Barcelona Hosting and House Warming Party

My friend Carol, who brought my cat Sunset to me, has been staying with me as my first guest.  We've taken in parts of the city that she had not seen in her last visit here to Barcelona a year ago last September.  As many of you know, Carol was a work colleague of mine and when I was working there she was considered my "work wife".  One of the things we would do at work was to almost always speak to each other in Spanish whenever we saw each other, unless we were in a group with non-Spanish-speaking colleagues.

Of course we continued this custom here in Barcelona. I find that this constant practice of speaking Spanish at all times has been very helpful.  Even though I live here, during the day I may spend many hours on my own in the house or out and about.  With Carol here the quantity of time speaking Spanish has increased greatly and I find that my fluency and ease of speaking Spanish (at least with Carol) is better.

La Costa Brava

The region in Catalunya north of Barcelona is called La Costa Brava.  Carol and I decided to rent a car and visit this beautiful area, focusing on the city of Figueres, where the Salvador Dali museum is.  When we

went to the car rental office, we were given the opportunity to drive up there (about 150 kilometers) in a Smart Car.  It is quite small and we had our doubts, but we took the leap.  It turns out to be a very comfortable car (which happened to be licensed in the principality of Andorra) and it saved us a lot of gas miles.

On the way up we took the secondary roads and got to see a little of the coast and interior countryside of La Costa Brava.  We visited two stunning towns, Roses and Cadaqués and later visited the ancient monastery of St. Pere de Rodes, overlooking the Port de la Selva, thanks to the suggestions of my friend Jordi.  Roses is where the famous chef Ferran Andria had his restaurant, El Bulli, rated the world's best restaurant for four straight years before it closed in 2011.

After having lunch in Roses we drove to Caduequés, an amazing port town. Walking around the town and taking in incredible views of the sea, the port and the white-washed town, we found some comfortable chairs.at a beach bar and sipped on ice-cold water and beer.  Before arriving to Figueres, we finished the trip by visiting the monastery of St. Pere de Rodes in the sunset hours.  A beautiful setting nestled in the mountains overlooking the coastline.


Around 7:30 pm we arrived in Figueres, checked into our hotel and then took a walk around the center of the city near the museum and city hall.  It was such a pleasant evening.  The next

day we got to the Dali museum a few minutes before 9 am, when it would open, in order to buy our tickets and see the museum.  We weren't disappointed!  Dali was an artist who used many different forms of media to express himself through his art, including jewelry.

After a couple of hours, we walked back to our hotel, checked out, and drove over to Castelló d'Empúries, 9 kilometers east of Figueres.  It's a wonderful small town that was the capital of the region in the 11th century and today has preserved many of the buildings and
architecture through the centuries.

House Warming Party

Since I bought my house in June, I had planned to have a house warming party (it's called an Inauguration of the House here).  I talked with my friend Jordi about it and after counting about 35-40 people, I realized I couldn't have it all at the same time.  Jordi suggested that I break it into smaller groups.  So, last Saturday I had my first house warming party.  I invited about 20 people, a little too many for my house, but it worked.  Although a house warming party can be anything you want it to be, generally it is a dinner with lots of food, drink and cava (champagne).  This group was mostly composed of friends that I met during my many hiking outings during the Spring.  It also included some other friends including my longer-time friends Frederic, Carlos and Cesar.

I was so glad that Carol was here. She knew that I was going to host a house warming party, although at the time of her arrival, I still didn't know who I would be inviting for this first round and what kind of food we would serve.  Carol was a real help in firming up those plans and in helping me prepare the food and the house for the event.  In general, for events like these, you only invite people about a week beforehand.  The smart phone app, WhatsApp, is the usual way to communicate with friends and replaces text messaging that is used in the States.  What was amazing about this event is that every person that I invited accepted the invitation and everyone came.

The house was decked out with flowers and candles and lots of food and drink.  People started arriving

around 9 pm and about 10 of us were still here at 1:30 am.  It turned out very well.  It seemed that people really enjoyed themselves, although it was a little taxing on the air conditioning system for this many people with the warm and humid weather.  We had way too much food, but I'm a little more savvy for the next group (which I'm still not sure when that will happen).  I envision two more groups, each of which will only have around 10-12 guests.

We ended the party by going to the gay bar XXL, about 7 blocks from my house.  Carol and I didn't get home until 3:30 am!!  We had a blast but Sunday was a day of recuperation!

Holy Cat Crap!!

The BIG NEWS is that my cat Sunset is now with her daddy!!!  Thanks to the teamwork of both my ex-partner Tom and my friend Carol, last Wednesday Sunset became a trans-Atlantic and international cat.

You may be wondering how this came about.

Background

When Tom and I decided that we should separate for good we started talking about how to divide our assets, including the two cats that we owned.  Although Sunset and Sienna are sisters, they never got along.  Sunset is the smaller one, but she dominated Sienna.  They were always fighting and hissing.  It didn't make for a happy household.  So it was a no-brainer that they should be separated.  Sienna definitely had more of an affinity with Tom and Sunset seemed to gravitate toward me, so that decision also was pretty simple - I would get Sunset and Sienna would stay with Tom.

Delay

Of course, when I came to Spain in March, I had no permanent location.  The first 20+ days was in an

AirB&B apartment and then 2 months in a rented room.  I definitely couldn't have a cat with me during that time.  Tom had to keep Sunset with him during the last five and a half months.  Tom told me various times that the fighting between the two cats only seemed to get worse over this course of time.  None of them (including Tom) were happy campers.

Process

So what does it take to bring a cat to Spain from the U.S.?  Luckily the person who translated my original documents into Spanish also worked for the Agriculture Department for the Embassy of Spain in Washington D.C.  She directed me to webpage with the steps I needed to take to transport Sunset here.  Spain does not require a quarantine for house pets.  What it does require is that the pet be microchipped.  Sunset already had an imbedded microchip.  Then the pet needs to be checked by a USDA certified veterinarian a maximum of 10 days before the cat arrives to Spain.  The Vet fills out the official document and signs it.  Then that document has to be sent to a USDA office to certify the document.  Since one only has 10 days or less to do this, it usually has to be shipped overnight, in this case to Richmond, to get it back in time before the pet flies to Spain.

Travel Mode

When I first started talking about having Sunset follow me a few months after I would arrive in Barcelona, I was pleasantly surprised when my friend and then-colleague Carol offered to bring Sunset with her to Barcelona.  Carol already had plans to visit me.  The icing on the cake was her offer to take the cat with her.  I would buy a carry-on cage that could fit under the seat in front of her and she would carry the cat with her in the cabin.  Sunset is only 6 pounds so that would not be an issue.  After hearing a number of horror stories of pets that were stored with luggage in the storage compartment of a jet, I really did not want to subject Sunset to that difficult experience.  I was so happy that Carol would bring the cat personally to Barcelona.  Bringing a pet on-board limited Carol's options of airline carriers that permit international travel with pets in the cabin, but she found that United allowed for this kind of travel.  I had to pay for Sunset's ticket, which was $125 - not bad for a 4,000 mile flight.

Arrival

On Wednesday, August 28, Carol and Sunset arrived safely at El Prat airport in Barcelona.  There were no issues.  Sunset can be a little chatty, especially when she is in a cage.  So Carol gave her a half of a tranquilizer pill to calm her down.  There were no issues on either leg of the trip nor in the airports.  No one seemed concerned about Carol carrying a cat with her on-board.  In fact, when she arrived at the Barcelona airport, she had to get the attention of a customs agent to let her know that she was arriving with a cat.  The agent seemed to be more interested in the make of Carol's handbag than in the cat, but she finally did review the paperwork that cost over $300 in vet bills and document shipping costs and gave her the official stamp of approval.  It was wonderful to see Carol walk through the doors and it was a very happy reunion to be able to touch and hold Sunset again.

Adjustment Period

I always felt that of the two, Sunset would be able to adjust  better to the stress of travel and be in a new environment.  She was pretty fearless compared to Sienna, who was more skittish.  But I started to have my doubts during the first couple of days.  Sunset immediately hid herself behind the washing machine or under the bed.  It was difficult to coax her out.  She wasn't eating hardly any of the dry food that she was used to in the beginning (although she did chow down some wet food that I gave her) and the litter box and the litter itself was very different and I didn't know if she would have problems with that.

She did start to use the litter box, and finally she had her first poop.  Success!!!  Slowly but surely she began to explore more of the house.  The amount of noise that she was hearing from the streets seemed to freak her out.  But in a few days she seemed okay with that.  She was spending more time out on the balcony, something she had never experienced before (being outside on her own, that is).

Furniture and Scratching

I bought a number of cat products for Sunset, including a scratching post.  Up until now she has not used the post.  But having purchased some leather furniture, I wanted to be sure that she would not use the leather sofa as a scratching post.  So, before Chris came this summer, I purchased a product called Soft Paws and Chris brought it with him.  They are soft rubber claw coverings which you use glue to attach to the cat's front paws.  A friend of mine used it for his cat a few years ago and I thought I would give it a try here.

By now Sunset seemed to be pretty comfortable with her surroundings.  So with Carol's help, I decided  to put on the soft paws.  She was not very happy and afterwards she immediately ripped off one of them.  But I quickly put on another one and then spent some time playing with her and distracting her so that she would get used to the feel.  So far so good!  And they look great on her - gold sparkle nails!!!




Other News

Carol is my first house guest.  She broke in the guest bed and the guest bedroom.  I think she is pretty comfortable in the apartment. She is a fluent Spanish speaker and she is meeting some of my friends here and seems to be enjoying herself with the language, culture and food.

Coincidentally, an ex-colleague of mine, Doug, who had retired 10 years before me, has been staying here in Barcelona for the month of August.  He previously was living in Florence, Italy for a number of months.  We met a few times earlier this month and one last time with Carol, who also knew Doug when he worked at the OCC.  He is seriously considering relocating to Barcelona come April.  It was great to spend some time with both him and Carol together.

Carol, Doug and me at Restaurante Mirador in Montjuic

European Travel and Meditation Retreat

One of the many advantages of living in Barcelona is the ease of traveling to many countries within Europe and beyond and to do so inexpensively.  However, this year for me has been about getting settled in this amazing city, setting up my home, getting to know my neighborhood, deepening my ability to speak the language (first Spanish and then Catalan), and establishing and expanding my network of friends.

August - the Vacation Month

The city in essence closes shop during the month of August.  Yes, some businesses are open.  You can still find food to purchase, the metro still runs (although many repairs are made during this month making some sections of some lines inoperable), and there are restaurants, although fewer, that are open.  Where is everyone?  Except for the tourists who are on vacation in Barcelona, and that population grows exponentially in August, many residents are on vacation, either in other regions in Spain or in other parts of Europe.

And so I too looked to see where I might travel in August.  I wanted to spend time with my long-time friend

Carlos and visit Galicia (see prior post), a region I had gone to a number of times when I lived in Valladolid, Spain, but I hadn't visited in over 30 years.  I also wanted to take some time to get away and reflect on my journey so far since moving to Barcelona and to reconnect to my meditation practice in a supportive environment.  What better way to travel to another country, have some time of reflection, and deepen my meditation practice then by participating in a week-long meditation retreat at Dechen Choling, a Shambhala land center in the picturesque countryside of St Yrieix sous Aixe near Limoges, France, in the southwestern part of the country.

Life is Ceremony Retreat

I took an 8 hour train ride, including changing trains in Perpignan, to get to Limoges, where a van was there to pick me and others up and take us to Dechen Choling, a 20 minute ride.  What a beautiful setting for a retreat!  The chateau, the stables, the green fields of grass and corn with horses and cattle, very tranquil and far, far away from any city, so much so that at night you can see the Milky Way.

The meditation retreat was entitled Life is Ceremony. When I mention going on a meditation retreat to friends, I inevitably get the question - what do you do on these retreats?  Well, every retreat is different.  In this one, the emphasis is on how to live one's life consciously, intentionally, with purpose and a sense of appreciation, whether I am by myself or with others.  It included times of mindfulness awareness meditation and talks given by the main teacher of Shambhala, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, and one of Shambhala's senior teachers, Adam Lobel.It also included body practices such as yoga and Qi Gong as well as workshops, of which I chose one that allowed me to explore in depth   "Creating Yourself, Creating Your World" through intentional creative expressions using calligraphy, the voice and body movement.  

What I love about Shambhala is its emphasis on discovering one's own basic goodness through the practice of meditation.  Although I've been exposed to this teaching since day 1 over 5 years ago, it was at this retreat that I have allowed this message to penetrate me and actually experience and feel it more and more throughout my day.  Since childhood, especially in the religion I grew up in, I was told I am basically flawed, fundamentally inadequate and that I needed to either fight with myself to improve myself or "cover up" these flaws and inadequacies and hide them from others in order to get ahead in this world.

This message is reinforced by Western culture through the media, school and work.  Regardless of my past experience, however, I can get to know my true self and make friends with myself.  Meditation is a great way to do that.  Then, with eyes open and fully present, I can appreciate myself and my world as I "soak" myself in basic goodness.


I found the people at this retreat to be quite fascinating and very open and friendly.  They came from all over - France, Spain, England, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Mexico, and the U.S. - over 200 of us.  I had a Dutch tent mate and spent some of my free time with a great group of English women.  The evenings were quite chilly and I was so reluctant to slip out of my sleeping bag in the mornings.  But all in all, it was a fantastic retreat.  And to top it off, on the train ride back I was able to spend half of the time with an English fellow who was on the retreat.  We talked about some very profound topics as well as shared some very personal things going on in our lives.

I will certainly be back to Dechen Choling in the near future!

In A Couple of Days.....

My friend Carol will be visiting me from the Washington DC area.  She has also been very kind to bring with her my cat Sunset.
I have been separated from my cat for almost 6 months.  It will be great to have her back with me and to spend time with Carol during her two week stay here.

Galicia - The Pacific Northwest of Spain (but first Sitges)

As you probably know, August is the time when most Europeans take their vacation.  Barcelona is filled with tourists and the Barceloneses want very little to do with them, unless they're in the tourist industry.  Many shops, businesses and restaurants close for some or all of the month.

But there are those who choose not to (or can't) take their vacation during August.  So my friend Jordi organized an afternoon trip last week to see the hidden treasures of Sitges, a gay destination spot that thousands of tourists go for beach, sun and partying.  But most miss out on the beauty of the art and architecture of this charming pueblo.  Last Tuesday eight of us went to experience some of the modernist architecture at Hotel Romantic and at the Museu Romantic (you may catch a theme here), ending with a brief dip in the Mediterranean.

 
 

My Trip to Galicia

It's been 35 years since I last visited Galicia, a region in Spain's northwest corner of the country.  Like the Pacific Northwest, it is very green because of the amount of rainfall it receives during most of the year.  The last time I was there was with the Christian group, The Navigators, where they had a ministry in Santiago de Compostela, and I would go up with the Valladolid group for joint meetings and retreats.

And just like the Pacific Northwest, the summer, especially August, is mostly sunny and the beaches are very inviting.  Well, not this time during the days of my visit.  But that did not stop my delight in enjoying this beautiful area of Spain.  The main reason for that is because I was visiting my long-time friend Carlos, who lives in Valladolid, and his partner Maria.  Maria lives near Santiago and Carlos rents an apartment every August for the month in a small village called Queiruga, on the Atlantic coast, just south of the Ria de Muros y Noia.  Carlos has been going to this area for decades, is an avid wine connoisseur, and knows Galicia like the back of his hand.  Galicia is known for its food and its wine and we indulged in both of those throughout my 6 days there as well as visited some very memorable sights.  I also got to know his partner Maria, a very wonderful and sweet woman and who is the apple of Carlos' eye.

Wine Bodegas

I had visited a few bodegas in California. They were very commercialized and felt similar to having tours at well-known factories, lining up: getting canned lectures and going through their gift stores at the end of the tour.  I am sure there are many, many smaller bodegas that I never got to visit there, but the three bodegas I visited in Galicia were simply extraordinary, especially with Carlos and his friends setting up these visits.  All of them were personal visits with the owners, hearing them talk about their passion and philosophy of cultivating the land, growing the grapes, working with the soil, temperature, light, and water.  They all stressed the importance of intervening in the wine-making process as little as possible, not using chemicals, and allowing the grape of that particular year to express itself.


I learned about the grapes in this particular region, Las Rias Baixas, and the types of grapes that are known in this area: Albariño, Dona Branca, Mencía, & Merenzao, among others.  I got to smell and taste these wines and to discover how my sense perceptions discover how these wines open up with the swirling of the wine in the glass or tasting the same type of grape but from different years.  Carlos would also take me aside and explain to me in detail the steps that are taken from picking the grapes, gently extracting the juice, using yeast (preferably the vineyards' particular yeasts and not commercialized ones) to ferment the juice, keeping the fermented juice from mixing with other batches that were picked days later until the whole fermentation process is complete, the affect of storing the wine in barrels for some period of time, to the continued process of the evolution of the wine taste while in the bottle.  It was all very fascinating and I felt privileged for a neophyte such as myself to participate in these discussions (mostly as a listener).  I also drank some really good wines!  Some from the bodegas and others from Carlos' massive stock of various whites and reds.

Galician Food

OMG!!!  The food!!  Out of this world!  That's it in a nutshell.  Galicia is known for its seafood.  It is so fresh and so good.  I had all types of seafood, ranging from shrimp and langostinos, mussels, different kinds of cockle, different kinds of clams to octopus, served in many different ways.  But they also have delicious meats: veal, beef, pork and ox in generous portions.  Other dishes included "revueltos" (a form of scrambled eggs) mixed with vegetables or seafood.  And the desserts are to die for: Santiago cake (made from almonds), a fresh cheese cake, and a delicious caramel cake with ice cream.  I'm missing it already!!

Some Sights

Carlos, Maria and I visited the Castro de Baroña, an ancient settlement from 1 BC to 1 AD, at the mouth of the Ria de Muros y Noia.  We went to the town of Noia, a delightful town on the sea and had some wonderful meals there.  We spent one day in Santiago de Compostela and visited the cathedral and the lively streets in the city center among the hundreds of pilgrims that walk to Santiago from various countries and routes.  We also visited the towns of Quiroga, Cambados, and Porto do Son.

Our last afternoon, after we visited the bodega in Ribeira Sacra, Carlos took us to the Monastario de Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil, in the middle of the Galician mountains in the provence of Ourense.  What Carlos didn't tell us was that this is a luxurious "parador" with amazing architecture and views.  A parador is a government-sponsored inn, usually in a scenic or historic location and offers lodging and meals at reasonable prices. As you can tell from the pictures below, it was to die for.  I quickly looked up the price for the three of us to stay that evening.  They had a room for only 125 euros which also included breakfast!  But I couldn't get Carlos and Maria to bite on that one.

Upcoming Week

On Saturday I will be in France at a one week meditation retreat.  I'll pick up on my blog site the Monday after I get back, on Aug 25.

Progress in the Home, Broken Elevator, and Toilets

This week a hodgepodge of things have occurred.  I'll start with the house and the progress I am

making.  All the major furniture has been delivered!  The last piece, a long, low piece for the TV set, had its issues when the installers said they couldn't attach it to the brick wall, which was needed to make it stable.  After they left I went to the local hardware store, talked with the manager/owner there and decided that it could be done.  I bought an electric drill and attached the metal piece to the wall that would be attached to the furniture.  Success!!  The TV and other items are now in their proper places.

 My bedroom closet is now done!  I contracted with a handyman directly to put in shelves and clothes hanger poles because the company that had done the painting and repair work for the house was asking too much for the closet.  I had worked with this handyman before.  We had some delays with getting the right materials but he came on Monday morning with an assistant.  Of course things do not go as planned and he needed to replace some items that did not fit.  They stayed until 10 pm that evening, but I now have a closet to put the clothes that were sitting in the wardrobe boxes that I had shipped to myself.  Little did I know until that day that the handyman was going back to Peru for 2 months for vacation!  So I'm glad it was all completed before he left.

With that work completed, I was able to unpack the rest of my boxes that I had shipped from the US.  I feel that was a huge step forward.  In some of those boxes were some art objects, like Native American pottery and the like, that I see now that my place does not have the surface space yet to put those out.  They are now in the hallway closet.  I will be looking for some smaller furniture pieces to complement what I already have, which will give me some additional storage and I'll have a place for these art objects.

My Building - Broken Elevator

Did I tell you that I am on the 4th floor, which is really the 5th floor?  On Friday I discovered that the elevator wasn't working.  Although a number of neighbors are on vacation (it's August, of course!), I knew there was at least one neighbor on my floor and a neighbor above me that were here.  I assumed they or others would call to get the elevator repaired, since I was the newest property owner in the building.  Well, I assumed wrong.  On Saturday the elevator was still not working.  That day I talked with another neighbor who just got from vacation and asked about it.  He said that I should call the administrator of the community association, a company that manages the maintenance of the building.  On weekends they're closed.  He also said that I shouldn't assume that a neighbor will call and when I realize there is a problem with the elevator, that I should call.  Five flights are not fun to walk up, especially during the heat of the Barcelona summer!

I went to the beach with some friends on Sunday.  On Monday morning, around 11:30 am, I did call the building administrator, but I assumed by now someone else had called.  I found that she was on vacation (no surprise there).  When I explained that I was one of the owners in my building and that the elevator was broken, the person who answered the phone said that no one had yet called about this issue.  Really??  I was surprised but was glad I called.  Within an hour someone came to check on the elevator.  I also asked if there is a number to call when this happens again and their office is closed.  He said he would talk to the administrator when she gets back from vacation and post some numbers to call in case of these types of emergencies.

UPDATE:  The elevator is working again.  Yeah!!

Successfully Flushing My Toilet

When Chris was here, he commented on the differences between American and European toilets.  The main difference is that the American toilet has a large reservoir of water sitting in the basin whereas the European

toilet has a very small reservoir.  To my knowledge, the rationale to not have much water in the basin is so

that when dropping turds, the water does not splash on you.  The downside of having little water in the toilet basin is that the crap will many times hit the side, stick and won't clean itself on its own when you flush.  I would prefer risking getting splashed on to the alternative, but I don't have a choice here.  So, I have now developed the skill of flushing.  At the time of the flush I always have the toilet scrubber in my hand as my other hand is flushing the toilet.  As the water descends, I quickly scrub off any crap that is sticking and then wash off the scrubber under the falling water.  I know - TMI!  But it is a skill I have now acquired.  Later, I may look into changing this toilet for one that has more flushing action on the sides of the basin, which I have seen in some homes.