Ginge and Dave in Barcelona

My parents came to Barcelona for 5 days! We had a wonderful time, and I showed them all of my favorite parts of Barcelona! I insisted that we see everything on foot, and I may have underestimated the huge size of the city. After my parents had been awake all night on the airplane, I decided to show them the main areas of the city. Throughout the "walking tour," I heard several weak attempts to ask for rest and relaxation, but I was so caught up in the excitement that I thought there were just being silly. It wasn't until I sat down at my class later in the afternoon and realized that even I was sweating and exhausted from all of the walking. I think that we probably walked about 6km before I finally gave them a break. Sorry mom and dad!!!

The excitement was only heating up though because it wasn't but a mere 3 hours after their arrival that my mother was pick pocketed in the metro. It was quite terrible because the gypsy girl stole everything that was in my mother's wallet, including both her and my father's passports, new health insurance cards, Visas, even my father's wedding ring which he had taken off moments before. (I know what you're thinking, "Dave, were you trying to hit on the Spanish women?" The answer to the removal of the wedding ring is much less exciting. The culprit- arthritis) However, after an emotional upheaval on my mother's part, we went back to the train station and with the help of a very funny metro policeman, found the discarded wallet with EVERYTHING inside except the cash. After another emotional upheaval from my mother, we gathered our wits and set out to explore more of Barcelona.

On Friday, Megan, myself, and my parents went to Tibidabo for the day. Together we scampered around the amusement park like little children. Highlights included when my dad got involved with "jumping pictures."

Saturday, we spent about 3 hours getting to Montserrat (it should not take this long, but I have wonderful navigational skills) and got to see the beautiful monastery and saw quite a handful of monks. Later that evening, we went back to our home stay for a "regular" dinner. My parents were so scared that the communication was going to be awkward with my host parents, considering.... they don't speak English. However, upon my parent's arrival, Ginge and Dave were greeted with perfect English. Turns out this whole frustrating language immersion thing has been a ploy by Elisabet and Ricard. The bad thing is Meg and I have thought for 2 months now that we can speak freely because "hey, no one can understand us." Yeah, we were definitely wrong. Guess that's why we don't get fried pork at dinner anymore!

The evening was so fun though and was filled with more food that has ever been present in that household. We also celebrated Megan's birthday, so she was crowned with a birthday hat and given cake and gifts! The meal was a feast that lasted for several hours and ended with a dance party to Keith Urban. Please check out and laugh at the video... just search for "fiesta dancing with the families" on You Tube. The costumes are a regular occurrence and need no explanation other than ridiculousness.