Barcelona, Day 1

At around 10:00 the train employees brought by box breakfasts to our berths. I had to assure Richard and Ikaika that they hadn't been given small jars of sour cream to eat. It turns out they've never had plain yogurt before. I spent some time looking out the window at the Spanish countryside. Different kinds of terrain from Mediterranean beaches to thick forests to rolling hillsides, to neatly tilled fields blended into the next almost as seamlessly as the ages of architecture. Moorish villas and medieval castles were tucked in between factories and hyper-modern apartment buildings. As a guy who loves variety of all kinds, I felt an instant affection for this country.

When we arrived in Barcelona we got on a bus, went to get a quick lunch, and then met up with a tour guide who gave us an shortened version of her normal tour, due to our tardiness. She took us out to the Guay Park, a park designed by Gaudi, which was filled with amazing version of modern architecture. Everything was curved lines and natural images covered in mosaics made of shattered pottery and broken glass. I told the guide, "No tengo palabras para describir que tan bonita es, ni en Espanol, ni Ingles."

Then she took us to see another example of Gaudi's work, the as-of-yet unfinished Sagrada Familia cathedral. It's like no other cathedral I've ever seen, even in pictures. Again, Gaudi used his modernist style, with curved lines and natural images in the facade, only this time these cover a massive cathedral. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

After the cathedral we came back to our hotel, the nicest we've stayed in yet, to clean up. Since we'd been on the train the night before, we were all feeling pretty gross, so the shower felt like one of those post-camping showers. Then we came down to the lobby, grouped-up, walked down to the subway station, and traveled back into the city. We walked down the Plaza de Las Ramblas, a wide street filled with vendors selling touristy items and original artwork, and lined on each side with little shops selling clothes, food, gellato, and more. After a couple hours (and way too much spending) there, we came back to the hotel, changed into more formal clothes, ate a very good buffet dinner, and got ready to go out again.

This time we took a charter bus into town and went to see a demonstration of Flamenco dancing. The dancers were very talented (and quite attractive), and even though some of the kids seemed bored at the beginning, by the end Andrew confessed, reluctantly, that it really was very cool.

After the Flamenco we had a little time to get some gelatto in Las Ramblas and shop a bit more before returning to the hotel.

Tomorrow we'll have a very busy day, visiting a castle after breakfast, then taking a cable car from the mountaintop to the beach for some beach-time, before dividing into groups to go see more sights. Then, after a late dinner, we're going to take the kids back into the city and hang out as late as humanly possible so the kids won't be hanging out in the hotel on the last night any more than is absolutely necessary (because that's when you get trouble). The next morning we'll leave, and I'll sleep my way back to the States. So, I won't be able to update this until after we get home. Come back for the last day, and for pictures added to the previous posts as well.

Now it's 3:20 in the morning, but we're all up to date, so I can sleep soundly. Blog at ya' from home soon!


























































We saw this guy in the market on Las Ramblas. Those shorts are tattooed on. Unfortunately, he was even less covered on the other side. To quote Sean, it was gross.