Sunday in Barcelona

Today found us waking up late and wandering the streets in the early afternoon.  A sunny day without the predicted rain brought people of all ages out on bicycles, couples sitting on park benches, chatting, reading, and families out for walks.  We headed for the port to check out Golondrinas -- the boat that tours the Barcelona coast.  In our direct path was a small flea market, and one booth in particular looked like it had estate sale objects -- jewelry, tschotchkes (sp?) and the like.  Rachel and I dove into it like pros, and emerged with a few pieces of jewelry, key chains, and the like.

Eventually we made it to the 3:30 boat tour, and enjoyed seeing from the water how far we'd walked yesterday, and other monuments that we have yet to see.  A glass of champagne was in order.

I spoke too soon about the clean bathrooms.  Dirtiest bathroom in all of Spain -- in Starbucks.  Yuck.

We found a street that boasts a lot of Middle-Eastern food, so we had a doner kabob for dinner and now we're back in our room, hopefully going to bed early so we can get up early to get to see La Sagrada Familia.

I learned this evening that our host, Michael, is in Human Resources and coordinates HR conferences in Europe.  He's working on a September 2011 conference in Munich right now.

More Barcelona observations:

• People here are on the move.  They go to cafes and spend about an hour then move on.  Since Rachel and I tend to find a place we like and stay there, we get into conversations with the wait staff.  Last night at the Mexican place our waitress brought us shots - one for each of us and one for her!  She stood next to us and downed it, with the Spanish accoutrement - orange with cinnamon.  It's pretty awesome that the restaurant allows the wait staff to enjoy shots with the customers!
• This same waitress had warned us when we sat down to 'watch' our bags.  Yep, purse snatchers go into the restaurants, grab purses from patrons, and run off into the darkness.  That's pretty sad.  We had no problems and, after the few margaritas we'd had, decided to cab it home.  Play it safe.
• Barcelona  is really a dog-friendly community.  Most people tend to have small dogs, but we've seen plenty of the larger varieties as well -- many of them are mutts.  Some go off leash as they follow their owners across the street and off to run errands or whatever.
• American music here is stuck in the 80's. 
• I forgot to mention yesterday regarding Parc Guell that this mountainside park is a training site for a lot of senior citizens who want to stay in shape.  There were a few young runners, but mostly we saw older men and women running up the mountain -- not easy.

Enjoy your Sundays everyone!  We miss you and think of you often!  Cheers,
W.