Weiss Family our adventures beyond southern california

Hi friends, We have been in Barcelona for only about a week, but surprisingly, France feels like a long time ago and Santa Barbarba is a happy but somewhat distant memory. I'm still in that newly-arrived zone where the differences connected to this new country are easily noticed. For example, the daily breads continue to be great, but almost every eatery spreads the insides of their sandwiches with this tomato and olive oil mixture. It is not like our ketchup, since it is freshly made with a thicker consistency, closer to the the topping on italian bruschetta, but more finely chopped - and the kids hate it! In terms of the kids, Spain is so different than France. Nothing bad ever happened in France, but the moment we entered Spain the adults around us started interacting and joking and playing with Elijah and Natasha. Someone making silly faces with them on the Metro or a waiter bringing them a free cookie or some old lady on the steet just patting their head,. Its been so much fun. And mopping is very big here and I think it takes on symbolic dimensions in addition to the obvious cleaning needs. I often go for a run around 7:00 (to counter the effects of all the eating) and many shops are just opening up for the day. And there is someone out front mopping the threshold and the sidewalk in front of their store. The surprising thing is that often it appears to be rhe owner, a man or woman who is well-dressed and seemly quite proud to be mopping away - preparing for the day ahead. The kids just got up and my quiet free time just came to an end. Bye for now! --Joel