Family matters

So why are we moving there? Well, as I’m sure you all know, one of the most difficult things about moving to a new city when you have kids, is choosing a neighborhood in which there is a good school for your children. To start with, unless you already know the city well (and I didn’t), your mental geography of the place is probably hazy at best. “There’s a beach somewhere right? And maybe some mountains? Oh, and a big funny looking church that looks like something out of Star Wars...” How can you choose a neighborhood to live in, let alone a school for your children, when this is all you know about a city and you still can’t even pronounce the word 'Eixample'?

The difficulty is compounded by the fact that in Barcelona, there is every possibility of not getting a spot in a nearby school (or not finding any of the nearby schools to your liking) and therefore being obligated to haul your kids all over creation just to get them to and from their places of learning.

Many of us are lucky and find great schools within walking distance of our new homes. Others (and I am referring very directly to myself here), are not so lucky. We did find a great apartment in a great neighborhood when we moved here, and we did find a great school. The unfortunate part of the equation is that getting from one to the other involves 20 minutes of walking, a train ride and a funicular. A total of 45 minutes commute each way.

I know that we are not the only ones who make such a trek. I know it because every morning we squeeze ourselves onto the 'tren escolar', a train that leaves Plaça Catalunya’s Ferrocarill station every day at exactly 8.15am. The train then proceeds to make all stops along the S1 and S2 lines, picking up hordes of rowdy young children, school monitors and parents, the boys crowding three into a seat, many of them looking like young executives (albeit, extremely rumpled young executives in short trousers) in their blazers, neck ties and leather penny loafers.