Willow and Juanjo's SplashBlot

Waterfalls around every corner. Fall leaves rushing over mossy rocks. Late afternoon light and mild, warm weather. Reflections of red mountainsides in pools of water. Jumping trout. And a monastery built in the 12th century, nestled into the hillside.

Yesterday we drove from Barcelona to Toledo, and stopped halfway to visit the Monasterio de Piedra, a park and monastery in the province of Aragon. Our lungs filled with clean fall air as we hiked past waterfalls and over rocks. What a spectacular afternoon.

Thank you to Tino, Juanjo’s dad, who gave us the idea for the trip; we loved it!

My parents arrived today and despite jet-lag, we adventured around the city a little. It’s wonderful to have them here, to show them our home, to see the city through their eyes. In the morning we took a tour bus, got off at the port and walked around the harbor. Back home for lunch and a nap (and work for me!). Then this evening we wandered around the Gothic Quarter, got ice cream, bought some fruit at the famous Boqueria Market.

It’s the first time my parents have ever come by themselves to visit me somewhere, and we’re very happy to have them here!

I am lucky enough to have an office at the Autonoma University of Barcelona, so until I start interviewing people and spending time in schools, I’m going to be working there a lot. The office is at the end of a looooooong hallway in the Geography Department, the home of the Migration Studies Group that I’m affiliated with as part of the Fulbright. Today I worked late since tomorrow my parents arrive for a 10-day visit, and I plan to work half-days while they’re here. All in all, considering how scarce space can be in most universities, it’s pretty great that they were able to give me an office for my time here!

Juanjo and I are working most of this weekend (trying to get ahead since my parents arrive Wednesday and we’re taking Friday off). But we took a small break this afternoon to get some exercise and get outside in Montjuic Park. We’ve discovered this great combination: get a Bicing bike by our house, ride to the base of Montjuic park, leave it there, go for a run in the park, and then bike home. If we’re just doing that it takes about 55 minutes. But today we took a little more time, I walked while Juanjo ran, then we wandered around the gardens and the Olympic stadium.

I especially loved wandering around the gardens. It turns out there are several, including one that goes way down in this (small) canyon. And another where everything was green except one group of vines.

And then there are the installations of Montjuic itself, which hosted the 1992 olympics. The views, the sports facilities, the plazas and fountains, it’s all pretty spectacular….

All in all, an excellent afternoon after a pretty stressful week of work for both of us. Definitely made up for the fact that we’re home at our desks working this weekend!

The other day I was going to take a run nearby our house, and wanted to find a park to include in the route. So I looked up a satellite picture of our apartment building searching for green areas, and realized we live in a doughnut (our building is the “A”)! All of the apartment buildings in this neighborhood are built to line the blocks, and then the center is a patio of some kind. It’s unusual compared to others I’ve seen because the “hole” in the doughnut is much bigger (making better light, and more quiet, for all those apartments like ours that face inward).

Have you ever looked at a satellite picture of your house? Anyone else live inside a pastry?