SURPRISE!

We've been blessed by the understanding of our extended family as we take this year outside the U.S. and away from them.  We don't take lightly their unselfish love and gift of supporting us while we explore.  We realize it impacts our relationships and their ability to see us, their grandchildren, and do life together.  It impacts both of our abilities to physically support one another during large life events of both joy and concern, and that's not easy for any of us.  However, we are extremely grateful that both sets of parents/grandparents have the means (financial, health, time) and desire to meet up with us on short notice to connect and create memories.  Within three hours of the invitation, Mom's parents had tickets booked to meet us in Barcelona to surprise the kids in only three weeks!  Dad's parents will be meeting us next week in Paris!

Keeping a surprise of this magnitude was extremely challenging considering we are all together 24/7, but amazingly we pulled it off!  Mom met her parents at the airport and they took a taxi to a cafe near our apartment.  They got themselves all set up so that when the kids (who thought mom was getting  some time to herself and had invited them to meet her for breakfast) walked into the cafe they would see Mom but Grandma and Grandpa would be sitting separate.  Hilariously, the children were still a bit sleepy, and didn't recognize Grandma and Grandpa at first glance as they tried to find a larger table for our family.  Then our oldest made the connection and they were all in shock and awe - it was a very sweet moment that we will talk about for years to come. The short video captures it.

Grandma surprised the kids by bringing her famous mini muffins in her suitcase!

After Grandma and Grandpa adjusted and got settled, we headed towards La Ramblas, the main street of shops.  We walked a bit and Mom got a few new items for her backpack as some things were just getting worn too thin and stretched out that a refresher was overly welcomed!  Then we attended the Jamon Experience!  Jamon, a salt cured leg of pork, is a central part of the food experience here in Spain and there are many different kinds advertised and sold.  This experience explained the background of the pigs raised for this delicacy and ended with us getting to sample different varieties and enjoy some cava, Spanish champagne-like beverage.  We all agreed it was interesting to learn that Iberian pigs live only on the Iberian peninsula and are usually dark in color.  There are many different breeds and some are considered better than others at taking in and storing nutrients in their fat.  These pigs are set apart and their lifestyle and diet are carefully controlled.  In the first year these pigs go from weighing less than 1kg to 100kg off of their diet of wheat, oats, and barley.  Entering their 2nd year, referred to as the fattening season, they are let out to pasture (only 3 pigs per hectare) and eat the woodland jewel known as the acorn, while being guided to different terrain for exercise.  For every kilogram these pigs put on in weight they have eaten roughly 6-10 kg of acorns and 3-4kg of grass - so this is some serious work!  When the pig weighs 150kg it's high leg should be approximately 14kg and after being turned into jamon will weigh 7kg, so it is considered ready to be sold for the purpose of making jamon iberico.

At this stage the cook works with mother nature and shovels salts over the legs of pork and keeps them at a constant temperature for the same number of days as its weight in kilograms.  Then the legs are hung to dry for 6-9 months to lose moisture and ultimately sweat causing the oil from the acorns to be released and give it a nutty flavor.  Sometimes the cooks smear lard over the legs to keep the insects away, but this whole process is a science as no two legs can touch one another or else the air flow is considered to be disrupted and the jamon ruined.  Then the jamon is taken to a cellar for 13-36 months, depending on the type of jamon it is.  The cooks smell and examine each leg of pork to determine when it is finally ready.  Most Spanish people eat jamon daily, it is served in public schools and can be eaten at breakfast, snacked on or served with a fine meal.  The best leg of pork is called jamon de bellota and usually only the upperclass eat this.  Spain produces 1 million jamon iberico de bellota per year and these legs of pork can sell upwards of 300-400Euro a piece!

Jamon educational experience and sampling

We wrapped up with dinner and gelato before exhaustedly calling it a night. Grandpa & Grandma were troopers to hang with us for the full day despite the jet-lag from not sleeping the night before.