Crazy Busy...

I will get back to my Barcelona stories soon but for now, I'm packing for our big move. Yep, we are moving 4 miles away to 23.77 acres!

Pete was gone to China for 11 days and I packed some then. But, I was mostly just trying to stay afloat with two kids and after school activities. Oy!

And amidst all of that, I applied for a job in a totally different industry than what I'm in now. As long as the background checks come out all right, I'll be training in a new job. I'm so excited!!!

So, I'll write later after we move. The big move is Sunday but we are slowly getting boxes out now.

Toodles!

Day 2--Barcelona

With Diane not arriving until noon or so, I decided to wander around Wednesday morning and see the Boqueria. This market is amazing. Beautiful fruit stands, cheeses, spices. The list goes on. It's an active market with people buying fish, poultry, pork and sausages.
Seriously, where in the States would one find roosters with their heads still attached? I wouldn't have the slightest clue how to take care of this chicken, but it's so pretty in the case. I continued to soak up the sights and smells (fish, cheese) and take it all in. This is a busy market and the tour books warn you of pick pockets in this area.

spices

beautiful candies

After the market, I went to H&M to look at some clothes. I love this store. I did buy some cute shirts and made it back to the hotel in time to greet Diane. I can't remember where we ate lunch once she arrived. I think we just wandered around and found a place that looked decent. We knew the plan for the day was to visit the Picasso museum and head down to look at the beach. The museum was fun. Picasso was a little weird but I think that's the part that made his museum a little more entertaining than most.

After Picasso, we went down to the beach! It was crowded down there. The weather was gorgeous and the people were nude! (not all of them, but a handful!). Actually, on the way down to the beach a man was walking towards us. As he got closer, it was evident he had no clothes on. None. From a distance it looked like he had a dark gray swim suit on but as he got closer, we noticed something swinging between his legs. Yes, you are right. Once I realized what it was, I had to turn away! Oh my gosh. So, I took a picture of him from the back side from a long distance away. You just never know what makes a person tick. So, flustered and flabbergasted we continued our journey. We got to the Mediterranean and this is what we saw:

There was this beautiful hotel that looked like a sail. The water was so blue, as the sky. Yes, there were topless women there. And we noticed there were some nude men--lying on their sides, lying on their backs. A much freer culture in Spain, eh? Looking back the other direction we saw this:

After the shock and awe, we headed back to the hotel. For dinner we headed up the Passeig de Gracia and passed this marvelous building. I'm sure it was built by Gaudi.

We found a nice restaurant and had an enjoyable meal. Once seated, we had to ask for a menu in English. Catalan is not Spanish and we didn't have a clue what all was on the menu. It was nice to sit and eat and catch up.

Day 1

I was so tired by the time I got on the airplane that all I wanted to do was sleep. From my little town I flew to Detroit and waited a long time for the cross-Atlantic flight to Amsterdam. I sat by a nice lady traveling alone. She was from Illinois and we chatted a bit before both falling asleep. We slept through dinner! Our flight was delayed leaving the U.S. because some yahoo said some stupid comments which, rightly so, got him thrown off the plane. Once landing in Amsterdam, I made my way to the gate for Barcelona. It was a two hour flight to Barcelona but only after sitting on the plane for an hour because we couldn't depart yet. The French were striking so we had to wait our turn before flying over their air space. I guess they were slowing air traffic because they don't want to wait until they are 62 before they can retire. I wonder if they still work less than 40 hrs per week, too? KLM was nice and fed us snacks while we waited. Once cleared to depart, we got to Barcelona--no problem.
It was around 5 pm before I got to my hotel on Les Ramblas. I dropped off my stuff and headed to the grocery store to pick up some cereal and milk. I dropped that off and then wandered around a little to get my bearings. Diane was to arrive around 9:30 pm so I went back to the hotel to watch some TV. I closed my eyes to nap a bit and then the phone rang. It was Diane. Her flight had been canceled. Dang French. She would arrive tomorrow around 12:30 pm. Oh well. So, I spruced up a bit and went out for dinner. I didn't go far. I crossed the street and headed toward Placa de Catalunya. I found a restaurant and ordered dinner and some red wine. I tried to speak with another lady eating alone and the waiter chatted some. I explained that I had just arrived and my friend would be joining me tomorrow. I was so tired, too. I told them "Necesito dormir." Off I went with a full belly.

More later...

Back from Spain

Mae West ~ by Salvador Dali

flying to Spain today!

I'm flying to Barcelona today! Yay! I'm excited and can't wait to explore some of the Iberian Peninsula. I've always wanted to go to Spain since my 9th grade Spanish class!!!