aventuras familiares

ay, que tiempo sin verles!

since my last post, i have been busy showing my friends and family around madrid! our first visitors arrived 2 weeks ago today. friends traveled from london, paris, venice, and los estados unidos to come see us and our beautiful city. lauren and i did our best to show everyone a good time (ie lots of sangria from lateral and chocolate napolitanas from la mallorquina), and we were so excited to finally share madrid with everyone else so that they could start to understand why we enjoy living here so much.

then on the following saturday, my family arrived (along with a 10 pound challah from mema)! i could not have been happier to see them (this sharply contrasts with my previous feelings about my family, particularly a time during my teenage years while my phone played beethoven's 5th whenever one of them called). although my cab driver got lost trying to go to arrivals when i went to fetch them from the airport (apparently he was only a seasoned traveler when it comes to departures at madrid barajas), i was finally reunited with bill, lisa, and little hannah. immediately after seeing them, it became clear that this was going to be no different than any other family vacation, as they were accompanied by a giant bag of american snacks (probably enough cheez-its and thin mints to feed a small african country) and were yelling at each other. nevertheless, i was still excited they were there. the three of them spent their first four days in madrid touring all the usual suspects and feeding their newfound love for jamón while i was in class and then on wednesday night the four of us left for barcelona.

while in madrid, my parents were all but subtle about telling me how terrible the hotel was that i put them up in (meanwhile, i've been staying in hostels and sharing people's beds, so it seemed like the effing palacio real to me), and were immediately relieved when we arrived at our posh hotel in barcelona. i told my parents that if madrid is new york, then barcelona is miami, and this analogy was very clear once we began to take in our beachy, modern surroundings. that first night, my parents went to bed at an early 1 am while hannah and i went out and explored our neighborhood (ate at a great tapas bar). from our short excursion, we knew it was going to be a great weekend in barcelona. the next day was bill's 35th birthday, so we celebrated with cod croquetas at the boqueria, this unreal open-air market. the amount of fresh produce, meat, and cheese put central market to shame and would be any foodie's dream (personally i was into the willy-wonka-esque candy stand, but hey, it was bill's bday). after breakfast/snacktime, we went to see park güell, one of the many works in the city designed by the famous architect, gaudí. lucky for us, the weather was beautiful and we were able to get a great view of the entire city from the top of what is now my 2nd favorite park (nothing beats retiro). then we went to a celebratory lunch at a place called the champagnería, a tiny, unmarked, hole-in-the wall bocadillo bar that only serves delicious sandwiches with bottles of cava, spanish champagne. needless to say, it was one of the favorite stops of the weekend. then we walked along the port before taking a siesta to prepare for the big bday dinner, which consisted of the most incredible paella i have ever eaten (if you haven't figured it out by now, us kleinmans love to eat).

although it was difficult to top our first day in barcelona, we did our best the next day with a tour of the sagrada familia. this cathedral has been under construction since the 1800s, and part of the appeal is that while touring the cathedral, you get to literally see them building it. they say that it is going to be finished in about 20 years (mañana, mañana, as they say in spain). for dinner that night, julie g. met us (she was traveling in barcelona as well) and we took a recommendation from my uncle max, my dad's youngest brother and food enthusiast. knowing only that it was recommended by max and that the name of it was "hisop", i had a feeling that this was about to be some sort of crazy dining experience of food and art. my instincts were correct, and we were served things like smoked tuna over aubergine compote and chocolate covered in truffle. bill's personal favorite was the tonic gelatin with gin spritzer (aka fancy jello shots). lisa managed to complain throughout the whole dinner about how she would rather have last night's paella again than have this "culinary experience" for dinner (she is not exactly epicurious) but personally i enjoyed our foodie meal (my friend tex, who never ceases to tell me how often he dines at the french room (once a year for christmas, if you were wondering) would have truly appreciated this experience. tex, i had scallops with truffles over some sort of bacon in a watercress soup and it was exquisite!).

the moral of the story is that i had a great time in spain with my family and i miss them already. this week in madrid, the healthcare bill passed and no one here cared, and lauren and i somehow magically convinced maruja to put us on a dieta ligera in preparation for our semana santa (spring break) trip to italy and paris where we will literally be eating our way through europe. highlights from our meals have included cut-up fruit drenched in orange juice and vegetable soup (hey, beggars can't be choosers) and we are feeling a little bit lighter so that we can proceed to stuff ourselves with pasta, crepes, and gelato. mmmm. more updates after our eurotrip!

besos!