Brown as Brown tours the city of Valencia. Violeta will be singing with a choir that will back up Placido Domingo this summer. She was in New York on 9/11 with a firm that was her client. She worked for Penelope Cruz, when Cruz was younger, a fact that totally impressed the kids.

On a personal note, she is 41 (please forgive me for telling your age, Violeta) and divorced. She and her Ex, who is from Argentina, are both in the tourism industry, and they were away from each other more than together, which did not make for a strong marriage. Her mother lives in Madrid, and Violeta has 4 other brothers and sisters and several nieces and nephews to whom she is close. She has rheumatoid arthritis, but it has not slowed her down one bit. I forgot to find out her shoe size. Que lastima!

But more importantly, she was go genuine. I think we took her by storm, but little by little she warmed to us and was soon not only laughing at us but with us. I was continually practicing my Spanish, and Drew was continually asking her questions, many of which she had already answered but she answered again. At different times as we would walk, she would be engaged in conversations with someone. She took care of us like a mother hen, retrieving lost items on the bus (right, Betty and Morgan?), directing us on our free time, and being our interpreter.

She has promised to come see us when she gets to the States again, and we are looking forward to showing her some good ole Southern Hospitality. Here's to you Violeta!

Time to Vent: Amnesty?

My Mamaw had a familiar saying I heard several times during my childhood, "The world is going to hell in a hand basket." I have often used the saying myself, but I heard the saying again as it came out of my mouth this morning before I realized what I had said.

April 13-18 is National Library Week. We plan to forgive the fine for any books and DVDs turned in during this week. After I made the sign to inform the students of our policy for that week, I asked one of my fellow workers to proof the text. She told me that it was okay but that the students would not know what amnesty meant. I looked at her incredulously and informed her that she was crazy. To prove her point, she asked the next five students that came through the door what the word meant, and not a one knew; even our work study students did not know. To prove that it was a fluke, I asked several students myself, and not one, no not one, could tell me what the word meant.

Now my conundrum (look it up) is--Do I leave the word amnesty or do I come up with a synonym? If I change the word, am I giving in? If I don't, will anyone take advantage of not having to pay the fine? DOES ANYONE CARE?!!!!! No, just me, a retired English teacher. AUGH!!!!!!

In the words of my grandmother, "The world IS going to hell in a hand basket!" and it is faster than we think.

Friday, March 13 Gaudy or Gaudi?

We are ready to go on our first day in Spain! We make our way out into the main area of the Barcelona airport to meet our guide for the next ten days, Violeta Del Valle (pronounced be-o-let-a del bal-yea). She gathers us together and leads us into the bright Barcelona (pronounced bar-the-lone-a) sunshine and warmth, considering we had left behind in Mississippi rain and 43 degree weather. There is no time to doddle. Violeta has us on a schedule, and we soon learn she means business when it comes to setting time limits.

The Barcelona airport

We begin our tour riding through the streets of Barcelona on our way to the La Sagrada Familia, a church designed by Antoni Gaudi and has been under construction since 1884 and is not expected to be completed until 2040, give or take a few years.

Here it is, La Sagrada Familia, Church of the Sacred Family.

 

FYI: Antoni Gaudi was an architect whose influence can be seen in the construction of several of the buildings built in the mid 1800s in Barcelona. To say that his buildings are structured would be to say the Mississippi delta has no mosquitoes. His architecture follows the lines of nature with its curves and angles and shapes and is considered to be of the Modernist style. When observing his buildings, the viewer's first response is, "He had to be on drugs!" or "Are you serious?!". However, after being around his work for a while, it is easy to appreciate what he tried to accomplish. Gaudi's sponsor was Eusebi Guell, after whom the Gaudi designed park is named. By the way, it is from Gaudi that we get the word gaudy.

A view from the inside. Notice how the tops of the columns look like trees.

Some of us at the front entrance of the church: Irene, Debbie, Louise, Drew, Betty, and me

We tour the church and are in amazement. It is nothing like I have ever seen, even though I had seen Gaudi's works in books. His architecture is one of those, "You have to see it to believe it." The front facade of the church is amazing as it portrays the stations of the cross. My pictures do not do the structure justice, and you will only see part of what we were allowed to see. We ride the lift to the top to see the wonderful view of Barcelona and then make the trek down the stairs by one of the several towers (an action I pay dearly for the next day with sore thighs).

Waiting for the lift: Irene, Drew, Mary Nelson, Anne Hall, Megan Kay, Sarah Nan, Haiden, Debbie

Debbie, headed down the tower stairs

Violeta gathers her chicks, loads us on the bus, and continues to show us points of interest as we make the way to our hotel, the Hotel Astoria. It is nice and located in the heart of Barcelona. We get our room assignments, and I know you are thinking, finally, they get to rest after working on a 27 hour day. Wrong!!! We get settled in our rooms and prepare for our dinner together.

 

The Hotel Astoria

We have our first of many taxi rides. This one does not rank as the best one of the trip. Violeta tells the driver our destination, and I try in my limited Spanish to communicate with him but to no avail. We do get to the vicinity of our restaurant, and we are put out on the corner. It is not far to walk to the restaurant, so all ends well.

We eat at the BBRB Restaurant. The meal is okay: soup, flank steak with gravy and rice, and a wonderful vanilla pudding with rolled wafers. The waitress hears me say how much I like the wafers to dip in my pudding, and she brings our table a plate of them, which we gobble down.

Some of us decide to stroll back to the hotel under the direction of Violeta, and we enjoy the sites of the street life of Barcelona and get to know Violeta better. Spain is my kind of country. It does not wake up and get started until 9:00a.m.. They eat lunch around 1:00 p.m. and then siesta until 5:00 pm. when the shops reopen. They then eat dinner around 9:30 p.m.

One of Gaudi's buildings at night

We return to the hotel exhausted. I am rooming with Debbie and Natalie, and we establish our routine quickly. I fall into the bed and think about the sites Violeta told us we are going to see the next day. Sleep comes quickly.

Thursday, March 12 Buenos Dias!

I know had not mentioned I had a trip planned to go to Spain during the Spring Holidays. Well, I went, and I can say I had a tiempo grande ( for you no hables espanol folks), a grand time. I have always heard how wonderful the Mediterranean countries are, but like Italy, this is something you have to experience for yourself to truly understand. We had beautiful weather every day, ranging from the high 60s to the mid 80s a couple of days in Seville. The Spanish people are gracious and delightful. The sangria was quite tasty, and the food was okay once we learned to translate a menu. We walked miles and miles and then walked some more, but the steps were the most delightful steps I have taken since we were in Italy last year.


My Traveling Compainons: Front left to right--D.K., Betty Aden, Paula Simmons; Back--Drew McDowell, John Brindley, Natlie Peeler, Irene Long, Debbie Woodruff, Louise Lowe, Mary Ruth Brindley, Dianne McDowell, Susan Jordon, Lisa Morehead (not pictured)

Each adult was assigned a student who was to keep up with him or her, thus the term keeper. Every time we gathered to leave for a destination, we had a count off in which the students would sound off if their adult was there and ready to depart. My keeper was Haiden Rogers, and we were #10. I must say Haiden did a great job keeping up with me. No Pisa incident this year.

The Kids: Front Left to right--Lauren Simmons, Mary Nelson Robertson, Laura Polk, Caroline Jordon, Anne Hall Brashier; Second Row--Megan Kay Donahoe, Sarah Nan Randle, Ashely Giglo, Haiden Rogers, Dylan Watson; Third Row--Morgan McDowell, Trey Donahoe, and Steve Young

Our group departed from IA at 1:30 p.m. and traveled by bus to the airport in Memphis. We arrived at 4:45 and checked our baggage and passed through security without any major incidents. I had forgotten I had a bottle water in my bag. Needless to say, that bottle was confiscated. Getting our shoes on, we headed to get something to eat and prepared to board our flight.

Waiting for the plane in Memphis. Notice how fresh we look. It won't be that way when we return!

We boarded our flight to Amsterdam at 7:00 p.m. and left the ground at 7:30. The six hour flight was awful for me. I was sitting on the inside of a five-seat aisle, no leg room or wiggle room. The food was not good, but I did manage to watch the movie, The Changling. We had a two-hour layover at Amsterdam, where we refueled and prepared to board again for Barcelona, our first stop on our trip. We endured the two hour flight, arrived at 2:30 p.m. Spain time on March 13, unloaded, claimed our baggage, and were ready to face our first day of checking out Spain.

Do You Have a Pair of Shoes?

Last week I was listening to The View (Please don’t hold my watching against me. I so do enjoy good, civil debate, although their Hot Topics sometimes are too hot and the debate is not at all civil. Anyway, I feel I am supporting Elizabeth Hasselback, if not in person, in spirit. I digress.). The ladies’ guest was Tyler Perry, who was promoting his new movie Madea Goes to Prison. I am not a fan of the Perry movies because I really have this “thing” about men who dress as women. I have watched bits and pieces of the past movies and the sitcom on television, The House of Payne, and they are good for a laugh and a lesson here and there.

However, I was more carried away with Tyler Perry, the man, instead of the actor, director and producer. From everything I have read or heard about him, he is a good person who has tried to make his way in life by truly doing the right thing. He dropped out of high school, had a tempestuous relationship with his father, and was raised by his mother. Eventually, he earned his GED and has become a respected screenwriter, actor, director, producer, and entrepreneur. Raised in New Orleans, he now resides in Atlanta and owns a production studio located there. One of his best friends is Will Smith.

Now, before I relate what he said on the show that so intrigued me, let me point out a few things from the information I just gave you. Despite the conditions in which he was raised and not using them as an excuse for failure, he has become a respectable person. He has worked hard to get where he is, he does not live in the center of the Hollywood lifestyle, and he prefers to offer his opinions about life through his movies, instead of expressing it in a loud and often offensive way that makes him seem as if he is the be all to end all (Anyone heard of Sean Penn? Bill Maher?). That Will Smith is a good friend is not bad either. Perry apparently gives back to his community by providing jobs and helping those in need.

I think it was Barbara Walters who asked Perry how his life had changed with success and he related this story:

One day Perry was out in the community and a rather ragged lady, maybe homeless, asked him if he could give her a pair of shoes. He was so touched by her question he immediately went in the studio and found her a pair of shoes. When he gave her the shoes, she said, “Thank you, Lord, for my feet not touching the ground.” Her comment made him realize how far he had come. In turn, I was so touched by the story that it stayed with me the rest of the day, and I got to thinking how appropriate her quote was for us and our relationship with God. He provides so many blessings for us on a daily basis that if we think about it, our feet never touch the ground. We are able to walk in His love and grace, being spared from the shards of glass, rocks, mud, and rough terrain that can hinder our Christian walk. Sometimes we stumble and sometimes the path is rough, but our feet never touch the ground because He is with us. It is my prayer that your feet never touch the ground, and when the going does get tough, Jesus is there to give you a pair of shoes.

I Got the Baby

I had a wonderful week-end!!! The Lalis got together for our February gabfest, pigout, gripe session week-end. We met in Madison at Lake Caroline as the guests of Donnie and Cathy at their "boat house". Everyone was well, and for sure we all have stayed busy after retirement. As matter of fact, we are not sure how we got everything done that we did while we worked full time.

Eating is one of the activities we do best. Sandra cooked us a wonderful craw fish bisque. Yum! Yum! Afterward we had desserts from the Beagle Bagel--Red Velvet Cake, Caramel Cake, Chocolate Gnosh, and Italian Cream Cake. Take your pick.

A treat for me on Saturday was my first-time eating at P. K. Chang's. Double Yum! Yum!

After lunch we browsed around Barnes and Noble and decided to go back to the lake to sit out on the dock and visit.


For supper we had a dip that is all the rage in Jackson right now, Captain Rodney's Hot Dip and a salad with my dressing. If you are not familiar with Captain Rodney's Sauce, it is a sweet and tart sauce that is really tasty. It can be bought in Greenwood at the Viking Retail Store and at the Everyday Gourmet in Jackson.


Barb who is from Meterie brought us a King Cake, with which we topped off the evening. Yep, I got the baby in my piece!!! I am going to enjoy my luck for the rest of the year.


I didn't take my camera so there are no pictures, but we are all back home now, rested, relaxed and filled. Here are a few of the recipes that we cooked this week-end:

Crab Bisque

1 pkg crawfish tails, thawed
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
2 c. half and half
1 can whole kernel corn (I add an additional can of Mexicorn)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of potato soup
1 stick butter
1 tbsp. Tony’s Creole seasoning
Red pepper to taste (about ¼ tsp.)

Combine all ingredients in crock pot and heat on low until warm.

Captain Rodney's Dip

1/2 cup mayo
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 chopped green onions
Mix these 4 ingredients and pour into a 9 X 9 greased casserole
Top with 6 crushed Ritz crackers
Back for 15-20 mins. or until bubbly

Top hot dip with 6 pieces of cooked, crumbled bacon and 1/2 cup Captain Rodney's sauce.

Dip with corn chips and enjoy!

Salad Dressing a la Edith

Mix a salad with hearts of Romain, chopped green onions, ripe olives, and tomatoes. Don't put too much in this salad, especially carrots and radishes.

Pour over the salad mixture enough olive oil to coat salad lightly. Then add the juice of one fresh lemon (if the salad serves at least six, less juice if smaller number), toss again. Then season with Cavender's seasoning to taste. Top with crunchy croutons.