2- Barcelona

Hello Friends,

Barcelona, Spain, is a popular tourist destination, with good  reason. It sits on the Mediterranean Sea and boasts of an old city, a  beautiful shopping street, a lively night life, art museums, and the  unique architecture of Gaudi.

We got off the airport bus at Catalunya Square, one of many plazas which connect streets and neighborhoods. We noticed first an extensive line-up of Bicing--red and white utility bicycles for use around the city. They were equipped with fenders, head and tail lights, and a space behind the sturdy handlebars for a briefcase, purse, or shopping bag.  So handy and practical! We saw them in constant use both day and night.

We oriented ourselves by our handy compass and set out to find a pension (small hotel). We took choice #2, a spartan facility but not too many flights up and with a very friendly manager who let us use his mobile to call airport baggage services, in the event they phoned us  with news of our missing baggage.

Since it was only early afternoon, we took off by foot to find lunch and explore the city. After just a few turns, we entered a busy narrow street of the old city. Here residential and commercial sites are close together. We found bananas and an apple at a greengrocer, plus cheese and spinach pies at a bakery, making a handy lunch to munch on  while we wandered through the streets. Dogs sniffed at paving stones,  buildings, and the occasional garbage bag, children kicked footballs, and laundry hung above us on balconies. Pedestrians, cyclists, and delivery vans were everywhere, even in the narrowest of passageways. Our walking route soon opened up to the cathedral, with a large plaza full  of school children and tourists enjoying afternoon coffee in the pleasant sunshine.

With a half-dozen more turns we came upon the famous statue of Christopher Columbus, pointing out toward the Mediterranean. He stands at the foot of Barcelona's most famous street, La Rambla, now a wide pedestrian walkway lined with specialty shops, flower stalls, and itinerant "human statues," who dress up and pose for contributions into a bucket. There were already a hearty number of tourists. We could only  imagine what July must be like here.

We finally "wound down" and returned to the pension for a shower and nap. Dinner was easily available right around the corner--donar  kebob and beer. Imagine, our first night in Spain and we ate mid-eastern food!

The next day we decided we'd better return to the airport, as we couldn't depend on phone contact with baggage services. The story was a  little more encouraging: "Your luggage will arrive tomorrow." It had  gone to Idaho instead of Las Vegas. Could that mean the piles for  Barcelona and Boise were right next to one another? We'll never know. Anyway, we retrieved some clean clothes and returned to the city.

In an effort to find a bike route (with great hopes for the  following day) we stopped by the Bici office for a bicycling map of the city. We thought it might be of some help, though it seems that bicycles are everywhere, so what difference does a lane or designated route make?

We devoted the  afternoon to seeing various examples of Gaudi  architecture. They are unmistakable. Bulbous curved outcroppings differentiate them from ordinary right-angled structures, and they are always surrounded by people taking pictures. The late 19th C. cathedral, still in the process of being built after more than 100 years, sports  gruesome scenes in relief and tall turrets topped with what might be  bunches of grapes. Interesting I guess.

A fun part of walking in a big city is watching people. We stopped for a while at a bowls match, something like bocce, played by about a dozen men and women. They were pretty good, we thought, and fairly serious, subdued in their pleasure of the game. Each carried his or her  own two balls, which appeared to be steel, and a little rag to wipe off the sand.

We opted for a cold supper, since bread, cheese, avocados, and tomatoes were readily available and appealing. And we topped it off with an ice cream cone, a favorite dessert in Mediterranean areas. We slept  soundly, but with our fingers crossed for the arrival of our baggage tomorrow.

Love, Ellen & Lowell