Countdown

This the end of our first night in Barcelona. There is a lot to catch up on. And now that I'm here it actually feels like this vacation is almost over. I guess because it's the last city and well, this vacation IS almost over.

Wednesday we ended up not going to the museum. We did a lot of walking around, starting with the area that Gus and I stayed in on our last trip. We ended up back in the Latin Quarter at Les Deux Magots and Cafe de Flore--both well known cafes because of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. And you could tell they were well known by the outrageous prices--mon dieu!! So we didn't end up getting anything there but walking to the river. We crossed over this bridge which had all of these locks on it. Most of the locks had the names of what I am assuming is a couple. It seemed like a relatively new tradition. There were a lot of them there, so it doesn't seem like the cops know about it, or more likely aren't bothered with taking them down. But there also wasn't any plaque or anything explaining the tradition of putting a lock there. We walked along the river and then went back to the apartment.

After having a late lunch we went to do some last bits of shopping and when we got outside our street was blocked of and there were police in riot gear in the middle of the street. We had seen some police and military there a night or two before but didn't know what was going on. Apparently, there was a protest of some sort happening. The group is la CGT. And from what I can gather it is related to employment in the industrial sector. I guess some sort of union maybe. Anyway, the protest really cramped our style since we had to figure out how to get around it. By the time we were ready to head out for the train station the protest had moved on and our street was clear.

The unfortunate part to this day is that time was not on my side and I didn't even get a chance to try on the boots, much less buy them. But from what I've seen today there are some definite alternatives, with better prices, so maybe it's a blesing in disguise. But I really did like those boots.

So we managed to haul of the stuff we'd brought with us and all of the newly purchased items to the Gare Austerlitz for our overnight train to Barcelona. We had a "tourist class" room to ourselves. It's basically a room with 4 seats and 4 beds that fold down and a sink. It's not bad if you are traveling with 4 people or can afford to pay for all 4 beds (which we did). Otherwise you can get stuck with whatever schmuck they decide to put in your room. And if you are a mixed sex group they split up the sexes if you don't have the whole car, so at least I would have had Mabel, but Gus would have been stuck with who knows.

When the conductor or whatever you call that person came by he took the tickets and my passport to keep until the morning. I guess since we were a family they only needed one person's. I guess it's so if something outrageous happens they have some documentation. I do have to say security was much more lax than at the airport or even when we were going from London to Paris. In London, to get on the train there was an x-ray machine for the bags and metal detectors to walk through and passport control where they had to check and stamp each person's passport. In Paris, they barely looked at the ticket and didn't bother to make sure the travelers were the people listed on the ticket. On the other hand, it made it much easier to get on and get on with the trip. Especially when you have so much crap you don't want to have to drop everything to take off your shoes. Anyway, it was nice and relaxing and the beds are surprisingly comfortable.

Some stats for Wednesday...

Steps taken according to my pedometer 18406

Number of cops in the street 15 (at least)

Number of books purchased in Paris 10

Number of glasses of wine 5

(photos from just outside Barcelona)

When we got into Barcelona about 12 hours later, Mabel decided she didn't want to have to deal with the subway so we took a cab to the hotel. It was a nice change. One day I hope to take cabs everywhere...It was 9AM and already very warm. At least 70, I'd say. We got to the hotel, but it was too early to check in. We left our bags in the luggage room and went-a-walking. Found a great shoe store (where I'll probably get my boots) and then we sat out in the Placa Catalyuna and had coffee and croissants. The coffee is delicious and strong, but tiny--like the size of a triple espresso. And we were pretty instantly harassed by the same gypsy type women as in Paris. This time though the waiter shooed the lady away. After coffee we went to FNAC!! Yup, there's one right up the street from us. And what did I find there?!!? The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest in English. It was cheaper than in London and I couldn't resist, so I bought it. Then we went to another restaurant on the Placa and Gus and I had massive beers. We walked around Las Ramblas to kill time then checked in.

The outfits here are...interesting. I wonder if these people have someone to tell them not to go out looking insane...I guess not. Each city has been more outrageous than the next. And I have nothing against outfits that are a bit eccentric, but some of this stuff is just "what?"

The apartment is great. We have tiny balconies that overlook our street and a nice little dining/living room area and a ginormous shower. This place is maybe 3 blocks from Las Ramblas which has lots of restaurants and stores. And it's the biggest apartment we've had so far. Along with the apartments they have normal hotel style rooms which I've stayed in twice before. It's been a long time since I've been here, but the place has kept up pretty well.

After we checked in we napped for a bit and then went to walk on Las Ramblas. Nightlife in Barcelona doesn't start until late and there were tons of people walking around. On Las Ramblas there are outdoor pet shops with birds, turtles, rabbits and hamsters. Artists were out with their paintings. And there were, I don't even know what to call them..."tableaux vivants"? Those people who are in costume and are mostly frozen but occassionally move. They're usually dressed like Egyptians, or fairies or something. There are flower shops and of course your standard souvenir shops. Most of the restaurants also have outdoor seats in the pedestrian walkway so people were sitting out having dinner and sangria--which I tried for the fist time tonight. It's yum, but I could see myself accidently getting too drunk on that.

We went into a place called La Boqueria which is like an outdoor market--fresh fruit, seafood, candy stalls. Gus and I got ice cream that was really delicious and creamy and we walked around taking pictures of fish heads and whatnot.

Tomorrow we are going to go down to the marina and see if we can get to the Mediterranean.

Some stats from today...

Steps taken according to my pedometer 11181

Number of crazy outfits 10 (at least)

Number of cervesas drunk 5