Laurel Academy

Although it's hard for me to believe, we've been in Barcelona for almost a full month! We've gotten to know the geography of the city pretty well during that time. We're comfortable taking the metro, and even the bus, wherever we want to go. We are making progress on learning Spanish and have a much easier time expressing ourselves and understanding others in common social situations, like ordering at a restaurant (where, by the way, the menus are often in Catalan and not Spanish). But there are some elements of Spanish culture that are significantly different from what we're used to in the U.S. that are harder to get used to.  First, the siesta. From what I understand nobody actually naps during siesta, but it is the case that businesses tend to close for several hours during the mid-afternoon. So, from around 2:00-5:00 p.m., you may not be able to go to a particular store or shop. This hasn't been a huge problem for us because we haven't had urgent spec...

Our first full weekend here Ryan, Matt, and I explored Barcelona's Gothic Quarter. It was enchanting. The streets are narrow and windy and it's very easy to get turned around and lost, but that's perfect because I can't think of anywhere I'd rather just walk around and explore. The pictures I've posted here don't begin to communicate how fascinating and beautiful this neighborhood is. It's like walking around in a real-life renaissance fair (but nobody's in costume). There are tons of cool shops and cafes and bars and tapas restaurants and a number of old and historically significant churches. I plan to come back to this neighborhood many, many times during our stay here. Drum parade for St. Eulalia Festival Plaça Reial Plaça Reial Barcelona Cathedral "Bishop's Bridge" near Barcelona Cathedral Barcelona Cathedral Barcelona Cathedral More Barcelona Cathedral More  Plaça de Sant Jaume Not s...

I meant to post more frequently in this blog, but I guess we have been busy (or I have been lazy)! We are slowly settling into something of a routine. Last week we did more formal homeschool lessons, but we still took time to be tourists and explorers in our new city. On Monday we went to the beach, at Will's request. Barcelona sits right on the Mediterranean and its beaches are beautiful. We compromised with the kids, who never want to walk anywhere, by walking downhill to the beach and then taking the metro back home after. The walk allowed us to see a number of interesting sights, but it was longer than we expected and we were pretty ready to be there by the time we hit the beach. Because it's February the beach was mostly deserted, which was nice. But of course the ocean was cold, which disappointed Will. I don't know exactly what he was expecting, but he didn't swim for long. Nonetheless, we enjoyed sitting in the sun on the sand and relaxing after our walk. We ski...

I decided that it would be okay to take the first week kind of easy, in terms of official schooling. After all, everything we do here is a learning experience! On Monday we were lucky to have the company and guidance of our Airbnb host, Fiona, and her kids (aged very similarly to ours) all day. They are Australian, so there is no language barrier between us. We attempted to take care of some official residency-related business, but in typical Spanish-bureaucracy fashion (I am told), we did not succeed. More on that later, I have no doubt. Over the course of the morning we took the metro, bus, and and our feet all over the couple of miles near our house. It was great to be with people who knew the area because they pointed things out and told stories along the way. However, it didn’t help my navigating skills because I just followed them. There are a number of places we went with them on Monday that I have no idea how I would find again. But that’s okay—we will discover them again as we...

We arrived in Barcelona yesterday morning at around 6:30 a.m., local time, after a flawless travel experience. It just couldn’t have gone more smoothly. We drove in a rental car to JFK, made it in plenty of time, and had a short wait to get to security. The logistics of going through security with four sets of shoes to take off and laptops, iPads, etc. to take out of bags was the most stressful part of it all, but a nice TSA agent apparently took pity on me and tapped me and the kids to go through the simple metal detector instead of the full x-ray scanner. Once we got to the gate the kids complained that we had to wait an hour before boarding, but that’s because they’re spoiled American children with no appreciation for how much worse everything could have gone. But they were as happy as could be once we got on the plane and they experienced the vast options for the in-flight entertainment. I confess I was pretty impressed, myself. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a long flig...