Barcelona

We started our trip in Barcelona, then spent a day in Tarragona, a day in Sitges, then returned to Barcelona before flying home. There are lots of stories to tell about each place. It was so great to be in weather that was sunny and warm! Most of the time I didn't need a jacket but even when I did no scarf! no gloves! no hats! We left Switzerland in the snow and in Barcelona it was in the high 50's (that's degrees F not C). That is way too cold for a California or an Arizona girl but those days long gone and it felt awesome. When I get back to Phoenix in August I'm going to hate it more than usual, I won't be able to stand the heat. (Who can?) While the official language in Barcelona and the region is Catalan, most signs and all the people also speak Spanish. Just as I had gotten used to all the phrases in French, I had to remind myself to start thinking in Spanish. It's hard on the brain. Now, my Spanish is not good, but compared to my French it is spectacular, and I actually felt much more comfortable being in Spanish speaking surroundings than I do in French. I can read a menu very well in Spanish, while in Switzerland if I forget the phrase book most of the menu is still a mystery. We're working on that though.

Our trip was an adventure from the start, to say the least. As we were about to walk out the door, Mom went to make sure she had her house keys and couldn't find them. Fifteen minutes later she found them (in her suitcase) so we hustled through the snow and got to the train station just in time to see our train leaving. Fortunately, trains head to the airport about every ten minutes or so, so we got the next one. The flight was delayed, and apparently everyone decided to start drinking beer while we waited. (This was 9:30 in the morning). The laws are different here, you can take your beer to the gate with you, and you can drink at 16 years old, so people were drinking while waiting in line to board. I use the word "in line" quite loosely, its more of a crowd pushing and shoving with no sense of order. It was very un-Swiss. There was a rowdy group of boys laughing and singing at takeoff and landing, and we arrived about an hour or so later than planned.

We checked into the hotel and went in to town. We started at La Boqueria, Barcelona's outdoor market. It is an orgasm of food, it makes Seattle's market look cute. Everything was so fresh and colorful. I bought some hot chilis to make some salsa. Spicy food doesn't exist in Switzerland. I had a really bad map and couldn't find the restaurant I wanted to go to for lunch, so we just wandered and found a place, then spent some time wandering the streets and shopping. The shops all had a little more flavor to them than in Switzerland but the best part was the prices. Everything in Switzerland is so expensive that everything in Spain seemed so cheap. We really enjoyed wandering the streets. We headed over to the cathedral and to the Basilica. The Basilica was boring but the Cathedral was impressive. I love gothic architecture and the old churches always aim to impress.

In the evening we went to a flamenco show. We originally got a phone call that the show was cancelled, but later on they caled us back to say the show was still on. In any case, it was pretty empty, presumably because of the economy and time of year. There was only one other table, about 6-8 people, and the two of us. The show was a lot of fun but at the last number the other group got up and left in the middle! It was obviously the last dance, but apparently they didn't want to wait 5 minutes, so as the show ended Mom and I were the only guests left. It was a little awkward.

On the second day we tok a shuttle into the Plaza Espanyol and planned to go to the Castle on Montjuic, which is at the top of a hill. We were advised to take the city bus, but there was some sort of strike going on in the circle that was holding up traffic so we decided to walk. There were lots of sights to see on the way up the hill, although the Magic Fountain was closed for construction. We went in to the Olympic Park where the 1992 Olympics were held, passed over the botanical gardens and made our way to the Castle, which now houses a military museum with lots of weapons. It was a tiring walk up and we rode the bus back down (we're a little backwards) and went to lunch at an all organic vegetarian restaurant. It was written up in a tour book so I figured it would be good and of course it's right up my alley but I was worried it would be too weird for Mom. Actually, she approved, and even said she loved the soup. We returned to the Boqueria again for some shopping and sat down for a coffee.

We then made our way to Sagrada Familia, an unconventional church designed by Gaudi, considered his greatest work and still under construction nearly 100 years after his death. Unfortunately we were unable to go up in the tower because it was closed, but the church is spectacular.

We had dinner at a restaurant called 7 Portes, which has hosted the likes of Winston Churchill and Che Guevara and speacializes in Paella. My favorite part was that they brought bread with a carousel of olive oil so we sampled and compared each one. I also love the fact that most restaurants bring you a dish of olives, which I usually ate most of before Mom even tried any. We might have overdone it on the walking because we were thoroughly exhausted by the end of the day and went to bed kind of early. The next morning we headed to Tarragona which was an adventourous journey. I'll add more on that later. For now I've added a link for Spain which contains three sub-albums: Barcelona, Tarragona, and Sitges.