Things we did in Europe while not getting engaged.

We walked to the front of the store with water in hand. When we got to the register there was a clearly frustrated customer with her stuff on the counter but no cashier in sight. The woman turned to Cass and began talking loudly right at her. Cass looked horrified and slowly removed her water from the counter, offering a polite "I'm sorry." The woman realized Cass spoke no Catalan and immediately laughed.

Later, Cass remarked "At least she thought I was Spanish."

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Later we stopped at Le Mystery Brick Homme Cafe and Le Homesexual Ninja Patisserie.

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(retelling the story of Cass having an allergic reaction in Bridgeport)

Me: Cass just throw up in the street.

Ollie (imitating Cass): I'd rather die!

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Cass ordered a sandwich in the town of Sitges that had camembear (don't care about sp) cheese that stunk so bad the woman at the next table moved to the furthest end of the cafe porch.

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They have huge racks of these bikes all over Barcelona that resident members of the program can rent out. It's free for the first hour so you can bike across town and drop the bike off at a rack once you reach your destination, or, if you are an awesome dad, bungee your adorable daughter in the front rack and bike her around.

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Cost of pay toilets in the busier parts of Paris: 1 E (Is E the symbol for Euro?)
Cost of entry into Rodin's garden to view The Thinker, other great statues, and a beautiful garden with public restrooms: 1E

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Cass's first try

Caleb's first try.

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Post-trip question that occurred to me: how does Cass deal with planes?

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Our album jacket.

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Cass: You gonna put that story in your blog and smoke it?

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I roamed the streets of BCN searching for a shop with a generic Fabregas Spain jersey. The closest I found was a shop that offered to make one for 30 E. I pressed on, confident in my ambivalence about the whole thing. First souvenir store I entered in Paris I found a generic Fabregas Arsenal jersey for 12 E. C'est bon.

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The ugliest damn bridge in Europe.

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The Louvre is immense and exhausting. A word of advice to anyone going: pick a wing you think you'll like and just try to see it at a reasonable pace. We saw two wings in about three hours and we all needed a nap. There are just paintings everywhere and it is a lot to absorb. Cass's uncle played tour guide and he didn't dawdle. I appreciate wanting to see everything but it can be a bit overwhelming. We did see the Mona Lisa, Michealangelo's slave statues, and the nipple tweaking painting, which are all must sees for anyone visiting.

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Every European: What do you think of the financial crisis going on?
Me: Well it started when we left and I don't watch the news here since I don't really speak the language that well so I guess what do you think of the financial crisis going on?

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The Fountainhead (a pun)

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Oliver: You're gonna start thinking you're a little bit better than your friends when you get back.
Megan: I think that now.

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We didn't encounter a lot of European snobbery or anti-American sentiment. Every so often we would notice glances or sighs but most people were very friendly when they found out we were American. I think they appreciate when you try to speak their language and they get to practice their English. In BCN we were fortunate because my biggest obstacle is mixing up Spanish and French which ends up being a kind of Catalan, which a lot of people appreciate. In Paris, people were genuinely friendly and most spoke at least some English, which was only a problem once.

We were eating dinner in a garden. There were two girls smoking on a bench about 20 feet from us. One came over and began asking for something in French that I couldn't translate. We stood and made confused gestures/noises to each other for a little until a different couple walked by and the girl asked them how to say what she wanted in English: tissue. I handed her a napkin and said "serviette" in French. She said "merci" and wiped the bird poop off her arm before returning to her seat. I couldn't figure out what the problem was because most French people say "kleenex." We asked Cass's aunt the next day and it turns out she was asking for a handkerchief. How many people carry handkerchiefs now? Who am I: Morley?

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Who's that a statue of in the middle of the Parisian street? Oh, that's just George m*th*rf*ck*ng Washington.

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Overheard in a Parisian street by Cass from a couple in an obnoxious American accent: Don't they have any crepes here?
Five creperies within eyeshot.

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Caleb: How does anything get done here with people showing up to work hungover and then taking four hours worth of breaks over the day?
Angela: It kind of doesn't.

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For Dave: What?! What?! What?! What?! What?! What?! Hey!

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Things the French are good at: Chocolate, museums, attractive women
Things they are not good at: cheese, cleaning up after dogs, attractive men

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We stopped by a flea market where Chas Tenenbaum had a booth set up.

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Fun things/sayings we picked up in BCN:
kennel cough - the colds kids get at daycare
claras - half beer/half lemon Fanta; a kind of shanty that's very refreshing
Dave's souvenir - a homemade stegosaurus hand puppet

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We are Americans, and we are awesome.

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Oliver: People always rag on British food and then they hand me this (garlic and tomato spread on bread) for Catalan food and that's when I'm offended.

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"I can't believe we got sick. We never get sick. Poopaloop." She looks at me and she smiles...