Five wonders of the Barcelona world as revealed to Liesl

1. The miracle that Bebe has somehow put herself on exactly the same schedule she keeps at home despite the six-hour time change. Up at 7:00, three half-hour naps during the day, down at 7:00 (er, 19:00, that is).
2. The miracle that I still can’t sleep at night despite that very same time change. What is it with me, Bebe and sleep?
3. The miracle that neither Todd nor I have bashed our shins on the platform bed that’s twice the size of the bedroom it’s in. Todd has the advantage of going to bed once a night and getting dressed in the other room in the mornings, thus minimizing his potential contact with this deadly series of sharp edges and corners. I, due to 1 and 2 above, in addition to those three daily naps for Bebe, am in and out of the room constantly. Prepare the icepacks and bandages – contact will inevitably be made with much swearing and gnashing of teeth.
4. The miracle that I can have complete conversations with Barcelonian parents when we don’t speak the same language. Todd thinks I’m making this stuff up, but I had a long conversation with a woman the other day who was pushing twins who were seven months old. Turns out she only speaks Catalan, but we understood each other perfectly when discussing the babies. Go figure.
5. The not-so-amazing miracle that the U.S. is one of the most productive nations of the world. This is suddenly no surprise when one discovers that most shops and businesses in Spain (and France, and Italy) keep the weirdest hours, closing down for most of the afternoon for lunch. And the worst part is that the hours are inconsistent, apparently dictated solely by the whim of the shopkeeper. After three days of trying unsuccessfully to buy a cell phone I have officially decided I don’t need or want one, so at least this lack of productivity has saved us some money!

Anyway, after several days of zero contact with the world due to my lack of cell phone and continued lack of internet access, here are some photos. Perhaps I’ll post more whinings and descriptions of our goings-on later; perhaps I won’t.