Some Williams family numbers from the last three weeks:
Business trips for Chris: 2
Days I've been alone with sick kids: 6
Doctors visited: 3
Doctors who have spoken English: 2
X-rays received: 2
Antibiotic prescriptions filled: 6
Number of bottles of medication on our counter: 11
Eyes that were affected by conjunctivitis: 6
Days Evan has been in school: 30
Days Evan actually was healthy and went to school: 12
Days school was cancelled for strike: 1
Ok, with that said, let's move right along to happier times...CARCASSONNE, FRANCE!!!
Now, part of the beauty of living in Barcelona is living about a two hour drive from the south of France. Yes, I know I'm in Spain, and yes, I know there are endless sights to see and things to enjoy in this beautiful country where I live, but I have the softest of soft spots for France. Most know that I was lucky enough to spend a semester abroad in Paris during my junior year of college, and did quite a bit of traveling around France with my program. I LOVED it. The food, the countryside, the history, the wine, the cheese, oh man, there is nothing like France. Traveling back there this weekend was almost like going home for the weekend. I got to eat all my favorite foods, I could speak the language, and it felt incredible to be out of a city for a little while and back in the country where life is slower, calmer, and a little more familiar. It seemed a bit soon to be traveling, especially with all of us just getting over being sick and getting life settled here, but Chris insisted that we take advantage of this opportunity to get out of the city for a couple days, and I'm so glad he did because it was exactly what we all needed.
So: Carcassonne. A city founded in the 5th century, most notable for a larger than life fortress, fully restored in the 1800's and one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites. Now, I'm not even close to a history buff...to an embarrassing degree. So I'm not going to pretend I know a ton about what went on within these castle walls, all I know is that it is an awe inspiring sight to see and even cooler that an entire CITY is located inside the castle. Chris's co-worker and his fiancee were headed up there with some of his family for the weekend, and had kindly extended the offer for us to join them. This was perfect because, although it proved to be very easy, renting a car and securing a foreign hotel was a little bit daunting at first, so it was great to have someone kind of take the reins for us and show us the way. By Friday afternoon, the dog was on her way up to her mountain retreat (no joke, she may have had an even better weekend than we, she was boarded at perhaps the nicest dog "hotel" we've ever seen, located an hour north in the mountains and pristine, cared for by a British guy who runs the place...and they pick up and drop off right at your house!) and we were loaded into our Peugeot crossover headed north out of Barcelona. We did not spring the extra 30 euro for the GPS system, so we were left with an old school map and some cached ipad directions to lead us out of the city, which was surprisingly adequate. We are located in Poblenou, which is essentially north of the main part of Barcelona city and on the coast--right on our way to France. Easy on, easy off, perfect. It was pretty exciting to be back in a car again, after almost two months of not driving, it felt very freeing...only thing I missed was having my obligatory jumbo iced coffee in the cup holder.
The kids seemed to enjoy the drive too. Once their most hated enemy, the car seats have become somewhat of a novelty to them. For the first hour they sat nicely, sensing the excitement of the trip and looking out the window as the scenery changed from city...to coast...to highway...to country. However, the serene road trippin' vibe screeched to an abrupt halt when Mia suddenly decided she wanted her binkie...
Quick back story on the binkie: For those who don't know, Mia was a colicky, sad little newborn. Neither she, nor I, slept more than two hours at a time during the first seven months of her life, and there was very little aside from me that brought her comfort...until the Wubbanub. A Nobel prize worthy contraption, the Wubbanub is a green soothie pacifier attached to a little stuffed animal. They are magical little pacifiers that stay put in a newborn mouth, are easy to find for older babies in their cribs, and are machine washable. Most importantly, they helped Mia sleep. They brought her comfort, and gave me a break from the near constant nursing, rocking, and singing that was involved in her first year of life. In the Wubbanub hay day, we had about 6 of them. We could just add more into the mix when she was smaller and she would happy plug any of them in, and pass out. However, typical Mia, once she hit around 13-14 months, she stopped accepting new members. If we lost one, and tried to replace it--even with an identical match--she knew it was a replacement and rejected it. It was pretty amazing to watch. We would casually hand her the new one hoping she wouldn't notice and just use it, but sure enough she would immediately hold it at arms length, inspecting it with a furrowed brow, look into the stuffed animal's eyes, then throw it out of her crib with a vengeance. Slowly, slowly, the binkie population has been dwindling. Little kitty was lost on a trip to the wading pool in Topsfield during the summer...Blue pony made his exit during a trip to Whole Foods during the fall. So on and so forth. And unfortunately, as the population dwindles, she seems to be becoming more and more attached to them. It used to be a "sleep only" kind of thing, and now she is wandering around with the thing hanging from her mouth night and day. Some may argue: "Just take them away! She is 18 months, and too old for a pacifier anyway". True enough, except I'm sad to admit I'm afraid of what life would be like without them at this point. I'm still somewhat scarred from the sleepless year of 2011 and I'm not sure I'm ready for an epic battle to the end (which is what it would be) especially with all of this change going on. So, as we took off for Barcelona, we had just two left. The dog, the original who started it all and her very favorite, and the giraffe. As soon as we got here, I had a bad feeling the binkie days were limited. I mean, we spend the majority of the day traveling around via stroller all over the city, and Mia has a bad habit of tossing them out randomly when she gets excited or angry. There have been many days of back tracking during a walk, or having store owners chasing after us to give us the binkie they found inside the store. However, we managed to hang on to both of them since we've been in Barcelona. Until last week.
The kids and I were out for an early morning walk last Wednesday with the dog while Chris was away in Amsterdam for business. Chris had just called, so I was trying to talk on the cell phone while simultaneously pushing the double stroller, and holding onto the dog leash. Usually I'm pretty good about keeping watch for any binkie tossing, but I was distracted and by the time I hung up, I realized that Mia was now holding her slipper, and not her binkie. Shit. I was almost home, tired, and knew that if I turned around, the kids would start getting cranky and antsy to get out. However, ever a slave to the almighty binkie, I turned us right around and backtracked our entire 30 minute walk to see if I could find it. Twice. Nothing. There are tons of sanitation workers constantly cleaning the park, which is of course a good thing, except when you lose something. I had a feeling one worker in particular might have picked it up, so I walked back to where I thought it might be been lost, and saw the sanitation worker with a big bucket he was putting all the trash inside. Ew. I had to stop myself and think rationally--even if he had picked it up, could I even wash it enough to ever think about giving that to my child to SUCK ON?! Probably not, but I was not thinking rationally, I was just panicked that I had lost THE binkie and I would go back to never sleeping again. So I walked up to the man, and ridiculously said, "Tiene usted" **insert motion of me putting something in my mouth** "para los ninos?" The man looked angry, and shook his head. I think he may have thought I was asking for a cigarette for my children, but who knows. So we headed home, one binkie down, one to go.
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| One of the last pictures taken of doggie dinkie |
The days followed, and there were moments when Mia would specifically ask for the late dog binkie, pitch a fit, and swat away the giraffe when I offered him as consolation. I had hoped that after a few days, she would accept that doggie "dinkie" (as Mia calls them) was gone, and it was giraffe or nothing from this point forward. The plan was to just leave it in her crib for sleep, and stop taking them out of the house, even if she missed them, it was time to start limiting them, and now was the time since there was only one left.
SO, back to the car ride. After about an hour into the trip, we hear the little voice from the back...."oggie dinkie". Mia is looking at me expectantly, waiting for me to hand the beloved creature over. I hand her giraffe, and turn back to the front, only to see the giraffe hit the windshield 2 seconds later, followed by a whine and "OGGIE DINKIE". Again, I hand her the giraffe, and again it nearly pelts me in the head, only this time she is no longer whining, she is full on screaming like I didn't know kids could scream. Evan did not even come close to preparing me for what a toddler is capable of. Now, I'm not saying Evan is perfect, but he is pretty darn easy. He always slept like a champ, rarely, if ever, has thrown a temper tantrum, and just generally goes with the flow. I took away his binkie at 5 months, I don't think he even noticed. I took away the bottle around a year, he didn't even bat an eye. I had no idea that an 18th month old child is capable of asserting themselves the way Mia can. It is actually pretty amazing sometimes, you can never put anything over on her, she is just so darn astute, and BOY is she strong willed. And loud. Girls have an extra vocal cord I think. The next hour or so was less than pleasant, as Mia made it quite known she had not yet fully mourned the loss of doggie dinkie and there wasn't a cracker, drink, book, toy, doll, or song that would take its place. Yes, the loss of doggie dinkie was bad timing, right before a fun trip, but eh, it happens. I wasn't going to let a screaming child ruin the fact that we were in France, and I knew someday, we would look back on the miserable hour in the car and laugh...that day has not come yet, but I know it will.
I digress. This is sad, here I am trying to describe a road trip to a medieval castle in France, and I'm rambling on about pacifiers and temper tantrums. This is my life.
ANYWAY, as soon as we crossed the boarder into France (which is pretty much the same as crossing over from Massachusetts into Rhode Island--there is no "check point", just a sign welcoming us to France) it just looked different. Even Chris, the biggest critic when it comes to France, said the landscape almost immediately changes to the most beautiful rolling country side you've ever seen. We drive right by the Pyrenees--expansive and snow capped--and see pristine farms framed by windmills.
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| Snow capped Pyrenees |
The trees are shorter, and the landscape is soft, gentle and inviting. We arrived at our destination, Carcassonne, around 5:30pm, and checked into our adorable little hotel. The room itself was TEENY TINY, room enough for just a full sized bed, with a little twin bunk over head, and a bathroom that has a toilet essentially inside a "shower" that is really just a spout coming out from the wall and a curtain around the corner--it made Grandad's boat head look like a 3 bedroom apartment.
But we loved it...it appeared to be family owned, and the folks were very friendly and could put on a killer breakfast in the AM, complete with real French croissant and coffee strong enough to put hair on your chest. We got settled into the place, then immediately headed out to the actual castle city, so we could walk around and meet up with the rest of our friends for dinner. The city of Carcassonne actually has two parts--the downtown city area, which is actually pretty quiet and sleepy as far as cities go, and then once you pass through the down town area, you are smacked in the face with the sight of the giant castle, which encases a "medieval city".
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| Chris and Evan at the castle entrance |
Inside the castle is now mostly just a tourist attraction, but beautifully kept and full of very quaint shops, restaurants, cafes, hotels, and plenty of nooks to find and explore. This weekend there was a festival going on, so there were several free performances, tented expos, shows, street performers, and folks in medieval garb.
The first night we wandered around the medieval city and I pretty much just sported a perma-grin. All of us met for dinner at a fabulous restaurant, and I remembered how much I love French food...the best part is that most places have a fixed menu that offers three or four courses with a couple different options to choose from within each course, which is the best way to sample all the great local cuisine. The salads are always incredible (something I've been missing in Barcelona, not a lot of salads or veggies unless you buy and prepare it at home) and you can have CHEESE for dessert. This evening, I dined on amazing French bread, goat cheese salad, cod with a cream sauce and a side of mushroom/grains kind of thing, and creme brulee for dessert...heaven. The kids even stayed awake and happy until 11 PM at dinner (and for anyone who really knows me and my children, this UNHEARD of), and seemed to enjoy their first taste of real French french fries :) Our dinner table represented three different countries, and four different languages were spoken at one point or another. It was a long, fun dinner full of wine and excited energy.
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| First French baguette |
After dinner, we walked over to a huge courtyard inside the castle, where they were showing a projection animation depicting the Catholic crusades against the Cathars which took place at the castle in the 13th century...somewhat hard to follow in French, but a beautiful show, captivating even Mia and Evan.
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| Not a great picture, but you get the idea |
It was a short walk up the hill to the castle, here you can see it above the roof tops...
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| Chris powering the double stroller up the hill..Evan is on foot, and was in total awe of the place |
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| Inside the castle |
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| Mia enjoying my favorite French street food - ham and cheese crepes |
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| Kids were getting a little cranky so Chris and I decided it was time for a beer... |
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| "Kids?! I can't hear any kids." |
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| On a mission...with a binkie. |
We headed back to the hotel around 2pm so the kids could take a nap, and I did some exploring around the hotel area...there was a little shopping mall so I popped in to get some everyday stuff we needed, fully taking advantage of the fact that I can talk and find what I need!!!
Saturday was capped off with another late dinner, this time outside the castle in a wonderful restaurant downtown. Sadly, we seemed to have pushed too far expecting the kids to stay awake until midnight TWO nights in a row, because about halfway through our fantastic dinner (mind you, it was now 10:30 at night, and 2 hours into the dinner), they started to meltdown and we had to bow out early...no worries, I got my stinky cheese to go, and enjoyed it with a nice bottle of French wine and a brick of chocolate back home in Barcelona for Easter Sunday lunch :) All in all, I'd say it was a successful trip. It gave Chris and I the confidence we needed to know we CAN in fact travel around Europe with two small children, even better that it can be done so cheaply...the car was only 60 euros for the weekend, and the hotel was also super cheap. It was such a confidence booster for me to be back in France and remember that I also felt out of place and scared when I first arrived there as a college student, and eventually it felt comfortable to me and I grew to love the differences from the US. This will happen here in Spain too. Even now, crossing back over the Spanish border on Sunday afternoon, Chris and I both agreed it felt good to be "home".
