Barcelona sampler

As I get myself organized to write about Barcelona, here's a taste -- consider it a tapas meal -- of our trip last week.

Ice cream pit stop along the harbor.

Finishing a long visit to the Catalan art museum.

Modernisme architecture in L'Eixample at Casa Batlló, by Antoni Gaudí.

Gathering a picnic lunch at La Boqueria market.

Cloister for the Church of Holy Conception.

Mosaic bench (360-feet long) on the terrace at Park Güell.

Surrealist painting at the Salvador Dalí Theater-Museum in Figueres.

Surrealist diapered stuffed animals on Jackson's bed in our apartment.

Cannon atop the ramparts of the castle on Montjuïc.

Shady lane at midday.

Enjoying the view from the rooftop of Casa Milà.

Romanesque art from the Catalan art museum.

Olympic Stadium on Montjuïc.

Tapas lunch at the counter.

Dragon in Park Güell.

Looking down La Rambla.

Slow-moving fish at the aquarium.

"Art" by Joan Miró.

Headed for a stroll along the beach in Barceloneta.

The Nativity facade at Sagrada Familia.

Fascinating interior of Sagrada Familia.

Swinging in the playground in front of the Passion Facade of Sagrada Familia.

A toast with milk and wine.

First birthday party in Scotland

It has been a busy week. We got back to Glasgow last night after spending a week in Barcelona, Spain. We sold our house (i.e., the sale closed) in North Carolina during our trip. And today Jack attended his first birthday party in Scotland. So there's a lot to write about. I'll start with the easiest to recap.

The toddler birthday party here in Glasgow was just like any toddler party in the U.S. That doesn't surprise me, though part of me wishes there had been some cultural differences or an unusual tradition. But this party, at least, was identical to one you might attend in the States.

About fifteen toddlers -- mostly around the age of two, though a few older and younger siblings tagged along -- gathered at a soft play center to play and then have lunch and cake. Tucked into a series of renovated and repurposed warehouses, Wonder World provides a huge room of climbing structures, mini-football and basketball court, go-karts, and slides, with several party rooms attached on the side.

Ladders and tunnels and slides covered many thousands of square feet.

We were impressed by the painted murals covering the walls.

Jackson's invitation came from Calvin, a neighbor turning two years of age. Calvin and Jackson have had a few chances to play at our nearby playground, but no regular meetings. Most of the other attendees were Calvin's classmates from daycare (it's usually called "nursery" here). Since this was one of Jackson's first real social invitations, we timed our trip to Barcelona in part to make sure we could be back for the party.

The kids -- and parents -- spent most of their time playing in the toddler area, a soft climbing and tumbling area. I think Kate and I were just as excited to play as Jackson. Adults disguise their playing by saying they're "supervising" the kiddos.

Note that while Jackson was playing on the blocks, Kate was playing (who was she "supervising"?) on the ladder in the upper right of the photo.

Jackson discovers Kate lurking in the ball pit.

At one point, Peppa Pig came out to dance and take photos with the wee ones. Jackson wanted to see her -- he's seen the television show once -- but didn't want to get too close. Then, when Peppa left, he was distraught and nearly came to tears. Yet when she showed up again in our small birthday party room, he didn't want her to come near him.

Fascinated, but not ready for a high-five.

Calvin and his guests enjoyed a lunch of pizza, pasta, chips, ice cream, and cake. I inexplicably failed to take a photo of the great firetruck cake that Calvin's parents, Viv and Andrew, made for the party. But it was a big hit with the little ones, who were entranced as soon as it entered the room. After lunch, the staff tried to get the boys and girls to play a game, but most were too young to understand and were, in any case, fading in energy after a couple hours of strenuous exercise.

Digging in to the ice cream.

As I've mentioned before, two-year olds don't generally play with each other, but rather tend to engage in what's called "parallel play" next to each other. Kids that age might throw or kick a ball to each other for a little while, or perhaps play chase, but mostly they don't spend a lot of time interacting with each other. Especially if it's not prompted by an adult. And even then they might quickly lose interest, or one of the kids will not want to share, or an intended hug might clumsily pummel the other off his feet.

But they still can develop buddies or friends with whom they feel more comfortable. After five months here, Jackson still doesn't have any truly consistent buddies. We see a lot of the same kids at a few different playgroups, but those playtimes only last a couple of hours on one or two days during the week. We've also had some playdates with a couple of kids one-on-one, which I think will continue, but they still aren't especially frequent. Meanwhile, Jackson recently has become a bit more shy. Not always -- sometimes he forgets to be shy -- but more so than in the past. I'm not sure if his shyness is just a normal phase, or if perhaps it's a reaction to not going to daycare three days a week and regularly seeing kids his age for eight or nine hours a day.

So it was a nice opportunity for Jackson to be invited to Calvin's party. I'm eager for any chance Jackson gets to play with kids his own age, and this was a fun party for everybody. Calvin and Jack are well-suited temperamentally. I'm hoping, maybe a little too much, that they can develop into genuine friends as they get older. Only time will tell.

Our first Halloween in Scotland

Halloween is not a significant holiday in Scotland. Not yet, anyway. It's not so minor as Arbor Day in the U.S. (Heck, I don't even know what day that is.) But it certainly isn't a major day of celebration. One of our Scottish friends politely told us to "enjoy your holiday." Halloween certainly isn't hers.

Most kids here don't go trick-or-treating, and if they do something for Halloween it's usually an informal gathering at a friend's or neighbor's house. Most of the houses and flats don't offer candy. Almost no one decorates. The lady who cut my hair at the barbershop said that "cheap Chinese decorations" have only recently become available -- I guess all the cheap American decorations never made it over to the U.K.? -- and large numbers of pumpkins made an appearance just a few years ago.

How can you "fill your skull with candy" if no one's offering any?

Candy pushers operate year-round here -- little kids are offered candy at shops and restaurants, by neighbors, by strangers, etc. -- but stores don't devote much space or resources for Halloween. On a daily basis, I see more kids with candy (the Scots tend to call it "sweets") than I did in the U.S.

You can find costumes, but the variety isn't huge. So when Jackson decided he wanted to be Yoda, we searched stores and came up empty.

Hello, Amazon!

Jackson hasn't seen any of the Star Wars films, of course. But he loves a Star Wars alphabet book (and a numbers book).

"I do lightsabering!"

Only one of Jackson's playgroups did anything for Halloween. And most of the kids/mothers didn't show. But those who did came in costume, were offered candy and cupcakes and juice (sugar, sugar, sugar!), colored Halloween pictures, bobbed for apples, and took home a bag of more candy.

Every girl was a princess, except one. She went as a pirate. Way cooler.

Jackson's long-sleeved costume impeded his ability to scarf sweets, so off it went.

Bobbing for apples. If by "bobbing" you mean "stabbing apples with a fork."

When I asked the mothers of Jackson's other buddies about what their kids were going to be for Halloween, most of them hadn't bothered. When I asked what time the little'uns go out -- the sun set yesterday at around 4:40 pm, so it's not like the U.S. when kids generally go out at dusk or nightfall -- I was met with blank stares. We headed out around 6:00 pm with Jackson, which worked fine.

We didn't go door-to-door on our street. Virtually none of our neighbors participated in Halloween. Instead, we went to five homes where we knew the families would be participating. One family (a Scot and a Norwegian) have a 14-month old and weren't doing anything for Halloween, but took pity on us and invited us to visit their flat and got candy just for Jackson. They didn't expect any other trick-or-treaters. We stayed for a little while, letting the boys play and nibble on candy. Then we headed to the houses of two American vet students, and finally to two houses of our Scottish neighbors who decorated for Halloween. A total of five homes.

Touring those five homes took us an hour, because at each we got invited in to chat and take pictures. It's not like in the States where you knock on the door, say trick-or-treat, collect your loot, and race on to the next house. Here, you're somewhat expected to actually have a "trick" to perform: a joke, a song, a riddle, etc. You're not knocking on the doors of strangers, so some small talk is common. Toddlers don't perform on command, so Jackson was exempt. But that meant Kate had to step in the gap -- a role for which she is well-suited. ("The mommies on the bus go chatter, chatter, chatter...")

Since there isn't as much Halloween spirit here for Jackson to enjoy, Kate and I decided to participate. I generally hate wearing costumes, but Kate found me a fantastic t-shirt and mask, and she got herself a wig:

Leia paused for a selfie before Vader took her to her cell. Nowadays, Leia wears jeans and a light hoodie rather than a cumbersome robe.

I added some rain pants and boots to my costume. And if Jackson was going to have a lightsaber, then I needed one, too! What fun are lightsabers without a foe?

Not bad, given the lack of effort I put into it.

Back at our house, we had a grand total of five kids come trick-or-treating. One was an American. Granted, we were out of the house for Jack's forays from 6:00 until 7:00 pm, so we might've missed some kids. But in a suburban area like ours, getting only five kids from 7:00 onward implies there weren't many kids total.

I wonder if some of the disinterest in Halloween is because it so closely precedes a bigger holiday here, Guy Fawkes Night. Celebrated on November 5, the holiday commemorates a failed attempt at blowing up the House of Lords (as well as King James I) with gunpowder. Nowadays, there are bonfires and large fireworks displays. Glasgow will have two fireworks displays, one on Saturday, November 2, and one on Tuesday, November 5.

We'll miss our first Guy Fawkes night because tomorrow we're flying to Barcelona for a week! Very excited. Since we'll be out of town, I expect I won't make a post until we return.

I know you'll miss me.