16 Sunday Jun 2013
On the terrace: (from left) Sybil, Louise, Jeanette, Luisa, Vicens, Gerard, Tom, Moira, Steve. (Click to enlarge)
We invited some friends over last night to show off introduce my daughter Sybil, who has traveled across nine time zones to visit with her father on Father’s Day this year. There was plenty of cava, Louise’s magic chicken pie, and a $30 orange cake that lasted barely five minutes before the celebrants reduced it to crumbs.
That’s my girl!
12 Wednesday Jun 2013
Let’s take stock: we’ve taken you to the Costa Brava multiple times; we’ve introduced you to our friends; we’ve hiked to the hills, walked the wall, and rented bikes; we’ve even told you how we make phone calls and get mail. What’s left to talk about?
10 Monday Jun 2013
Posted in Travel
Way back last year, before embarking on this adventure, we did a month-long research project on the feasibility of expathood. We did this in the charming and obscure town of Collioure, France, just north of the Spanish border on the Mediterranean. (Read all about it here.) The goal was to see if we could stand:
07 Friday Jun 2013
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
One of the things I do to while away the time – while I’m cleaning the kitchen, for example, which it seems I’m always doing – is listen to podcasts. And one of my favorite podcasts is called Radiolab, self-described as “…a show about curiosity. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience.” In short, Radiolab has no particular subject nor format; but it gets the dishes done.
Although Radiolab usually measures an hour, they occasionally feature what they call “shorts,” which are what you would expect them to be: short podcasts – far shorter than the usual hour.
Which took me far off topic, and I haven’t even introduced the topic yet.
This is an Expat Almanac “short.” A brief little tidbit of a post. The Spanish would say “un poquito posta.” I like that.
Oh yes, the topic: How we get our mail.
05 Wednesday Jun 2013
The New Orleans Big Head float at the Tournament of Roses Parade, 2008. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
There are more places than you would think that are into big heads. The Tournament of Roses Parade (above) comes to mind. Portland’s Rose Festival (my home town) comes to mind too. New Orleans, Ann Arbor, Vancouver – they all have parades with big heads. It’s a Big Head epidemic.
03 Monday Jun 2013
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Tossa de Mar as it appeared in the 1940s or 1950s.
Tossa de Mar has been home for somebody since the Neolithic days, continuously populated through the early Iberians to the Romans … and now we’re only up to 100 BC.
So Vila Vella enceinte, the ancient walled city located within Tossa de Mar and the only fortified medieval town still standing on the coast of Catalonia, is a journey back in time – way back (Vila Vella was built in 1200 BC). On the first summery day of the season, we climbed up the hill with our friends Vicens and Jeannette to wander within and on top of the ancient walls.
01 Saturday Jun 2013
Posted in Accommodations, Travel
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We Americans suffer unnecessarily when it comes to cell phones. Things are changing, but there is resistance. And why shouldn’t there be? There’s money to be had!
30 Thursday May 2013
Panorama of Girona taken from the wall’s north tower. Click to enlarge (all photos).
During recorded history, Girona has undergone twenty-five sieges and has been captured seven times. Defending against the bad guys has been the name of the game since the First Century BC, when the Romans began construction of a wall around the city. Over the years the wall was fortified: slots were added to accommodate bows with arrows; towers were built to house heavier artillery; the wall kept getting higher.
28 Tuesday May 2013
Posted in Travel
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People in Girona often ask us “Why three months in Girona?” True, if we were just visiting landmarks and museums in the city, that would take about three days. While some people travel for art and some for food, we are in it for the people. We stay a long time in order to make relationships that we hope will be enlightening and longstanding. We are curious and communicative by nature and profession; we like to learn about the world through the people that live here. But only if we really like hanging out with them as well.
27 Monday May 2013
Posted in Travel
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Does Martha Stewart still say, “It’s a good thing”? Hearing her say that on her TV show soured me on the expression forever, yet there are so many occasions when I could use the phrase. This is one of them.
The Expat Almanac 