Starting the Second Week

Had dinner at Barcelona's only kosher restaurant, right on Las Ramblas.  Love the name.  The food is very good but nothing fancy...a combination of Israeli dishes & eastern European Jewish cooking. 

The highlight of the dinner was a wonderful visit with Shmuly, a young Israeli who sells Israeli medical devices, traveling all over.  He arrived Barcelona today, does his business tomorrow then flies back to Tel Aviv tomorrow night, less than 5 hours away.

He was sitting at the table behind, but came over to schmooze.  A delightful guy, wanted to know about Trump as most non-Yanks do.  He lost his first wife to cancer 4 years ago.  Was best man at his best friend's wedding years before that.  BF also died of cancer, so the bride from that wedding became Shmuly's bride.  Tragedy spawns good.

He keeps kosher (most Israelis don't) so that's why he's having dinner here.  I know it's nuts but Susanne & I get much more out of visits like this than from any museum.  But the Picasso Museum is on our list, got tix for Wednesday.

My philosophy: Everyone has a story...everyone!  And it just takes a bit of friendliness for each of them to tell a part of it.

Wandering around Barcelona, we came upon a large square (one of many).  Here's an old structure with a modern one built inside.  Note in the lower middle, an arch half in the sun with a second arch broken off.  How many more arches were there?   I'm sure the local archeologists know the story behind it.

I learned to spot structures like this from Robinson's Arch near the Western Wall in the old city of Jerusalem, named after the archeologist who speculated about it.

The steeple sticking out brings us to the next photo, the beautiful adjacent church.  We didn't go in because it was very crowded.

Susanne & I are really into this Spanish tapas thing.  What a delightful way to snack or grab a light meal!  Here we are on the same square where I took the above shots, hunger strikes lightly.  We implement the tapas solution...our favorite pimientos, some grilled vegetables, a shared beer & we're good to go.  Vegetarians would do very well here.

Name that veggie!  From the left...potato, tomato, zucchini/asparagus, red pepper, & two slices of eggplant.  The sauce is very mild & delicate.

<As I write this, there is a huge racket right outside our apartment door.  Judging by the multiple voices & equally numerous door slams, a family just moved in complete with a screaming monster kid that Mom can't quite get a handle on.  The downside of being just across from a two bedroom apartment.  Let's hope it's only for a day or two.>

Gawd, I'm really enjoying this fast internet!

Going out for dinner tonight, we decided to skip the tapas & head to an Irish pub.  There was a futbol game going, loud monitors, loud cheering.  Don't know who was playing.

Susanne got first dibs on the cerveza, an Irish Red...low light, slow shutter, fuzzy pic but great wife!!  Mustache permitted:

I had my Irish favorite, fish and chips with a small serving of smashed peas, a popular pub item in the UK.

And Susanne's salad, a far more artistic presentation than found back in Ireland:

At another restaurant, a serious collection of dry aged beef.  Lots of standing rib and chuck cuts.  Does NOT look appetizing in this form.

Next day.

We did our second Hatha yoga class this morning.  It's held in a very old building with an ancient graffiti-covered door, pic later.  Up the tiny lift to the 3rd floor & another antique door.  Then inside to the studio.  The teacher (professora) is Claudia (cloud-ee-uh), a wonderfully gentle lady.  There is a small shared changing room where Susanne & I along with two other ladies got ready.  We just peel off our outer layers, but the other ladies bring their yoga gear & change here.  Europeans don't have the body hangups Americans do because quite suddenly & unexpectedly, there she was...a lady in very lacy black panties.  I averted my eyes & continued on.

The yoga room is small with a beautiful knotty pine highly polished floor.  Being an old building, the floor creaked with every step, every move.  Claudia taught in Spanish, English & with Sanskrit names tossed in.  I know she mentioned downward facing dog in Spanish cuz I heard "perro".  We did more standing poses this time.   Because of our lack of yoga the last few weeks, we felt the Bern, err I mean the burn.  Had we been up with our regular vinyasa practice, this class would've been a cinch.

The savasana (final meditation pose) is long and very nice.  Claudia gently lays a cool, scented rectangular beanbag across our eyes which really sets the relaxing tone.

Anyhow, it's all very wonderful to drop into a yoga community & feel welcome.  We have three more twice-weekly classes before we leave.

We hope to get back into tango tonight.  I found a milonga within walking distance & asked our manager lady to phone ahead.  Last Saturday we just showed up to a dark room.

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A pic of a large old photo.

Just after seeing this, a real life worker transporting a thin but very wide & very tall bookcase was struggling towards rounding a blind corner where the sidewalk narrows.  Lots of pedestrians.  He saw he had a problem.  I motioned for him to stop; went ahead then directed "traffic" so he could get around without bumping into anyone.

Statistics.  You're reading the 122nd post of this blog since I started in August, 2011.  Not all were overseas, some were practice but all were fun.  And I'll continue!