Semana Santa 2010

Back from a blogging hiatus. On Good Friday, Fernando's relative, Blanca, invited us to her nearby town of Badalona to catch a glimpse of the Holy Week processions. Holy Week in Spain, especially in Andalucía, is especially celebrated with solemn processions of cloaked penitents and, more particularly, pasos. These are lifelike painted wooden sculptures of individual scenes of the events that happened between Jesus' entry in Jerusalem and his burial, or images of the Virgin Mary showing restained grief for the torture and killing of her son.

In Badalona, the processions are thought to be more humble and less elaborate as in other parts of Spain. Nevertheless, a blessed sight!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

And we're off! Paloma's new thing is taking off her socks constantly.

The locals gather for the upcoming pasos.
The first one is the Cristo del Perdón, being led by a cofradía of women, which is uncommon.
A neighbor takes a peep at the approaching pasos.
Up next: Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza junta a María Magdalena y San Juan Bautista (Our Lady of Hope next to Mary Magdalene and John the Baptist).

The lovely Blanca with Sweet P.
These masked men, or costaleros, push the float along. Although in some places, they are under the platform carrying the paso along the route.Jesus and His mother upclose.
Paloma admires the decorative scenes.

And the band played on...
Head for the hills! We're about to get lynched! Wait, no...these are nazarenos, members of a brotherhood who wear these cone-shaped headwear, symbolizing repentance and grief. Phew!
Veronica shows the image of Jesus' face in her veil.
Cristo Yacente (Lying Christ).
More costaleros dressed in a darker garment.
Penitentes are repenting of their sins carrying one or more crosses over shoulder, and some may walk barefoot through the streets.
Kids aren't excluded from the procession either, sans cross.
The cross carried at the front indicates the beginning of the procession of another cofradía.
An elderly lady in her mantilla.
More lovely ladies of lace.
The last - Virgen de la Soledad.These garments look more dramatic.

The capataz directs the costaleros and also offers them encouragement.
Throngs of spectators had filled the streets to celebrate this traditional and special ritual.
A triple threat of Ruizes.
Afterward, Blanca prepared a scrumptious, scrumptious dinner for us.

And to end it all...homemade torrijas! A dessert very similar to French toast that is particularly prepared and eaten during these Semana Santa festivities. Sluuuurrp! Thanks, Blanca for the fun time and delicious dinner!

Feliz Noveno Cumplemes!

Our baby is now 9 months old, which is not one year but still feels very significant. That means she's spent the same amount of time in utero and out of utero. That means there's three months left of infancy before she hits toddlerhood. Or, if you count one and a half as the age of toddlerhood, that means she's halfway there! I can't help but grieve over a closing infancy stage, but I know she'll be on to more exciting developments. Right? How does one capture these precious moments of babyhood in your heart? It's all happening too quickly. Soon she'll be asking for the keys to my car. Ahhhh!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Dad and babe are all smiles.

We spend many evenings shooting the breeze.

This door bouncer doesn't fit our too-narrow door frame (which was a gift. Grrrr...), so we occasionally bring it out for fun and just hold the straps. She loves the new, crazy sensation of walking.
Paloma's looking quite mature here. Nooooo!

Teeth numbers 5 and 6 are coming in!

I realized that there's not a huge market on teething biscuits here. They use day-old bread! And it works just fine.

Me and Sweet P share a pre-bathtime hug.

This was an awesome moment the first time she clapped by copying us. Yay! Bravo!

She can also match socks! Okay, maybe not. What's wrong with shooting high?She prefers just to eat her own socks for now.

We're also working on waving "bye/adiós".

And introducing....the Spring 2010 Swimsuit Collection! Our model is donning a one-piece swimsuit that has a magenta square cut neckline and a low leg opening. It comes in rose pink with a prominent strawberry pattern.

The two toned back complements a decorative front.
She longs for the soft white sands of the Mediterranean Sea.

In our next outfit, our model is sporting a cyan and cherry blossom pink one-piece suit with a jewel neckline. The floral and butterfly print make for that feminine, flirtatious look.

The deep V back cut and gathered bow accentuate our model's slim shoulders. The ruffle trim along the straps create a flutter sleeve effect.

These suits actually have a purpose than trying to make our daughter look cute. We finally signed up for baby swim classes starting next week. Wish us luck...I'm a horrible swimmer, so I hope my girl takes to the water much better than I did as a little one.

Until next time, friends!

A Foodie's Heaven

We cherish our local food market, Mercat de Provençals. The region of Catalunya has a rich gastronomic culture, having a network of food markets scattered throughout the different neighborhoods. Locals flock to these markets, where a little squeezing through and bartering are not uncommon. They sell a wide variety of fresh fish, seafood, meat, cheeses, and produce that are just so appealing to the eye.

Paloma and I make a trip once or twice a week to get our fresh fare. There's something so special about taking a stroll to the market in the fresh air and buying a freshly caught fish from a fishmonger. That is quality of life, my friends!

A few weeks ago Fernando, Paloma, and I partied down to the market on a Friday evening. We're just crazy like that.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The not-so-prominent sliding doorway to said foodie heaven.
There are maybe 30 to 40 stalls of goodness. I have my favorites now.

Fresh eggs. I don't know why they feel fresher when they have a feather stuck to them sometimes. I guess they feel like they were picked on a farm. I noticed that white eggs are very hard to find.
Whole chickens. Don't look too close if you don't wanna see any heads. It's that farm feeling again. I turn away when they "clean" mine.
The variety of embutidos, or sausages, never ends.
The pig = most loved eaten animal. No part is ever useless! That's the tail you see on the left lower corner.
Pigs' ears and feet. I repeat, let nothing go to waste!
Paloma's a now a pro at waiting patiently for moments at a time.
Cheese, oh glorious cheese.
This one's of cultural interest. Tetilla is a cheese from Galicia, named after it's mammary-like form.

There are bars inside these markets also if you're craving that cup of coffee.

I always go to this fishwife (female fishmonger, according to Wikipedia) for our seafood cravings. She gives me fish recipes when I'm at a loss. Shoot, we're so tight that she doesn't even ask for my ID when I pay with a credit card.
This fish has both eyes on its left side, which is keeping me from trying it.
A classic Spanish white fish, merluza, or hake, pretending to be Jaws.
Langostina and calamares. Ahhh...I can smell the sea.
Hope you enjoyed!

Pau and Paloma - 8 1/2 Months

Katya, Rafa and Pau swung by for another visit a week ago. Here we go with the camera...

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Brothers Fernando and Rafa look on as their kids learn to play nice.

These two are so cute together. And that's my objective opinion.

Ahh, the wonderful phase of "everything I touch must go in the mouth - crumbs, dust, germs, cooties and all".

Pau and Paloma got to talk with Abuela Juana on Skype. (Abuelo Rafa was in his Swansea for his annual visit.)

More overdue posts to come. Thanks for stopping by, my imaginary mass audience!

White, White, White!

Happy winter! Yesterday we got a freak snow day in Barcelona, not having snowed this much in the city since 1962. In the morning, I tried to capture the miniscule snowflakes falling to the ground.

It was starting to feel unreal.

White!
White!

White!Fernando got a shot of our snowy, abandoned street.

This little snowman sat in on the action.

Me and P stayed indoors to watch our first snowfall.

The snow was so paralyzing that many commuters had to find alternate ways to get home because public transportation was cut off. We even had to put up Fernando's supervisor for the night. Today, the sun is out. Thanks for an unforgettable day, Barcelona!